By: Joe Lang
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Jack Brass Band at the Nomad on February 1, 2006 - Photo by David de Young
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After receiving an email from Rare Medium front man Jaim Zuber and listening through their debut CD That Means You (downloadable for free on their website), I decided to check out their show at the Nomad. What I heard on the CD was pretty much a carbon copy of Soulive, which is truly a compliment because Soulive is one of the few bands keeping the Grant Green/Jimmy Smith groove-based soul jazz sound alive. That said, I had few preconceived notions going in because, according to Zuber, “the CD is a bit old and pretty much just shows what we sounded like three years ago. We've changed quite a bit since then.”
In its current state, with a very different lineup, the band has a funkier, brass-led (saxophone and trumpet) sound, more like Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe than the aforementioned straight-ahead soul jazz sound. Rare Medium started their set on a more conservative note, seemingly more like their studio recordings. The lineup change was evident as the band had a looser sound, but for the first several tunes they maintained a straight-ahead jazz structure. The band laid down a groove and the various members would solo over it. Trumpeter Aaron McCabe and saxophonist Joan Hutton set up a melodic head, harmonizing over each other as bassist (and University of Minnesota bass instructor) Travis Freudenberg and Ryan Johnson lay down a groove.
Next the band played a song called “Porn and Zorn,” and told the audience that they would recognize one aspect of the song or another, depending on their background (either experimental sax player John Zorn’s cover of Ornette Coleman’s “Lonely Woman,” or the soundtrack to your favorite DVD fornication vacation). Keyboardist Andre Rodriguez started whapping the keys in a funky clavinet sound, and Zuber abandoned his Eric Krasno/Brian Jordan treble guitar sound for a funky wah-wah groove. It sounded like the band threw pieces of Roy Orbison, Karl Denson, Ornette Coleman, and the Ghostbusters theme into a blender until it became funk flaring, chopped, and whipped. From there, the band hits their stride, whipping out jammin’ covers including the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing,” Jeff Coffin’s “Evil Boweevil,” Jimmy Smith’s “Root Down” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic,” that teetered between fresh and unrecognizable, but always held the attention, not to mention the groove.
After a quick tear down, the Jack Brass Band hit the stage. I’d never heard them but Zuber insisted that a qualifier wasn’t necessary when describing the band. “You don’t need to say a New Orleans brass band from Minneapolis. They’re good.” Sure enough, the band was tight and radiated an energy that eclipsed that of the crowd. Songs that filled their set included “Black Bird Special,” “It’s All Over Now,” and “I’ll Fly Away.” The band shaped a repertoire similar to other brass bands, including the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth Brass Bands, which is not surprising considering percussionist Mike Olander formed the band seven years ago in the mold of the Dirty Dozens. I haven’t gotten a chance to hear the band’s new album, You Don’t Know Me, which hit shelves earlier this year, so I can’t comment on the band’s own compositional prowess; but in the live setting, the band does a great job of conjuring up the “Oh Leens” sound. In the words of Wynton Marsalis, after seeing the band, “If you like your gumbo spicy and your music hot, check out the Jack Brass Band.”
Location Info:
Nomad World Pub
Artist Info: Jack Brass Band, Rare Medium
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