Digitalize World Greaze
CD Release Party
Sunday, April 6, 1997
#6

The stage . . . the set up? Soft, lush, fur- like carpet has given 'way to a plastic/ synthetic, futuristic, tube- like groove coiling around every microphone stand, keyboard leg, and anywhere else that thin, long metal juts from the stage. Multi- colored, soft, deep- hued lights rove across the floor; scanning . . . scanning . . . observing? Have "The Greazies" stumbled upon some looking glass into the future of soul music? I'd love to say it's a looking glass into the future if sensational Nirvana. At the very least you can't say "no". Not yet anyway. Maybe Greazy Meal and The Greazies could impact such an end?

I was lost in the far- away future, and suddenly I was pulled into what is now the past. Greazy Meal filed onto the stage; all in white jumpsuits and shades. There stood an enormous alien with long, skinny digits like Kevin Garnett. The alien stood at center stage, flanked by the band, and addressed the crowd in the typical condescending fashion of anyone/thing that's traveled through space. "We are observing you . . . we are not impressed. In fact, we are angry at you." His Sexiness, Tommy Barbarella, stood facing the crowd, legs spread apart at shoulder- length, with his arms crossed so defiantly, as if his stance represented the firmness with which Greazy believed in what they were about to perform tonight. The alien continued onto the critical point of the evening's plan, talking about the "bubble theory"; encasing the band and the crowd in the groove, taking us higher, then popping the bubble at their whim. Although a dramatic fall from such a dramatic high might hurt, I'd just a soon know the high, and the low. Therefore . . .

1) Digitalized Jam - By Greazy Meal
Listen . . . We truly are being "digitalized". The General is beatin' a clap drum, but his movements are very rigidly robotic. It's as if he's "in character" as a space- aged percussionist. Kenny also has the "look" captured, as does Straw. Papa just jumped in on 'da groove, with his sax and Tommy's keys following the space melody. Jimmy's bassin' the groove with movements much more human; more loose. Where's Dr. J? He was there, in fact I remember him smiling at someone/thing just before Papa jumped into his vibe. Great bass carry while Papa runs some jazz scales, at a reallly fast tempo, when he wants to. I guess The Doctor was just directly behind Papa, out of my sight lines (speaking of which, I hope I get my old sight lines back to write installment #7 of Kid C's reviews).

Tommy hipped into an electric synth, and Straw is robo- lockin'. Tommy's solo reminds me of Prince's "People Without". Funny how "human" Tommy became for a minute, as he played around with his incense. Now The General is back on the set and movin' the groove into a rhythm and tempo that xposed "The Truth". The Truth = No matter what other styles of music they explore, no matter how poorly or how well they do it, Greazy Meal is still a soul/funk band at essence. The band's bodies are now heaving with the high- low verbrations of the music. Jim back, and Straw forward, and vice- a- versa. Now it's distinctly a jazz jam of theirs. Deliberate drums, sparse keys, heavy bass, clapshun, and now Tom's soulin' down. Straw guitars himself. What's Papa doing, a recorder? All the players follow a real solid melody into a hard cymbal. As cool as it all is, I've got to say it feels a bit energyless. I can understand if that's the case, 'cause they had to do the same deal jus' last night. Still . . . there's got to be a way to make it fresh enough to enjoy playing on consecutive nights. Ahhhh! So that's what Kenny's been up to, gettin' ready for a phat vocoder solo, right? Great jam that leads to "shortbread". Shit I can really bite into you know, Straw's been c. greasin' for a little while. Kenny jumps to the xtra set, and Jimmies gave us another nibble of shortbread, then into a "late- night" BIG sound. Keys, "aaaaaweeeroww!" Keys now down for supporting Jimmy's homemade, fat shortbread, right into . . .

Rockitt - By Herbie Hancock? Nope! The D.Js fooled my foolish ass into believing the band was "looping" from "The Man" . I'm bummed that they're not, but I can't complain about Jesus' work.

2) Another Jam - By Greazy Meal
Like a dolt, I lost focus, and b4 eye new it, Ken and The Gen were duel drumming a new rhythm. The General is "on"; in character, very machine- like. The band's working well in conjunction with the DJs. I just noticed the cardboard cut- out of Data, standin' behind Ken on the extra set. Now they're nodding at each other to jump back into the groove, as Kenny and The Gennny get a tough, tribal- like groove goin'. Dirk's face tightened and contorted, lips pursed as he beats the groove so hard. Now jus' drop out so lightly, barely teasing the round metals. They went back into robot behavior as the lights went off and the DJs faded in . . . but they wait? Just moving off slowly, I guess . . . deferring to a friend of the band's, who used to play with some of these cats in a group called Beat The Clock. This friend is buried behind a console, thick with keys and other digitalized gadgets. It's a break for the band. I know I should have stayed to record him, but I had bidness too. And when I returned, Ihighcee Cat Sway and The Mistress of Interpretress dancing a bit so physically intimate; an embrace. Quite physically connected. I was just about to bitch about the time mismanagement, when . . .

3) Beat - By Greazy Meal
Everyone's "Back in Black". "Hey-yeah" by everyone 'tween the 1st chorus and 2nd verse; bridgin', man. "Weerow" by Tommy 'tween 1st and 2nd vocal part of the 2nd verse. The General took a great 1/2x in Tommy's great solo, that I'm pretty sure I've also heard on "Old Soul Cafe" 's solo. Up, jump, and boogie till the ending short verse, which was new again tonight.

4) Highlife - By Greazy Meal
Great back- to- back, and Ozo Fine tonight. Soooo damn high tonight is da groove, and my smoove bruise- on. Shaka Kenny on the chorus. The 1st bass verse was open with a phat beat, sans keys, and Jimmy. Bass and his Jimmy played great , and Tommy into "Goin' any place". Straw was shaka in the second verse and into Jimmy's solo, just after Tommy's phat clavs on the last chorus, just after Papa's hot solo. "Who loves Jimmy?", Julius asked. And into a nice, clean handle on the pop toss from Jimmy to Papa on the post- song solos. "[Here's] A little xperiment on you" . . . , said Kenny C. . . into beat- boxin' . . .

5) Love One Another - By Greazy Meal
It's the new tune that I previewed. Bass is sass-phat heavy, and dare I say a bit much when it verbrates to overwhelm the vox. Great bounce to the beat- groovin' tempo. Spicy beat- boxin' and Tommy clavis, add a little kick [drum] . . . into a lean, electric, "sharp" verse. Any chorus articulation didn't really crispen till the last chorus. Keys, beat- box, high cymbal, J scat, and clavs, and Phatcussion, . . . and sax- a - goo goo. It was great how you broke a hard song, smoovely into a tight- structured jam.

6) Old Soul Cafe - By Greazy Meal
The verse first had sweet keys. Verse second was "light"; airy and thin of instrumentation. Great tambo-shaka on both bridges into choruses. "Look out", said Julie-us, for Papa's solo as he tough- jukes into his groove. And another juke and move to send Spicy's rap off. We got a hard cymbal at the last chorus, just pre- Tommy solo. Papa followed the melody on the "nah na" section, n' then sum. Go on and "Give me the soul", said J. Still no sign of Papa on the first few bars of Tommy's solo. This is great , 'cause here's where I start struggling to keep up. It's all too much soul sometimes.

7) Away Delilah - By Greazy Meal
This is tonight's "symposium piece". Earlier in the evening, I proposed a question to some of the most knowledgeable and trusted "Greazies" that I know, what are the first lines of this song, "My darlin' I awaken", or "At dawn I awaken?" Tonight I heard, "My Darlin' ". The dancers were caressed by the shimmery curtains, as Cat and The Mistress slowly crossed the stage. I'm thinkin' to Dr. J that I'm right there with what he's preachin' 'bout. "I wanna be free this evenin' ", he moaned as his spirit clawed its way out of gloom and into greazy freedom. Then we did a slow slide . . . "taken away" into Straw's tight- assed solo. "And she says . . . .boom!", onto the break. "WE is gon' dance, cause I wanna fly away", into Straw's solo. Great feeling tonight by the Dr. Juice.

8) Urban Herbalist - By Greazy Meal
Shit's got my eyes wide open high. Then the alien came out . . . "Electric" entrance on pre- melody loop. Great separation/ togetherness on melody drum Too/From skins, TF clavs/keys, TF sax, TF axe, TF bass. All parts were well individualized; separate from each other, yet they still produced a sum- whole of a sound. Pretty neat, huh? Sax solo was a nutty, day- dreamin' groove. I was lost from here into another very real place. Music, especially Greazy's music can have that affect on me. Kool rap with the flashlight eyes. Great Spicy call and answer for a dance movement by The Greazies. Hey, great phat rap Spicy Cat. "Spicy T on the rhymes", Julius called out for much deserved props.

Julius brought another call and answer to the table, sayin' "I Am, A Greazy Mutha' Fucka!!!!" It was by far, the PHATTEST "I am" call and response that I've ever been a part of. It led into a wild kick drum intro for . . .

9) It Ain't No Fun To Me - By Graham Central Station
I finally picked up the beautiful album that this cut comes from. I'll say without hesitation or reservation, that "Ain't No" is another great example of Greazy doin' a cover so well, that it's all too fair to say it belongs to the band. "Loose Booty", "Use Me", and "Pusherman" are a few other examples that come to mind. Phat clavs tonight, Toms. "Vocalless" sexshun is tight, and great sax riffs and loops between the lines. Great two fills by The General, goin' right back into the last chorus. Nice percussion/ syncopation break on "sit down" sexshun. . . and every last one of 'em were jumpin'. Greazy thud- kick into "Yeah" - cry by Julius and the band. Papa's got a little low shuffle up and on, till we were OUT! And J was losin' his trousers.

10) Unfaithful - By Greazy Meal
I love the way this song can creep up on you, even when you're watchin' for it . That's impressive; when you know it's comin' and it still catches ya. It's a low, phat groove on the first verse, with a great taunting feel on 2nd chorus of "unfaithfuls". Hard break by The Keneral and The General, with wild bodily chaos at center stage with J, Cat, and Miss, into Papafluteflyin'triphippin'fool. Great light spot on "and if you've got what you finally want." J Spontane asked "Didjya miss me?" . . . helping me finally get this tune, I think? It's as obvious as the lyrics themselves, but I'm always lookin' too deep. Really nice clav melody trip at the paced ending.

11) Everythang Is Everythang - By Greazy Meal
"Lies, empty promises" = 1st words of the 1st verse. The chorus, I think, was it string heavy "dump, dum- dum, dunn", 2 times, "between you and I". I'm a little confused; unsure at whose this is and what it is? Where's Spicy? The last fill was a drum crazy, to the out. I don't know who, but somebody said "We decided to have some fun with . . ."

12) Vitamin U - By Greazy Meal
So tight, that it's driftin' me. This is another piece in such a tight set, impressively low on other people's material. Great pre- guitar by Straw. Quite an electric "Vitamin U", jus' after "old fashioned melodies". Speaking of the line "old fashioned melodies", I think I finally get this tune tonight also. I too need the "old fashioned melodies to keep, a- keepin' me on my feet". And "Vitamin U" could be "Chameleon" by Herbie, or "Superstition" by Stevie.

13) I Can't Wait - By Greazy Meal
"I hear ya, Tom" , said Dr. J. "Yes!!", I thought to myself, "more vocal ad- libbing by The Doctor, please." Pretty good crowd vox on intro chorus. All the choruses have people movin' somethin' real, great echo of voices in almost every corner of the crib. Great saxaphone solo by Papa.

14) Kid Charlemagne - By Steely Dan
What' cha said got me ALL hyped up, fellas. And I so appreciate the props. Great sax solo by Pops. Really, the whole tune is sharp all over. I think Jimmy's right on his bass part, at the bridge before the last verse "Clean this mess up" . . . Julius gots the vox, and The General has his fills at the end. Great slide dance by Spicy and Dr. J. Superlative.

15) The Bullet - By Greazy Meal
"Spicy T" ? By Straw? On the first bridge to the chorus? Again, "I'm a bit confused". . . Kenny nailed both the Shaka and the Skin, from verse to chorus. Great vox on "hit the concrete", by Julius. Luscious and all too phat bass by Jimmy, and really all strings. Psycho- killer vocorder by SPicEy on "Nowadays it's gotten so crazy . . ." Great vox again by J, this time at "Used to be back in grade school". That whole section till the end was pure "fleece"; efficient and comfortable, yet on the cuttin' edge of style and warmth. The whole groove sucks you in and makes you enjoy, at least, some fiber of the vibe.

16) Loose Booty - By Sly and the Family Stone
Very hard drummin', on an especially articulate "Shadrach, Meschach, Abednigo".

Spicey - "B- double oh- t- y"
Jimms - "Gimmie sum bass" in 'da place
The General - pure "drums", and Kenny skinned in
Dirk - "Go to work, 1- 2- 3, get it on" challenge
Straw - hard 'lectric Straw
Mistress - "Here we go"
Cat Sway - Cat Sway "Take it away" to a tribal dance where you and the Mistress will have a chance to move like you're groovin', stalkin' through the jungle drums.
Tommy - jus' call him "clavs"
Papa - Sayin' anythin' clever will only bring him clutter, 'cept that SPiceY dug for a phat save till he was ready (something I've seen happen before tonight). "Now take it home [Papa]" - bass so quick in the solo, till we were out, and I was out- of- breath.

17) One Man's Dream - By Greazy Meal
Good fact spillin' by Kenny, "and I'm not shittin' ". Great vocal ad- lib by J, jus' pre- 1st verse. Tonight's a slow, mellow, bit- your- lip groove. The keys into the first "one man's dream" chorus, and great "Shaka- Straw" on the second chorus. The whole groove's causin' a very penetratin' movement by at least one couple, although I'd easily believe others were at it too. And you can jus' see the luv, as The General's lady bops up and down while video taping the band tonight. Now here it comes, so I hope everybody sings out!?? Well, . . . "Yes!!!" What's that J? Let my heart sing? "Aaayyy, f'get about it." Do I want seconds, Dr. J? "Don't get me started"

18) Funkytown - By Lipps Inc.
Digitalized intro? into the first verse, and the Brutha' J looks ALL thick, and bad, jus' like the groove. . . phhhat! Papa tossed in, jus' B4 the 2nd chorus. Great rhythm, rhythmic joltin' jump into a fat "Papa Special". It was sooo funky, that it mused me to scene material, is all I'll say about it. Don't lose focus yet though, Cause you can't slight J, or his vox, or this ending to Funkytown.

19) Good Times, Bad Times - By Led Zeppelin
"For" who, and whose Uncle? Hard keys on this freshly beaten groove. Great bass by Jimis into the 2nd verse and some "weeerowws" by Tom. "And, isn't this where it jus' gets plain NASTY!", declared Julius. Sweet little addition of "Communication Breakdown", making this a double shot of Zeppelin I.

So, how did the evening do to address my "affliction"? Jus' like the outgoing message said "I am a Greazy, Mother, Fucker, Mother Fucker, Mutha', Mother, Mother . . .till I almost heard "Redrum, Redrum". My soul gets greazed till I'm even more nuts than when I ain't at The 'Booze on a Sunday Night. Phat third set, fellas. I look forward to making many more observations . . . Much love and respect, Kid Charlemagne