Wise Monkey Madness

With my Cyclones' uncharacteristic early exit from the tournament, it's time to focus on the music of March Madness. It must be almost spring or something, because there's some good shows coming through the midwest...and elsewhere. The first "Nebraska" in Nebraska from moe., a Jazz Mandolin Project, and upcoming appearances from Umphrey's McGee and Galactic have been melting the snow. But, sometimes you get out of town and you get Wise.

About two and a half years ago I sent in an article on mixing sound to the staff at a cool new online magazine called Jambands.com. Shortly thereafter they made this neophyte an editor and started sending me discs to review. One of the first (and best) I received back in February '99 was Wise Monkey Orchestra's "Make Believe." Something in that haunting voice and soulful sound stuck with me. I've been chasing them ever since, hoping that one day they'd happen to be playing where I was traveling. Pick as unlikely a place as Salt Lake City, Utah and a crazy little private club called the Dead Goat Saloon-and a company software meeting...and my chase ended it's first phase. Now I'm waiting for show #2...

San Diego is the place WMO calls home...but their home is larger than a city or a state or even a continent. There's something inherently visceral about the music that WMO emits-from the funk/jazz rhythms to Alley's soothing yet haunting voice-that triggers a response in the brain stem. It's just a part of you waiting to be released from its subordinate role in the daily grind of higher cognitive functions. But, as those primitive centers are stimulated, the lyrics land somewhere up the chain and connect the dots between our arrogant existence and our basic, human biological frailty. Somewhere, sometime, evolution made the monkey wise-but he has yet to understand why. How fitting that the wise monkey have an orchestra devoted solely to channeling the emotions he's wrestling with? Nothing better to pass the time...connect the dots.

The Dead Goat proves elusive to find. We find 100S and W. Temple easy enough, and there are a couple of clubs, but no Dead Goat. After passing the Salt Lake Police 3 or 4 times in Temple Square, we decided to hit the ramp, walk and ask. "It's down the alley!!" Tucked back into a dark little alley, the skull on the sign leaves no doubt. But this story isn't about the alley, it's about THE Alley.

Anyone who chooses to imbibe and has visited Utah knows that the liquor laws are whacked. The Dead Goat is a private club, thus they can serve liquor, and we are informed that the band is 'hosting us in' tonight, we pay our cover, are issued temporary memberships and make our way through the main bar back into the 'club'. It's small, not much stage-the band has been on for awhile, two small monitors on crates and cases in front of the stage. The band wraps up their jam and merges into Lipps, Inc.. There are 150 or so grooving in this little rustic room-the square wooden dance floor has a few more couples and a few less spinners than I would expect, and the crowd is decidedly less 'hippie' than the stereotypical jamband venue. The band is working them into it as they end the disco and bust into "Speak To Me." More begin to make their way toward the stage as the horns heat up. My first thoughts on my 'Courtyard Marriott' notepad are "Alley's a DISH!!" This is a beautiful woman from California on stage holding court. As part of that visceral connection, at some point everyone close will be watching her and her eyes will lock with thiers-and there will be a transfer of energy. She may catch you staring, but her look will just acknowledge, thank you and make you smile. The transfer may be empathic, and the next line she sings channels the emotion you were feeling. Maybe she's been there and just understands. As the set wraps, I'm chatting with band manager Reed Stewart, who's selling merch tonight. He pulls some of the guys over to chat:

The Band-Wise Monkey Orchestra
The Venue-Dead Goat Saloon, Salt Lake City, UT
The Date-3/9/01

SL-Pro
S-Sean Hart, keys, etc.
M-Marty Schwartz, guitar
J-Jason, sax
AG-Andy Geib, trombone, flute
R-Reed Stewart, manager

SL-Despite the small room, you guys are sounding good tonight. Is this your regular sound guy or house?

R-House guy. Our sound guy is in college. Sean's really the sound guy 'in the band,' among other things.

S-Sound, drummer, keys, bassist, smuggler, driver...

SL-Guys, what are some of your influences musically?

M-Spinal Tap, Stevie Wonder...

AG-jazz, Coltrane and Cannonball, reggae-Burning Spear's horn section and all the Bob Stuff...

S-Gong, Ozric Tentacles, James Brown, Miles, Herbie Hancock, Black Sabbath...

M-And don't forget the Grateful Dead.

S-Yeah, we love the Dead...and hippies, we love them too.

(collective laughter)

SL-Tonight you're working with only two small monitors onstage. How do you guys get things done with the wind instruments on top of the electric?

M-I'm the last in priority.

J-And potentially the loudest...

R-But Marty's the glue that keeps everything together. Without him, we're done.

J-Basically Alley gets what she needs, then we fight over the rest.

SL-Of course she does...You guys are tight, you play a lot of the funky, jazzy stuff a'la James Brown-how do you guys get into 'the jam,' and what have you been doing that's new?

J-We try to be balanced, and really get into a tight groove. Once we've got it going, then we get a little weird.

M-We're definitely in a funky vibe. We toured the East Coast and listened to a lot of bands-New Deal, Sector 9. Sean does some DJ and we've been doing more electronic trance just for S&G's. We're also doing less gigs. We did over 200 shows last year. This is our first tour since last spring and we've only done about 4-5 shows a month for the last six.

SL-Has that affected your playing together?

M-We do more listening.

J-The gigs have all been special and they've had more of a 'family' feel.

SL-What are some of the clubs you've played that have stuck out over the past couple of years? Places where the crowd or vibe was really good...

S-Recher Theater, Quixotes in Denver-their food was great...

R-The Firehouse

S-The Water Street in Rochester NY, the Recipe's Cookout...

SL-You guys mentioned communication earlier. What are some of the cues you use?

S-Like when somebody screws up and is a half-step down? I like the 'eyebrow.'

AG-Or the 'chicken eye.' (glancing out the side of his contorted face with a furrowed brow) Alley's got the fake toothy smile that's like "What the fuck you doin'?"

SL-Looks like it's time for you to get back up there. Thanks for the chat. Tear it up!

We all wander back into the 'music room' of the Dead Goat and Reed and I continue our conversation during the second set...the band's playing "Why Don't You?" R-This is a tribute to a slacker friend of ours. He's one of the funniest guys, but he just kinda exists. He talks about stuff that he never does. One of the lines is "you always say you will but you know that you won't."

SL-Alley's got a great stage presence-she's really in control up there.

R-She's the toughest chick, I know. Since I've known her I've seen her drunk, waving a gun-out of control, but yet in control, you know? Now she's a kick ass mother and puts her energy into that. She's expecting her third child, so we won't be touring as much this summer. But that means we'll probably be back in the studio and back at it again late this fall...

SL-Thanks, Reed!

The second set rips, even though the crowd tails off halfway through. Many are grooving away lost and happy. My fellow groovers from the east, Tami and Paul, are locked in. "Waitress" becomes one of my new favorites. The horns faintly remind me of Chicago at times...Alley steps off stage to let the band break down and do its thing. Marty pulls out the harp and starts blowing. Then he rips into a guitar solo. The band jumps back in one by one and Sean throws in a Pink Floyd tease, the jam gels and thickens and, yes, incorporates some Bisco-esque East Coast funk jamming. This is the groove of the night, and Alley comes back up to finish it all out.

Two years I've waited to see WMO, and now the wait is on again. Reed assures me that WMO will be venturing my way in the future-I'm sure they'll be somewhere near you as well. Use their vibe to heal, use their sound to soothe, use their groove to get closer to unraveling the wise monkey's mystery....Check out their new live CD "They Live" and see what the fuss is all about.

Pro
pro@jambands.com

Levels Links:

www.wisemonkey.com Wise Monkey Orchestra's website. Get all the info and tunes.