Sundays. A hard night to rally a crew for a show. Nonprofit organization, Northwest Folklife is starting a series of "Northwest Folklife Presents" shows where showcase artists from past or upcoming Festivals perform for a paying audience. For those of you who don't know, the Northwest Folklife Festival is free to the public. All (6,000) performers play for free and make no money from their performance. Strangely enough, its somewhat of a right of passage for Northwest artists. Rumor has it, Folklife turned down Nirvana back in the day. ouch.
Last night's concert series, hosted by partner venue, The Tractor Tavern was just like the Festival: a smorgasboard of music and dance. Rockabilly type band the Roy Kay Combo kicked off the night. While they warmed up, swing dance lessons were given (I injured my foot in the St. Patrick's Day Dash, so no dancing for me unless you count the one hippie dance arm waving thing I managed to pull off during the last set). People partnered up and slowly went through the swing dance moves that would shortly be put into effect during the live set. Roy Kay Combo was a ton of fun. The upright bassist plays so effortlessly it looks like he just caresses the strings; as a former bass player it was real cool to watch. I felt like I was in the 1950's hangin' out at the Burger Barn, hoping to score a cigarette from a greaser and get the chance to wear his jacket. Here's a vid of them at the Connor Byrne:
Second act fired up the scene; salsa, son, reggaeton ensamble, Picoso. Now, I'm not a power player in the latin music scene, but I really liked what these guys were pumping out. Like the Roy Kay Combo set, this performance started with a salsa dance lesson that would follow with the live music set to which folks could practice their just learned moves. Lots of white dudes hangin' on the sidelines. My favorite player in the band was the eccentric floutist who was this tall, lean, hipster dude who rocked the flute pretty hard. They were a lot of fun and really entertaining. Although injured, I tapped my foot right along with the tunes and even managed to move my hips a bit. If I had been dance capable, I really would have enjoyed dancing to the live music! I'm really excited for the Folklife Festival, I hope to check out their set and perhaps dance with some attractive single gentlemen. Check out some clips of their tunes:
Escuchame Mama
Papa Jardiniero
Ahi Na Mas
Peep their website: http://www.picoso.net/index.htm
They'll be playing here:
Friday April 2, 2010 the the Red Bicycle Bistro on Vashon
Friday April 17, 2010 at the Nectar in Fremont.
May at the Folklife Festival.
Closing out the night was a semi solo set by Jamaica born, but Northwest reggae legend, Clinton Fearon. This music reggae master performs often with his Boogie Brown Band, but Sunday night was just a solo set with Clinton and his buddy Mark Oi. Clinton played a soulful acoustic set that was as soothing as it was spirited. Lots of hippie dancing took place; a whole Vashon Island crew was there in support closing their eyes and raising their hands. For those of us who are accumstomed to seeing his performances with a huge band and huge crowd, this was a nice outlet. I'm looking forward to seeing his set at the Folklife Festival.
Clinton Fearon and Mark Oi at the Tractor Tavern from Daniel Atkinson on Vimeo.
He'll be playing here:
Friday March 26, 2010 Mt Tabor Portland, Washington
Saturday March 27, 2010 Nectar Seattle, Washington
Saturday April 3, 2010 Wild Buffalo Belingham, Washington
Saturday April 10, 2010 Eagles Olympia, Washington
Saturday April 17, 2010 Solsice Cafe Seattle, Washington
Saturday May 8, 2010 Nectar Seattle, Washington
Learn more about Clinton on his website: http://www.clintonfearon.com/home.php
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