Happy holidays to you and yours and of course a happy and safe New Years, wherever your travels may take you.

We have started to receive more submissions from outside of St. Louis...it's most appreicated. Still looking for more participation, so feel free to send your jambands related info in.

I also wanted to thank those of you that participated in the latest Mimi Fishman Foundation auction. The New Years Eve concert charity auction (assorted jambands) resulted in approx. $2,000 raised. Look for information regarding the next auction in either the January or February edition.

I'll leave you with a quote from a book I just received from a good friend of mine:

"Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to great place!
You're off and away!"

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose."

Oh, the Places You'll Go! - by the great Dr. Suess

Happy New Year!

Upcoming St. Louis shows:

Every Monday Devon Allman Cicero's
Every Tuesday The Kind Cicero's
Every Tuesday open mic night (moved from Rio's) **FREE** Obie's

Wed. Dec. 15th Goonamona Cicero's
Thur. Dec. 16th Honey Tribe / Honey Pot Cicero's
Thur. Dec. 16th Torque / Sunny Daae Red Sea
Fri. Dec. 17th Jake's Leg Cicero's
Fri. Dec. 17th The Schwag Mississippi Nights
Sat. Dec. 18th Static Circus (CD Release Party) / Zen Mothers Cicero's
Wed. Dec. 22nd Bochman's Euphio / Brother Jed Cicero's
Thur. Dec. 23rd Pepperland Cicero's
Wed. Dec. 29th Ambigous They / Voodoo Moose Cicero's
Thur. Dec. 30th EM Grueve Cicero's
Fri. Dec. 31st Jake's Leg / The Schwag **8 PM Start** Cicero's
Fri. Dec. 31st Vitamin A 313 Belleville, MO
Fri. Jan 14th Torque The Famous Bar
Fri. Feb. 4th moe. Mississippi Nights

Just wanted to fill you in on the hottest stocking stuffer in town! Easter Seals, Happy Joe's pizza and SMEC Records are sponsoring a compilation music CD that features the best in Quad-City groups and musicians. It's called "A Taste Of Quad-City Music" and it can be found as of this Saturday, December 4th at the stores that I've listed below.

It sells for $10.99 (pretty cheap for a CD these days!) and features 12 tracks, including songs by Ellis Kell, Einstein's Sister, Strange Neighbors, Shane Johnson's Blue Train, Jungle Dogs, Billy Peiffer and Iowa, The Love Dogs, Phyllis Wethington, Spatterdash and The Truesdells. TEN DOLLARS of each $10.99 sales goes directly to Easter Seals (the other dollar goes to each store that has agreed to carry the CD).

If you don't live in the QC area, but would like a copy of the CD, call 1-800-997-SMEC for details OR log on to www.smecrecords.com after December 6th and get info online)

-Chris Bonney President, Slow-Moving Earth Creature Records 1-800-997-SMEC 18W221 Buckingham Lane VIlla Park, IL 60181 CBBonney@aol.com

TORQUE info:

TORQUE background: Guitar/Vox: Joe Balestreri Bass/Vox: Andy Coco Drums/Vox: Josh Pearce

Since visiting Jazzfest for the first time in 1995, I have been returning each year, to invariably get blown away by what I see as a convergence of great improvisational jazz and deep groove funk. I began the search for like-minded players after the 1998 fest and finally, via a newspaper ad, I found Joe Balestreri. He mentioned his interest in creating an original funk/groove band drawing on the influences of Medeski, Martin and Wood, Phish, Galactic, and Fela Kuti. We started swapping tapes and ideas, and met Josh through a friend. TORQUE was formed in April of 1999.

We've written 13 original songs since then, and cover about 12 tunes from the Meters, Galactic, MMW/Scofield, Greyboy Allstars, Smilin Myron & Taj Mahal. Our originals have been described as "funky" & "jazzy," but our music is most similar to a very funk-based Phish. We use some jazz chords, but its feels more like gypsy-groove-rock than jazz to me. (Everybody seems to describe it differently!) One thing they agree on, the rhythms are funky and the sound is tight.

We're playing at:

Red Sea- December 16 (likely w/Harvest?)
Famous Bar- January 14

The Q Bar

211 IOWA AVENUE, IOWA CITY, IA 52240 (319)337-9107

DECEMBER 1999 BAND SCHEDULE

DATE BAND COVER CHARGE

DECEMBER

16(thu) from Ames, IA THE NADAS - (acoustic/roots rock)

from Iowa City, IA special guests: PORCH BUILDER

17(fri) from Iowa City, IA TBA - ()

from Springfield, MO special guests: FERN

18(sat) from Madison,WI NATTY-NATION - (reggae)

For more information about entertainment, contact RiverCities Productions, attn: MIKE SZWAYA @ (309)793-0085/ 794-6461 fax

Nebraska Report

Paul L. "Pro" Pearson, Ph.D.

October and early November were particularly good for music, if not strictly jambands, in Nebraska. Merle Saunders and Melvin Seals performed a solid show at Knickerbocker's in Lincoln on Oct 10th and Burning Spear packing 700+ into the Royal Grove in Lincoln on the 15th.

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic rocked Sokol Hall in Omaha on Oct 24th-word is that the show was cool, but the sound wasn't the hottest. Former Omaha ska cats 311 reportedly tore the roof off of Sokol in their sold-out appearance in October. Strange Pleasures teamed up with S.O.U.P. (aka Grateful Dudes) for a Knickerbocker's (Lincoln NE) show on the 16th and again on Oct. 30th at the Saddle Creek in Omaha for the annual Halloween bash. The 16th show was a definite highlight of the month for me. How often can you say, "I flew in from Hong Kong for the show tonight..."? The Dudes took the stage first (a definite rarity) and ripped off a fantastic set that included "China Doll", a stellar "Uncle John's Band-->Playin In the Band" jam, and an unexpected "Eyes of the World" before ending with "Let the River Flow." Strange Pleasures then picked up where they left off with a slow burning "Porch Song" that built tempo and tension until the tight 'give it up' break to end. The original "I Don't Want To" began immediately, followed by "Lyin' in the Sun" with some tight type II jamming. A superb rockin' "Lovelight" featuring Scott Moore on keys, moved easily into a rocked-up "Brothers" that melded it's way into a spacey light funk before heading into a short and sweet "Poor Heart." Shawn Russell, formerly of Ripple Effect, then joined on vocals for "Tangled Up in Blue." "Steve's Anti-Gov't Rag" went ballistic-starting off with funk breaks, hitting into a crazy type II powered by Erik Blomenkamp's guitar, merging into a funk rhythm from guitarist Greg Beebe and landing into a break down with a key explosion from Moore that went Floydian in a hurry. The jam didn't end there, as a "China Cat Sunflower" tease went back into a fast "Steve's" jam with "Bathtub Gin" teases before ending. (The Strange Pleasures set is available on CD for B&P-email your request to pro@strangepleasures.com.)

Listening Example #9 from Kearney, NE made their Omaha debut at the Saddle Creek on October 28th, opening for Strange Pleasures and debuting 6 new originals. This talented young band has a lot of potential, especially in the person of Stuart Dietz on guitar. The usual Omaha crowd was duly impressed, and some more stage time for these cats will improve their show rapidly. The originals "Five O Clock Shadow" to open and the hilarious "Hermaphrodite Dog" were highlights. The Strange Pleasures set included a trippy jam intro into a solid "Dogs"-->"Franklin's Tower"-->chaos jam. "Fluffhead" (with "Give Up the Funk" bass teases) segued into "Steve's Anti-Gov't Rag" featuring a type II jam infused with keyboardist Moore's version of MMW's "Bubblehouse." This was picked up by the rest of the band before heading back into "Steve's" ending jam mixed with "China Cat Sunflower" and "Bathtub Gin" nods.

The annual Grateful Dudes Halloween Party at the Saddle Creek was another flat-out bash. Strange Pleasures opened the night with a five song set to get the crowd in the mood for the Dudes. A crowd of 175 or so was in full regalia as the Dudes threw down some nuggets in the form of Samson & Delilah, followed by Throwing Stones-->Not Fade Away--> Goin Down the Road Feelin' Bad to close out the first set. Everyone was "Feelin' Alright" as the second set got going into "Sugar Magnolia-->Sunshine Daydream." The night ended with a crowd pleasing "I Need a Miracle" merging into an abbreviated "The Other One" (sans vocals).

The Big Wu played Knickerbocker's on Nov.3 (but I was unable to attend). I also got a report back from the Medeski, Martin and Wood show in Des Moines on November 8-a full house (~1200) was present, as was DJ Logic. The sound was great and the band was en fuego, playing a two hour set of favorites and 'out there' jams, moving at will.

Upcoming Strange Pleasures dates through December 31:

December

Thursday December 16 Saddle Creek, Omaha NE 9-1, 21+,$6, penny pitchers with special guests: Sun Cured Red (Oklahoma) www.suncuredred.com

Thursday December 23 Christmas at the Creek, Omaha NE 9-1, 21+,$6, penny pitchers A full night of Santa Pleasures...

Thursday December 30 Saddle Creek, Omaha NE 9-1, 21+,$6, penny pitchers with special guests: TBA

Friday December 31 A Pleasurably Strange New Year Knickerbocker's,9th and O Streets, Lincoln NE details to follow...