Friday, February 19, 2010
Go Ask Moon Alice on the Corner of Burnside and Haight
A week ago I was in San Francicso, but in some ways the most SF experience I have had was here in Portland tonight at Dantes on 3rd and Burnside. Moonalice consists of the interface of married couple Roger and Ann MacNamee with some of the best musicians in the world: Barry Sless, Pete Sears, John Molo, and, sometimes, Jack Cassady. It was also musical home for G.E. Smith for a couple of years.
Roger MacNamee is also a venture capitalist and successful businessman. He had another band called the Flying Other Brothers that I heard some hippie music lovers trash on. But I caught a performance of theirs at High Sierra once and was impressed. Why? Because Sless and Sears were tearing it up were the most visible reasons.
Regardless, Moonalice's performance at Dante's felt more authentic than some Grateful Dead alumni evenings (e.g. Ratdog) when it came to what makes SF American roots plus hippies incubates great msic. In fact, Sears is a full on rock legend, playing piano and bass on early Rod Stewart (Ever Picture Tells A Story, etc.) albums as well as being a member of both Jefferson Starship and Hot Tuna. His vocals are a reminder that the sixties could be a time when a vocalist did not need to be a natural singer, but someone who knew how to use his voice as an instrument of both music and emotion, And that generation had it, in Sears I hear John Stewart, Leon Russell, Neil Diamond, Loudon Wainwright III. I would imagine that Elvis Costello is an admirer of his too. They both take very similar approaches to song and lyric.
Berry Sless last night illustrated how great musicians and artist rise to the occasion despite appointed or expected acts not present. I had been looking forward to hearing pedal steel guitar as only a very small minority in the world can. But, alas, the truth came out during the first set by MacNamee that they forgot the insturment in his garage. There are only a small handful of guitarists who can attract my attention and put me in the place where I am listening to their solos as I would navigate a ski run. The tradition of much of this music has legacy and impact of Airplane, Quicksilver and Dead. But Sless is more Django than Jerry. Maybe you will even hear some big fat Wes Montgomery chords interacting with a Corryell quickness. His solos were more than solos, they were tales told well.
Add to the mix John Molo, a drummer with credits with Phil and Friends and Bruce Hornsby. He drums like he is both Mickey and Billy of the Grateful Dead. A great jazz and rock drummer is a wonderful thing.
There was this guy who came out with a rant at the halftime break who was like Wavy Gravy if he had a job in a sort of office. I was reminded a bit of Lester the hanger on poet who used to stink up String Cheese Incident shows when he was carrying on about listening to music with your eyes. I was a bit dumbfounded to find out that the MacNamee posse includes Steve Parish, infamous Jerry Garcia roadie and protectorate.
Whatever. McNamee was a great host. He would read factoids and passages from Wikipedia between songs, and he has the public service announcement down to almost pull it off. There was a weird coincidence tonight. Pam and I watched last week's Simpsons where Marge and Homer when a demonstration gold at the Olympics in Curling. When we walked into the club, McNamee was just getting through reading what was apparently the Wikipedia entry for Curling.
The show was at Dantes but it felt like an excursion in time and distance both. As mentioned it was kind of an extension of my week ago trip to San Francisco. And as far as time travel is concerned, I went to the show with a friend from workdays almost two decades ago. And the music and the vibe reminded us both of old taverns and clubs in now long gone: Key Largo, The Earth, Euphoria.
posted by well-executed buffet at 1:02 AM
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