Tapir Productions to Save National Smog Capital!

There should be some beautiful musical strains running through the smog-laden skies of America's most polluted megalopolis in the coming years. Houston's all new Tapir Productions is proud to announce our first official musical happening. Our mission is to bring jambands, bluegrass and newgrass to the 4th largest city in the U.S. (apparently a novel idea here in Space City). All shows will be taper-friendly (get it?), though soundboard access will not necessarily be available at all shows. So, bring your audience recording gear and your own power supply, and we'll provide a nurturing attitude and space for you to set up :-)

For our first event, we have a unique double bill with two incredible bands, both of whom clearly put out the kind of energy and styles of music we are hoping to promote. They are also interconnected by some of their tunes, and close ties to both the Dead and bluegrass circles.

The David Nelson Band and Peter Rowan's Texas Trio

Wednesday, June 7, 2000
8:30 PM (doors open at 7PM)

Last Concert Cafe 1403 Nance St.
Houston, TX
713-226-8563

Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.

Peter Rowan's Texas Trio (Peter, Billy Bright and Bryn Davies of theTwo High String Band on mandolin and bass respectively) will open the show at 8:30 PM with an approximately 75 minute set. It is anticipated (though not guaranteed) that David Nelson (and perhaps members of DNB) will join Peter's trio for one or more tunes.

The David Nelson Band will then play two full (primarily electric) sets, finishing when they just can't stand up any longer :-) It is anticipated that Peter Rowan will join them for several tunes during the first set (and perhaps the second???). Mr. Rowan & Mr. Nelson are very psyched to get an opportunity to play together, and we expect the vibe to be VERY KIND :-) The DNB sets will likely finish around 2 AM.

The Last Concert Cafe is an outdoor venue with an indoor Mexican restaurant. We'll be there Rain or (moon) Shine :-)

All ages are welcome. A fine assortment of beer and other alcoholic beverages will only be served to those with proof of legal age.

For those who are not immediately familiar with the bands:

Peter Rowan is one of the finest writers and vocalists of the bluegrass and newgrass genres. He played with Bill Monroe (as a Bluegrass Boy) early in his career, and was a founding member of many bluegrass "supergroups" over the years. Many will be most familiar with his work as singer/guitar player/composer for the legendary Old & In The Way (Rowan, Jerry Garcia, Vassar Clements, John Kahn and David Grisman), which still boasts the best selling bluegrass album of all times. Peter wrote many of the tunes that you know and love from that album, including Panama Red, Hobo Song and Midnight Moonlight. Peter is no stranger to outdoor music festivals, where he is a headliner and where he thrives on guest appearances with the hottest players available. Recent collaborations with String Cheese Incident have become "legendary" in jamband circles. The Texas Trio includes two wonderful young pickers from the Two-High String Band out of Austin, and they can play it all from bluegrass to reggae to newgrass. They are truly the Free Mexican Airforce!

David Nelson has also been involved with many forms of music over the years, and is most well known as a founding member of the New Riders of the Purple Sage (also including Jerry Garcia at its inception), a guest artist on three early Grateful Dead studio albums and as a touring member of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. David is also well-versed in traditional bluegrass and newgrass, and has recently toured with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield. The DNB has become one of the hottest touring jambands in the country, including recent shows as part of the Phil Lesh & Friends series. In addition to original compositions, they play classic Dead tunes (The Wheel, Cumberland Blues), Cold Rain & Snow, Panama Red, Lonesome L.A. Cowboy and a host of others. David is joined by a terrific cohort of players including Barry "Little Bear" Sless on electric lead guitar and pedal steel guitar (he was a member of Kingfish and he has recently been touring with the Zen Tricksters as well), Mookie Siegel on keyboards (has toured with Kingfish, Ratdog and others), Bill Laymon on bass (Jefferson Starship-TNG, NRPS, JGB, Big Brother, Kingfish and others) and Arthur Steinhorn (NRPS, Kingfish) and/or Charlie Crane (Cowboy Jazz & Uptown Rhythm Kings) on drums.

For advance tickets, stop by the Last Concert Cafe or e-mail us at: Tapir Productions

This is going to be a really special night of music and partying, so please come out and support our first show, which we hope is just the tip of the musical iceberg.

To make the offer more interesting for those of you who are not from the area, the DNB/Rowan Trio have also agreed to play at the Mercury Lounge in Austin, TX the following night--6/8/00. Their phone number is 512-478-MERC. We suggest you come to both shows, as the traveling is easy and the music will be something to remember :-)

Alan Freidman & Gary Hartman

  Big Breakfast
The Mercury - Austin, TX - April 15, 2000

By Eric Rothschild

The second annual Mercury Music Festival was in full swing in its second night as Big Breakfast took stage with a number of special guests. Their experimental groove infused journey into the virgin realms of free jazz and much more started out slow, but eased its way into an rhythmical experience of rasta vibes that weren't shy to space in your face riffs on the guitar, splattered with a DJ's scratching and a number of horns.

"At Ease Dub" shot the groove straight into the vein, slowly working itself into intergalactic craziness with turntables that from time to time grew redundant, but made for an interesting layer nonetheless. As each song gave way to avant-garde weirdness, the core members of the group would bring things back to perspective with tight rhythms that rang loose between the wood paneled floors and ceiling of the Mercury.

Cameron Rodgers steady drumming and Kyle Hunts planet funk keys brought in a stifling "Sunghi Lee" that went from rocking to rolling to an Indian cobra dance that brought the listener back to earth with the "wake-a-wake-a-wake up" lyrics that were released freely, emancipating the listener from the mellow vibe induced trance.

Austin diva Laura Scarborough sat in for a few tunes, gracing the stage with her smooth "zoom zoom zooms" that took us all to a beautiful place. The steady thumping of Chris Howard's bass helped us find that place in the mind, and Hunt would pound the nail in the ethereal coffin of bliss with stirring shots on the Moog. All this was complimented by the subtle, but steadfast percussions of Carmelo Torres, as well as Ed and Randy on trumpet and sax.

Big Breakfast and Co. continually laid down a foundation for spiraling towers of sounds, which led to the improvisational comet of the evening as the Zappadelic "Little Jimmy Likes Natural Peanut Butter" crashed head on into a cover of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew". Jaws had dropped, but were swept up quickly, there was one more band to go for the evening.

Derek Trucks Band The Fabulous Satellite Lounge
Houston, TX - 4/20/2000

by Chris Gardner and Barney Issen

The irony did not escape me as I drove home to grab my 1973 birth certificate to prove to an unconvinced doorman that I was old enough to watch a 20-year-old kid play guitar. The Fabulous Satellite booked local bluesman Mark May to open the show, possibly fearing that the youngster would not draw the crowd, but the majority of the throng was asking who the old guy was.

Derek spent the evening correcting first impressions. He wowed the Allman Brothers fans with his excursions into hard jazz and reggae. He proved that, while technical brilliance is no predictor of creative lead work, he is the convergence. Oh, and he flat schooled all of those people who came to see Johnny Lang and Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

Derek plays emotively, harnessing the rare ability to tell a story with a lead that makes the great ones great. He places himself in rare company with his multiple Marley and Coltrane covers, but he fits comfortably. "Rastaman Chant" played to a sea of grins, and the "Afro Blue" encore drew a series of small eruptions and muttered questions. I am extremely pleased to see so many bands drawing from the Miles/Coltrane well lately. SCI, Zero, MMW, Derek Trucks all make heavy use of the hard jazz standards. I especially like the trend of taking what were originally conceived as abstract pieces and retaining the angular melody line, but overlaying a strong funky bass line. Among a lot of jam bands today Miles and Trane (as well as Bill Monroe and Bob Marley) are becoming even more of a common touchstone (the canon if you will) than the Dead, which I see as a very positive trend. This was also a very jazz-savvy audience: I was speculating on how rewarding and encouraging it must be for the band to see people in the audience doing high-fives and mouthing "Afro-Blue!!" when they started the encore.

Derek chooses his touchstones carefully. Bob's sense of melody is rarely paralleled, and Coltrane couples his heartfelt lyricism with those trademark blistering blankets of sound. To say that Derek Trucks belongs in the same sentence with those two is virtual blasphemy, but we have on our hands here a foolishly talented kid who knows where he wants to be. If he solely mimicked the lines and styles of his predecessors with his own tone, there would be no discussion, but Trucks is searching for his voice through mimickery and finding it. His finger-picked leads do truly tell a story, stepping further and further from the theme, reaching, stretching, and expanding before resolving back into the theme.

Despite his stone-faced stage presence, Trucks feels it all. His willingness, even eagerness, to drop to a near whisper in a noisy bar is admirable, as many would feel challenged to blister all night long.

And perhaps that is the key. Derek knows he has to prove himself and convert the skeptics every night, but he doesn't come every night to prove himself. He steps to the front of the stage unfazed and stioc, plugs in, picks up the slide, and reaches out to find his voice, casually converting every set of ears in the house.

To see pictures of the show, checkout Larry Fox's Picture Page

Robert Walter's 20th Congress The Mercury
Austin, TX
April 24-25
ByEric Rothschild

The jazz, funk and soul revolution has been going on for quite some time now, blurring the lines between three styles of music that share similar roots. As the musical landscapes continue to shift, musicians are creating sounds that are as explosive as the plate techtonics below the Earth. Like an eruption in the Pacific Rim, or an earthquake in the Bay City, San Diego's 20th Congress has burst upon the scene with a vigor that could withstand any number of natural disasters.

Led by keyboard maestro Robert Walter's, 20th Congress delivered two nights of funk infused jazz psychedelia to a rapt crowd at the Mercury. Each night, Monday and Tuesday, the crowds shuffled in wearing faces that were tired by a long weekend and the beginning of a new work week, but after the show, all in attendance left with nothing but sweat and smiles.

Monday night, local yokels Papa Mali and the Instigators took the stage to warm things up, opening the floodgates of swamp rock and blistering blues with several originals, then spicing things up with a fiery cover of Dr. John's "Walk On Guilded Splinters". Papa Mali and the Instigators performed several songs off of their new album, Thunder Chicken, including "Bon Ton Roulet" and "South Austin Lullaby" - an especially sweet tribute to some of the finer places in town.

On Tuesday night, San Francisco's Vinyl took the opening slot. Their fusion of Latin jazz and fluid funk had the crowd up and dancing in no time. A little over halfway through the set the members of 20th Congress joined their tour buddies up on stage for an all star jam that showed off some of the hottest talent of the left coast.

A little before midnight, Robert Walter's and his band of merry funkadelics took stage. As Walter's grinded down on the Fender Rhodes, Cochemea Gastelum set fire to the stage with his sax and its multiple effects, creating a sound unheard since the Congress' last visit to town. The new rhythm section, Chuck Prada (percussions), Chris Stillwell (bass) and George Sluppick (drums), was extremely tight, keeping the groove going until two thirty in the morning.

Highlights of the show included Walter's original composition "Quanico, VA" with its ragtime keys and explosive chorus and the space funk odyssey "Corry's Snail & Slug Death". A cover of Kool and the Gang's "Good Times" was also a nice treat, as the band was joined by Vinyl's Doug Thomas and Danny Cao on horns.

Follow the link to see pictures and hear some clips from the show.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe
The Rialto Theatre
Tucson, AZ
Friday, April 28, 2000
By Glenn Alexander

The opportunity came out of the blue. My roommate told me some guy from the Grey All-stars was performing in Tucson and inquired whether I wanted to go. In an instant I said, "Hell yeah!" and we were out the door. From the time we left to the time we got into Tucson, we had no idea whether we would get in. We met a friend down there who said we could get in for free, so we gave it a shot. After five minutes of trying to find a back door, Lauren (our Tucson friend) stumbles upon an opening. After some conspicuous talking, trying to rationalize our need to get in for free, the door pops open and we slide in through the backstage.

The first thing I see is the drummer, a large guy with braids, slappin' on the kit like there is no tomorrow. The funk is in the air. When we get out on to the floor from the side of the stage, we see an orgy of funky, gyrating movements emanating, the essence of the crowd. I don't know any of the songs. All I can tell you is that Karl Denson and his "Tiny Universe" know how to kick down an intelligent, funky, and extremely danceable beat without much hesitation.

The line-up went like this: From left to right---keyboards, bass, Ephriam Owens on trumpet (wow), Karl on two different saxes, flute, and some African percussion instruments, the drummer in the center back, percussionist to the right(who was the new guy), and finally the awe- inspiring guitarist. Being a guitar player, I am on a constant journey to hear and expose myself to new guitarists. This guy played directly, creatively, funkily, and persuasively. To put it simply, he is amazing.

Karl, a devilishly handsome fellow, plays his winds like tomorrow ain't comin' at all. His, as well as the bands energy, were unparalleled that night--they performed one of the most danceable shows I have ever, ever seen.

They weaved in and out of songs, with Karl often leading the way through simple gestures and sometimes obvious glances. There was an overwhelming sense of funk in this show, but there were still those unmistakable elements that were easily recognizable. There was hip-hop, jazz (of course), and a good amount of TLC via the soul roots. These guys played two long sets and never, ever let up. After the show, we went to the after party at some house. It was some local guys and Ephriam Owens, the trumpet player from Austin. We left around three o'clock and the guys were still jamming. Karl and the other guys were leisurely hanging about the party, just feelin' the groove. If you want to go see a show so you can dance your head off, go see these guys. They are, in my mind, the epitome of a band that holds on to the musical roots that make music real, yet never underestimate the power of the improv jam(which there was plenty of).

Sun Ra Arkestra The Mercury
Austin, TX
May 11, 2000
By Eric Rothschild

Cosmic Charlie came tearing down from the Austin heavens wielding four saxophones, two trumpets, a few trombones, a bass guitar, a guitar, drums, percussions and a few more instruments that either went nameless or were uncountable. The show started out at the planet Mercury, but we trekked to Saturn, Jupiter and maybe even Mars, our means of travel - The Sun Ra Arkestra.

Between the 14 or 15 artists on stage, each player had at least 20 years of playing experience, probably more, so you do the math (I know at least two of the Arkestra members mentioned they'd been playing since 1951!). The music was a rift between space and time, orchestrated perfectly by a leader enamored in sequins and a saxophone, and a band dressed just as accordingly. All eyes were on the leader for a majority of the show, until they'd fade into thin slices of white and pupil - musical oblivion - or the eyes would roll back to into the players head, exploring a world unknown to mere mortals like you and I.

The Arkestra laid down tight grooves, three knees deep in jazz tradition, than would take off into the 21st, 22nd and maybe even 23rd centuries. They greeted the new millennium with blazing horns that would blast off into outer space, then return with the precision of Big Bands of Jazz Ages past. When the horns weren't doing the talking, band members were. They invited the crowd to ride the cosmic dust to the stars, and looking around, we had left the bar and were traveling the long distance ride - star gazing, eyes open, hearing the roar - it was true, the millennium is where we are.

The Colorado Round-up
By Jeff Buske

It's been quite a month, and the time has been right for dancin'! The end of April saw such good shows as Runaway Truckramp (from Colorado), I caught them at Quixote's True Blue, Aurora, CO's own deadhead/intimate live music bar. They are a top-notch bluegrass/ rock band and are a hell of a lot of fun to see live. Besides their originals they do a great cover of Paul Simon's Graceland as well as Dylan's "Country Pie". Towards the end of the week, I caught Derek Trucks Band and John Scofield at the Gothic Theater. This show was listed as a double bill, but false advertising aside, it was D.T.B. opening for Scofield. It was a real drag to show up just as Derek and band were playing their last number. Just this glimpse of Trucks showed me what a great talent he is. The song I caught went from a Row Jimmy>dark star> three blind mice ala whipping post> flute solo and back again. Scofield then came out and got funky. With his new band, he played several selections from Bump. He was having a great time and seemed to be drawing most from his recent catalog. When Derek was finally invited up to play, he wasn't given much space, but he was still able to rip off a couple of stellar slide guitar solos. I was almost afraid to touch my guitar after this show!

On 4/20, I returned to Quixote’s to catch Portland’s Jackstraw for another night of bluegrass. Jackstraw uses all strings with no percussion. They sounded really nice, with the stand up bass providing the backbeat. They played some originals as well as a few Bill Monroe tunes, and a great version of Bob Dylan's "You Ain't going Nowhere". They also invited a lap steel player to jam with them and had a banjo player from Boulder sit in the entire show.

The following Sat. I caught Austin, Texas' own Larry. I had heard of Larry, but this was my first chance to check them out. They were a lot of fun, with a bunch of eclectic instruments and percussion. They also displayed a big Widespread influence and pulled out a jammin' Chilly Water. They also had some great originals that sometimes seemed to me like a psychedelic Misfits. Later, this same week,

I caught the great Steve Kimock and his all-star band at the bluebird theater in Denver, a sold out show. They played some great KVHW tunes as well as some Zero (Tangled Hangers), I was reminded just what an awesome guitarist he is. His Stella Blue done on lap steel never fails to move an audience. The encore of Day in The Life (Beatles) was just outrageous with Pete Sears adding some nice keys.

Another super fun show was by the great showman himself, BECK. If you aren't hip to Beck, it's time to catch his show. He really out does himself with a rather large band complete with horns. He proceeded to tear the new Magness Arena at Denver University to the ground. At one point a giant bed with velvet sheets descended from the ceiling with Beck doing his Prince impression circa 1983. He even played a pseudo-Fire on the Mt. The end of the show was really bizarre with the band being consumed by giant hoses that came from the top of the arena. If you've seen the movie Brazil, you have an idea of how strange it was.

When the weekend rolled around, it was time to drive to Lawrence, Kansas for the Omega Fest. Festival!!! This was my first camp-out of the season, and it was a blast! I caught The Schwag on Friday, a very strong Dead cover band. This was a nicely produced festival by Chuck Baker. During the Schwag's second set, there was a bubble machine producing large bubbles from the back and large fireworks over head, as well as the ever present glow sticks. What a trippy night! The Schwag played a quadruple encore! After the show a, steel drum band played near a huge bonfire all night.

The next day , the same drum collective played as well as Floodplain Gang, a reggae band called Blue Riddum, a few local bands with cute little kids joining in, and then the Saturday night headliner, The Big Wu. I had never had a chance to see The Wu live, and they were amazing. The Wu's own House of Wu, Let the Good Times Roll, and the encore of Terrapin stand out it my mind. Definitely a fest to remember, I recommend going to the Omega Fest in August as well as The Schwag's own Schwagstock. The jam band scene just keeps getting better and better, and summer is right around the bend. See ya at Red Rocks!

An Incident in Austin

by Jason Powers

A String Cheese Incident is which of the following:

  1.. Headline in the local paper detailing a gruesome  murder at a restaurant involving greasy appetizers.

  2.. The distended feeling in your stomach brought on  by an all night binge on cheap micro-brew and shrink wrapped mozzarella sticks

  3.. The happiest, grooviest, fusion bluegrass,  improvisational jazz, rock and roll, reggae, afro-pop, western ballad,  classic guitar rock, and blues, band to present themselves to the music  loving public in a long, long time.

Take your time, think hard. Still not sure? Well  String Cheese Incident is a Boulder, CO based quintet that sets new standards  for what a jam-band can do on stage. What can they do? They can  deliver Michael Kang, who will play the 5 & 8 string mandolin so  beautifully and skillfully that to leave him out of a list of the  most talented guitarists (the 8 string basically delivers the same  tonality of a guitar) playing right now would more than likely get  you arrested in Utah. When he's done blowing your hat off with his  picking licks, he'll bring you to tears with a violin solo that touches  parts of your soul you didn't know existed. Can they deliver more, you ask?  How about Michael Travis who plays drums and percussion that you could  set a clock by, Bill Mosely's bass guitar rounds out a rhythm section that  could hold together a house of cards in a hurricane, Bill Nershi who is only  slightly removed from the best rhythm guitarists around, and Kyle Hollingsworth's  animated and  at times brilliantly colorful keyboard fills and solos that can make you  cry and in the next instant dry your tears with a smile.

Is that all? How  about the technical skill to perform a flawless musical segue from a bluegrass  standard into a body groovin rendition of Bob Marley's Bend Down Low,  making sure to include a lightning fast guitar rock jam and a bit of  ambient space just for good measure, then do it again and again and again.  Think, 75-90 minute sets with a grand total of maybe 2 minutes rest for  tuning, drinking water and other such band related goings on.

Anything  else, you may be asking? Well, on March 30 - April 1, 2000, they took 1,200  people from all over the country including the entire spectrum of socio-economic  backgrounds, education, race, religion, and color, packed them into  Stubbs' amphitheater for 3 nights and sent every single one of them away  smiling and dancing. Still not impressed? Consider that they have been  widely regarded as "the happiest band on earth," They play more than 160 tour dates a year, they play every song from the first set opener to the encore with the conviction of purpose of Tommy Chong at a NORML convention, they smile  the whole time, and make you smile in spite of yourself. Walking through   a concert (you're only allowed to call it a concert once, after that it's  an Incident, which is a more accurate name anyway) you'll  notice hula-hoops lying around the place or spinning around the  waist of some merry reveler. Go ahead, try it yourself. I'm still not  sure if they belong to anyone, no one seemed to mind when I picked a  neglected one out and tried my hardest to make it work (let me emphasize  here that I have never been so impressed as when I saw a girl of no more  than 16 hooping in perfect time with the music. If you doubt, check it out for  yourself). If you see a kid holding up a hand-made cardboard sign reading  "Free Hugs," (don't ask him if it says free nugs, you're not the first  one to do it, so why bother) he's serious. Go ahead and give him one, no  one will laugh at you, you'll feel better about yourself and the kid  hugs with enough conviction to make you believe that he's known you your  whole life.

"So Jason," you say to yourself as if I were there with you, "this band can't possibly be as good as you say."  Unfortunately I'm not a music major by any stretch of the imagination but I can tell you this though, the sounds that came from the  stage on those three nights may very well have been the most perfect  thing my ears have ever heard. I can't explain it in musical jargon, but  I can tell you that they walked on stage at 8:30 on a Thursday night and  never played a note that sounded anything but divine. Not at any second in  three days of playing was there too much or not enough of anything. Every  song fit and flowed from the previous one as if it were a symphony arranged  by a master. While fans of jam bands usually tend to focus more on the  instrumental jammed sections than the vocals, to not mention the vocals  would not be fair to the band. If you're looking for the kind of vocal  acrobatics of Mariah Carey or Celine Dion you may be disappointed, but  compare them vocally with 95% of "pop-culture" radio icons and even other  bands in the genre, and it's a hands down no contest first round knock  out. Funny thing is, if they had done nothing but play the music the way  they did and not sing a single word I would have walked away a happy man.

And the contents of their lyrics you may ask? You won't mistake them  for Bob Dylan, but you also won't find any thing remotely resembling the  anger, hatred, angst, frustration, oppression, sarcasm, poor me-ism,  or I'm sick and tired of my new-car-driving-college-going-daddy's credit  card having situation so I'm going to tear shit up attitude that seems to  be gaining widespread popularity. The perfect mixture of fluff and  substance. You'll find a band that openly, and proudly tells the world,  "There is no better voyage, than one filled with love," which was  read on stage during a concert on Halloween 1999.

Well then, the only question left to ask is what  can't they do? Let's see, as far as I know, they haven't ever played a  set standing on their heads. I don't think that they could ride a unicycle  downhill while balancing a plate of fine crystal on their heads, and  they obviously can't control the weather (final set of the stand turned  acoustic when rain shorted the amps), but really who can fault them for  that. If you mean what can't they do musically, I don't have an answer  for you. I watched intently for 3 nights. I listened, paid attention  to the way that they seemed to feel and the way that they made me and those  around me feel, and it all came back to the fact that I couldn't  imagine anything better than what I saw for 3 nights in Austin. I don't assert that these 5 men are the very best musicians that have ever  played. I do assert this with out pause however, String Cheese Incident  came together in Austin just over a month ago and redefined the way that I listen to music.

Certain events happen  in life that are significant to us in one way or another. Graduation,  wedding day, birth of a child, etc. are all obvious choices. Then there are  those that aren't so obvious, those chance happenings and random  events that don't simply touch us and leave their mark, they grab us by  the shoulders, shake us around and point us toward the light. I'm not married  and my college graduation seems to get further away the longer I go, but when  I drove toward home on I-35 south on Sunday April 2, I was different.  I didn't look different and probably didn't act drastically different,  but I had found something that weekend that was special. There probably  wasn't any mention of it in the Austin papers, but there had been an  Incident in town, and you can take it to the bank that the next time I  read of an incident within 500 miles of this place, I'll see it happen.

Am  I right? Have I missed something? Agree with me? Disagree? Questions, comments, flames, etc. always welcome at jamminsa@yahoo.com