Southwest Regional Report
Edited by Chris Gardner - chris__gardner@hotmail.com
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe - 5/29-30/99 - The Mercury
- Austin, TX
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - 4/22/99 - Stubb's
Barbecue - Austin, TX
String Cheese Incident - 5/8/99 - Stubb's Barbecue -
Austin, TX
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
The Mercury
Austin, TX
5/29 & 30/99
by Felipe Melchor
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe played at the Mercury for two nights in
a row, May 29 and 30. After seeing Karl tear it up with GBA and the
SUPERJAM, I knew these would be shows I did not want to miss. Plus the
Mercury is a great venue\bar for any show. The atmosphere was great both
nights but even better on the second night. The first night was great and
what I expected, non stop jazz funk fusion. Kalr took the stage with the
bassist from GBA, Carlos Washington on trumpet, a keyboardist, and a
guitarist.
Karl Denson of course had his usual setup :flute, two saxes, shakers(which
he
is outstanding on) and various percussion instruments. The first set
ended around 1:15 am, so we knew that they were gonna go allnight. The
second set lasted till 3:00 am. The one song from the first night that
I remember had a great theme, the chorus echoed "The MUSIC The MUSIC
Its good for your soul". They left and returned to this
theme constantly throughout the weekend. The band left with everyone in a
frenzy for more, but Karl Denson assured us that the next night was going to
fulfill. The second night did not nothing but satisfy. We got to know a
couple guys from the band while relaxing in the Galaxy Lounge before the
show. They were really nice and thankful and surprised at the great turnout
on 6th street. Karl came in, walked right to the small stage, and began
preparation, a very cool ritual to watch him prepare all of his instruments.
One could tell that the band was feeling great and they were anxious to get
the jam started. The first couple of songs were very different from other
stuff I've heard. Maybe they had different timing or something. It was
kinda hard to dance to, but the music was mind blowing. It was definitely
collective improvisation at its jazziest finest. After a couple of songs
they brought out the funk, reminiscent of a -James Brown's song(i dont know
the name of the James Brown song but it goes like this--get up,get on up,
get up) this sound was frequently visited throughout the night. Karl had a
couple of heart stopping flute solos, and when he finishes the solo he gets
going real funky like and the band jumps on in and brings the groove to full
force. The music just got better. After what seemed like a long set break
it was obvious that the club had a certain energy about it, and when the
band came on stage for the second set and they asked that all the lights be
turned off-(Ive been to the mercury numerous times but I have never seen
them turn out the stage lights). After the lights turned off, everyone knew
the music was about to get serious. The band jumped into a couple of songs
with words written by Denson. The words were rhythmic and intelligent.
There
was a song for all the ladies that brought that "Sexual Healing" feeling
among the crowd. They also jammed a great song where the words were
something like, "It's a small planet and a Tiny Universe." The vocals were
harmonized and flowed smoothly. The singing by Karl and the trumpet
player (Carlos) was outstanding.
Then came one of my highlights. Karl started a sort of rhthmic chant,
almost
tribal. The sounds he made were helped by the crowds own tribal yelling.
Soon
the place sounded like we were in the middle of a Navajo spiritual
cleansing. The band played on, refusing to let up. The people who could
not
hang into the wee hours of the night left. The dancing just got crazier,
and the music got better. They came back to "The Music The Music its good
for your soullll" and I've never seen more ear to ear smiles during a show.
The ending was almost near, but every time you thought it was over they
would
just keep going. Again they seemed to start to wind it down, and I did too.
Exhaustion was setting in, but of course they just brought the groove back
harder than before, in a way testing the strength of the great crowd and
everyone just kept on grooving. Oh yeah! During the second set the bassist
switched to guitar and vice versa, which was pretty cool. Also, the drum
solos
were quite impressive. At the end the band had nothing but thanks to the
200 or so people in the place around 4 am. I told them thanks and hoped to
see them soon. All in all, if you like jazz or funk or improv, or if you
want to
sweat your ass off to some of the grooviest music around, you definitely
can't
miss The Tiny Universe. At the end, I and alot of others felt cleansed by
the
music. It is rare that a concertgoer has this feeling, but it was
definitely
there, all you can say is ahh.. i needed that.
THE MUSIC IS GOOD FOR YOUR SSSOOOOUUUULLLLL.
Please send any and all submissions to Chris Gardner at chris__gardner@hotmail.com
