Sunday, March 23rd, 1997

The Gig Ain't Got No Name. . .

1) Instrajam - By Greazy Meal
The beat's laying out in its most stripped- down, naked form. I gotta say, at the risk of sounding rude, but the groove looks damn good in its skins. The General authoritatively molded this beat into a 4/4, and Papa fiddled in with some notes here, and there. Again this week, just as weeks before tonight, you can smell Tommy's incense is burnin' a tiny, ember-light. But for the light of that ember, back in the darkness of the stage, Spicey T shook his tamborine with a staccato to match the rhythm. Or was it Straw with the tam-tam? I didn't know, but I loved the mystery of it; interchangeable parts that all can do a bunch of different jobs well. Julius came up on stage unusually early, as Tommy, Jimmy, and Spicey began regular contributions to the groove, with Kenny nursing a drink. Tommy pushed the same key chords from "Urban Herbalist" , before adding clavs, funkyfunky clavs. Jimmy freeBassed for a little, and then Tommy took a solo. This jazzjam has a similar feel of breaking on the beat. Then Straw went Blues, Tommy jumped onto the stretched- out skins. Then Papa busted into that all- too- familiar melody. Great snare breakdown by The General. Late night, streetbeat, jazzofunk! Hard, high and heavy section with the middle of the cymbal leading the charge. Papa's carrying along nicely. And then, out. Tonight's version of discursion was relatively brief. Is that good or bad?

"It's all about the music" - John Fields

2) ? - By ?
Jimmy takes a stool, (not That kind of stool you filthy savage!), next to Papa (The Duo). Heavy on the high hat, very jazzy. Papa on the alto. Shaka, shaka, shaka, chicken grease from Straw. Spicey wick- wackaed along on his keys. Again, this is a wwonderfully deliberate jam with varrious sections. Spicey amps in his vox, and what the hell is he saying? Nice groove blending "Papa Jimmy", into Tommy B's solo. Straw had nice guitar chords during Tommy's solo (reminiscent of Andy Summers' work on "Walking on the Moon"). Nice drum stick work by Kenny. A little harder rock, post Tommy solo, from the Straw. Is Spice-a-little just scattin'? Is that his game?

3) The Fez - By Steely Dan
The bass always hits me hard, with Tommy's keys and Papa's sax following the melody nicely. Straw's solo was nice and precise. The last chorus into Papa's solo is groove, pure. Dig the rice shakers, "chuka, shaka, chuka, shaka. . . ". And Papa? The cat's blowin' his top, goin' off!

4) What I Can Do For You - By Sheryl Crow
I've heard Greazy Meal play this tune for quite some time. I've had Ms. Crow's first album, Tuesday Night Music Club, since it was first released, even before any singles were big. Still, I hadn't given the album a fair listen, resulting in my infamiliarity with this song. Greazy has great backing vox on the chorus for "what you can do", or was it "do for you"? Tommy's quietly simmering beneath the melody. Then Papa soloed. Sumthin' 'bout this tune jus' mellows me out. Maybe it's the deliberate tempo and minor key? Either way, tonight's version is disappointingly pedestrian in energy level. At this point in the show, relatively early that is, quite a nice sized crowd has assembled.

5) Come On, Come Over - By Jaco Pastorius
Kenny was bangin' great cowbell on the rhythmic swing section, and super rhythm by The General. Keyboard solo for Tommy, rippin' into the groove with speed and heavy chord work. I love the cover/studio contrast where the horn loop during the verse is more heavily accented in the live version. Nice work, fellas. Kenny and Julius had great vox feeding off of each other in the 3rd verse. Papa's swing solo was hip- hoppin'. Great rhythm, proving how much Spicey adds to the overall sound.

6) Use Me - By Bill Withers
Julius starts right in with Tommy's keys. Nice to see The General, out and about on the Cuban Fish. Nicely, we didn't get too hyped on the 1st chorus. It could have been way too easy to blow up, because this song builds wonderfully with anticipation. I heard Dr. J order something, and the only thing I came up with was a call for The General to go back to the set, so the band could really hit it. Papa had his solo. It was wild, and right on by Pops, with Sexy Tommy Barbarella doin' good work in back of Brian's solo. Shit, "Can't get enough!!!", an exclamation by Julius that speaks for all of us Greazies. Great bulid into the 3rd chorus Straw solo. Electro nic, seismonic, strobo solo. Great ending with Julius screamin'.

7) More Than You'll Ever Know - By Donny Hathaway
Slow (say it with a drawl) blues. Heavy on the keys and sax, making it a very jazzy set of blues. The opening lyrics set things off right, with "If I ever lose you baby". Great passion in J's vox. Papa took a solo, but I couldn't really judge it fairly, because my mind wasn't focused. The General watched Julius so intently for an ending signal. There's definitely heavy passion on these jazzy blues. I've caught enough to know that everyone was right on for the jam, with special shot out to the voxmaster Juli.

8) Have a Talk With God - By Stevie Wonder
Tough- assed bluesy-funkshun with a smoldering, swelling feel to it. I love the key changes in each verse. Wild electric guitar solo by Strawdaddy Hendrix. What a truely religious way to be in some god's presence, . . . ALL FUNKED OUT!!! Electric synth by Tommy, unbelievably guitarish at times. Great follow to Straw's solo. Papa beat down wit' 'da General. Great change at the end of Papa's solo. Everybody got low, heavy, and down on this one, but what else could you expect to happen? Then back up, into song key, just screamin'/piercing. Great axe matching with Straw and Ken. Jimmy's bass is a bit too loud for Julius' rap. When it was all through, appropriately, all Julius could say (and so matter- of- factly, at that), was "Well, that was greazy". Then for the second week in a row, the band made me feel like a million bucks by spotlighting me as "The Greazy Mutha' Fucka' of 'Da Week". I'm tellin' you, I couldn't beg all ya'll to act out a better script. And for that, I'm indebted. Spicy dished out a huge shot out, with all kinds of props, and excuse me for sayin' it, but I felt the love. I appreciate your encouragement, and I love being part of another great reason that everybody should go out and hop onto the Greazy Meal Web Site.

9) Money - By Greazy Meal
Correct me if I'm wrong, but did "Money" follow my props, because I was especially critical of a version of the tune in another week's review? Following that track, if it's straight and true, then it was done as a showcase of improvement from what had gone wrong prior to tonight. If all of that is true, then mission accomplished! The song had a great drive to it, the rap section, 3rd verse, was flawless, and the clap section was fresh. Everyone was into it. Again, the song had great pace, and great tempo. The only thing I noticed, was Julius had to demand more volume on his mike. I'm assuming he got it, cause I didn't see him ask for it again.

10) The Bullet - By Greazy Meal
Trippy, wik- shaka, pre- opening, big Straw, violent, siren- like chaos. Tough, agitated groove from verse to verse, as Julius metaphorically shakes his fist at souls seeking life's answers in violence. "Nowadays it's gotten so crazy . . ." , great vocoder by Spicy, at the pre zombie- like "Dooh flute" by Papa. Unexplicably, Papa chose not to duplicate his riffs and loops on the final verse "It used to be back in grade school". Still, let the chorus sing: "They may take my brother . . .".

11) Highlife - By Greazy Meal
"Low- life". Phat strobe, Strobe. Great harmony vox ("If you've got to see. . . "). 2nd verse-shaka by Straw. Good Papa on the choruses. Sax solo for Papa post 2nd chorus. Tommy's key chords came in hard for Julius' diatribe against bein' wacked- out high, into a phat, rhythmic syncopation by The General, in the breakdown "Got to keep a schedule" section. Great waka by Straw, into some particular song riff. Jims followed with THE bass guitar, bringin' it from outerspace to the lower limits. "Jimmy, Jimmy". Great 70's, dramatic sitcom- shaka by Straw on Papa's 2nd solo. All rockin' high, and rockin' hard to the out.

12) Beat - By Greazy Meal
Great flute by Papa. Echoey-"weeeeooww" by Straw. Tommy was "jazzed" on his solo. Great movement at the end of Tommy's soulo. Flute flickered. Great lyrics at the very end. I briefly caught 'em, and now I've gotta know what they are, and what they're all about. Mean- assed Straw solo!

13) Everything Is Everything - By Greazy Meal
I got the title from The General, and I think I got it right? A "Welcome" to The Mistress and Cat. I hoped this was an original, and Anania affirmed it afterward. Great harmony vox on chorus by Kenny and whom? Kool little groove rightintothe2ndversefromtheendofthe1stchorusflowingsotight.

14) Unfaithful - By Greazy Meal
Great trip on Papa's flute-float section, goin' up and down the scale. I xpected a greater build from "And if you got". . . post- Papa, pre-chorus. The tempo of this build up is usually furious. This time they didn't build, and is that for better or worse? Great to hear EVERYONE sing on the chorus' backing vox. It takes unbelievable pace and precision for Tommy and Papa at the end.

15) One Man's Dream - By Greazy Meal
And Julius asked us, "Anybody proud to be here tonight?". Good planning by Spicy as he got the crowd claps going early in the sing. It's mellow- cool tonight. Subtly strong. Great sax work by Pops on "And you've been told". Wik- slakah by Straw. Falsetto- tightened "Ain't no ma-tter at all". Good crowd response on the Nah, Nahs. And Julius was doin' his part, makin' damn sure everybody knows they're a Greazy Mutha' Fucka'.

16) Away Delilah - By Greazy Meal
Light, floating, airy music. Kenny, Dave, and Spicy are workin' right , on chorus' backing vox. Great back vox again by Spicey. Into Straw solo. Phat ad- libbed "fly- highs" by Kenny. Straw is gettin' down and dirty on stage right, and Spicy's givin' 'em the props for it. Jus' gots to give it up! And, I thought I saw Dr. J give one "extra" look to The General for when to cut out?

17) Old Soul Cafe - By Greazy Meal
Are the vox a bit lower by an octave?, for the 1st line of the 1st verse? Great fill by The General in between 2nd verse and 2nd bridge- to- chorus. I can't fully articulate it, but some sound seems too loud, quasi- out- of- place on this one? Great show glam into Papa's solo. Great key changes during Papa's solo. As we discussed after the gig, Spicey used a great visual aide during his rap. "This is no placebo it's a real feel deal, we call it . . ." , as Mr. Spicy, my homeroom teacher, pointed to the Greazy Meal emblem on his shirtfront, like a classroom chalkboard. Again, I bug, 'cause Papa jumps out- the- way for Tommy's solo, just a bit too soon. Just once I wish he'd stay and riff his jazz scale like the studio version. Glossy keys by Tommy; polished. Great idea for Straw to add key chords underneath the solo. Killer stamina on Tommy's solo. All the props in the world weren't enough, in spite of this wonderfully appreciative crowd.

18) Suicide Carpet Ride - By Greazy Meal
Phat- assed clavs by Funkus Thomus on the 1st verse. Wild with energetic movement and lighting, so another shot out to Strobe. Great clavs on the whole damn song, man. Again, a choatic, strobe- lighted suicidal ending. The General was beatin' so fierce.

19) Vitamin U - by Greazy Meal
I loved the vocal follow, Middle- Eastern style, mixed with similar sounding guitar warbles from Strawwarbleberry (talk about a mouth full . . .). No joke, phat cat! Great vocoder by Spicy, 'tween 1st chorus and 2nd verse. J asked the crowd, "Does anyone know what I'm talkin' 'bout?". The rest of the crowd yelled a few drunken responses back to The Doctor, but really, I didn't have a clue. "Old fashioned melodies" . . . was tight; sum dope shit, if ya' know what I'm sayin'. Dr. J floated so high above the court on his falsetto vox during "Old fashioned . . . ". Space- weeerrow on "Vitamin U"!, (followed by a thunderously supersonic boom, movin' skyward). Quick digits by Jimzee on the end. "In Two Weeks!" the Digitalize World Greaze Premire. Another party, "Maiden Voyage", followed by a groove- gripping "Human Beat Machine".

20) Urban Herbalist - By Greazy Meal
Great start! All the notes are true. Right on. Perfect rhythm. Tommy's tinkering with the keys perfectly. Spicy, the educational master that he is, was stickin' the mike into the crowd on "Urban Herbalist" chorus. The band is definately feelin' the "crowd thing" tonight. Now Straw's on the xtra set. Kenken's doin' wonders on the stretched out skins. Cat and The Mistress movin' body and souled. Papa's blowin' so hard, and so far, this is the best "Herbalist" I've ever heard. I could be off, but I thought we hit the chorus too early? Great moves by both Cat and Mistress Interpretess. Great work by "The Teacher", using necessary visual aides during his rap which had the crowd answering his calls of:

* G- R- E- A- Z - Y, We R the people of the Sunday Night tribe.
*We kick up in the stars, we kick up on the moon.
*We kick it from December, We kick it to June.
*We kick it every Greazy fuckin' month of the year.

Great rap by "The Prof.". Hey, now Toms is on the extra set. By far THE BEST "Urban" I've ever heard: best crowd response, best musically, and best rap.

22) Loose Booty
Heavy tempo got me goin'. All really too much to deal with, I'm so out of breaf. I caught up enough on Spicy's rap, so . . . "Way down low on 'da bass goes" solo #1 Jimmy Anton.
Solo #2 featured The General, with Straw pumpin' in a few funky clavs.
Solo #3 pitted "Skin"-ny Chastain with a tough call- and- answer between himself and "The Prof.".
Then shit got really crazy with Tommy on the extra set for solo #4.
Straw hit the funky clavs for solo #5, and "the crowd seems to love this."
Solos #6&7 featured pure rhythm for Cat Sway and The Mistress Interpretess jus' kickin' da' groove.
Finally, solo #8 featured Papa G, Papa G, Papa G, G, G on a saxy hop- scotched jiggle. Papa closed it up, and Jimmy came right in, right on. Great shaka- Straw. I wonder if J brought the end too early, and if so, then how come I think I've noticed several early endings tonight, that normally go unnoticed or don't occur? Hmmmm?

23) I Can't Wait - By Greazy Meal
Great soul-keyed intro by Toms. As it's happened tonight for example, is the set list making a conscious effort to split "Old Soul" and "I Can't Wait", for Tommy's sake? Julius asked, "Who wants to sing tonight?" Curiously funny, the band's missed their starting back- up vox. Was U slightly thrown by the crowd's response? Papa added great, phat little sumthins, jus' B4 2nd "I love my mother". Papa G, U were on, just- post 2nd chorus for your soulo. Dawg, you could jus' see Dr. J's enthusiasm boiling over, pushed, prodded, and spurned on by the crowd's energy.

24) Funkytown - By Lipps, Inc.
"Uncle Steve" must be = to Stevie Greenberg. "a little ditty goes sumthin' like this . . .", was said by whom? Clavs, funky clavs at the start. HEAVY bass, post 1st "moovin' ". Great dissonance by Papa and who at the chorus, 'tween Julius' cries of "Funkytown". 2nd chorus' comin' down hard, and in tempo. Great sax at "bridge over the" city Funky. I noticed The General didn't rhythmically bash the cymbals the way he usually does on each beat during the switch just pre- Spicy rap. Usually that cymbolic smashing sound really carries the tempo on each beat of those measures. Hmmmmm? Right after Spicy's rap, the music surged back into the chorus with a stiff, crisp right cross, jus' snapped it on upside my head . . . . "BAM"!

(Sound Bytes, post Funkytown)

- "Thank you very, very much. [The 'Booze is] our sanctuary . . . make it yours. . . every sunday night, you greazy mutha' fuckas!" - Dr. J

Great, pounding riot goin' on to get Greazy back out. The greazies built up quite a frenzy, and they came . . . . Straw furiously thrashed the poor kickdrum and The General kept it goin'. Spicy was on the rhythm too. J's gota J, for this huge entrance

(Encore) 25) It Ain't No Fun To Me - By Graham Central Station
Tommy pulled a great switch between the funky clavs and the synth. Sho' 'nuff, says Julius, "not gon' bother me". Sax- a- go- go with clavs lending a sweet compliment. Wonderful tangle of bodies, J, Spice, The Cat, and Mistress, at centerstage during that juice- smoove vocalless section. Man, I really dig the way Julius march/stalks cross 'da stage on the "jump" section. Hey, Spicy and his necklace have come all undone. An who hasn't buckled under the intensity of this jam? We was all jumpin' up and high . Like a whole bunch of other cats, I'm super done, out- of- breaf! Scary how "movie-esque" this crowd was. Everyday is a new scene, new stimulus . . . "the beat goes on". Much love and respect, Kid Charlemagne