By: David de Young
 |
|
Justin Bell w/ guest trombonist Brian Zirngable at the Lazy Susan CD Release Party at the 400 Bar, Friday January 10th, 2003 |
His band, comprised of Clark Thaldorf on bass and Ben Young on drums, are a top notch group of musicians who would hold their own in the studio for just about anybody. The production on "you…up in lights" (credited to Bell, Ben Young with help from Kyle Bonderson) is remarkable for a do-it-yourself effort. Also worthy of comment is the variety of material on the album, from well-constructed rock and pop to a little bit of blues, with real horns and some honky-tonk piano thrown in here and there for good measure. Unfortunately, after listening to the album several times, although enjoyable while on, not much sticks with me after the CD stops playing except perhaps my favorite song on the album, a romantic ballad called "One Taste," which somehow survives descent into syrupy territory and emerges victorious and proud. Since I'm a lyric guy, here's my favorite couplet from that song:
"I never knew much about the open skies,
But I can name all of the constellations in your eyes."
But even in "One Taste" I'm left wondering if the steel guitar provided by Duane Nelson is really necessary or if detracts simply because it doesn't seem to add anything to the song.
Lazy Susan's CD release party Friday night at the 400 Bar despite being successful in its goal of being a showcase for Justin Bell and his band's talents in the above-mentioned areas was lacking in others. A musical pal of mine whom I'd dragged away from the Flaming Oh's show at the Fine Line observed it "just doesn't have that spark," which of course refers to that ever elusive, indescribable thing that'll ultimately decide whether you liked something or not. Perhaps the placement of musicians on the stage had something to do with the energy problem. J. Bell was front and center, set off from the rest of the band by perhaps a little too great a distance. The space between the players might not have allowed for the energy to become centralized and projected, and the musicians didn't really invade each other's space very much throughout the night. (That is until Brian Zirngable, wearing cowboy hat and white feather boa, joined the band at the end of the set for some trombone work and was literally all over the stage popping everyone aura's with his trombone slide.)
Also, the set wasn't put together as well as it might have been. Although the set started off energetically, it lost steam almost immediately, and I was almost dumbstruck at the stroke of midnight to be hearing a group of slow ballads that found people slow dancing in the middle of the 400 Bar floor. (At this point in my life, slow dancing is something I don't normally find myself wanting to do at midnight on a Friday night.) Sadly, this set low-point included my favorite song "One Taste," which Bell apologetically referred to as their "monster ballad" for some reason.
Even some covers seemed to drag a bit, like "Running down a Dream" and another favorite of mine "Mother's Little Helper." But the version of "Tainted Love" with Zirngable on trombone started to bring the energy around towards the end of the show. And the last few songs, including "Fight for Your Right to Party" by the Beastie Boys featuring the Clovis guitarist Jonathan Earl exhibited an energy I wish the entire set had possessed. But this points out yet another problematic feature of the set; this was a CD release party for Lazy Susan and many of the memorable songs of the night were covers.
Having been following J. Bell for a while, especially in his other incarnation as one half of the always lively duo Doc's Kids, I know he can put on a better show than this, and I have to assume this was just an off night for him. (Or maybe it was an off night for me; the photographs I took at the bar show the healthy-sized crowd boogying down and enjoying themselves throughout the entire evening.) I welcome the opportunity to see him and band again. Check http://www.zatchymusic.com/lazy/tour.html for Lazy Susan's upcoming shows.
Members:
Justin Bell - guitar, vocals
Clark Thaldorf - Bass
Ben Young - Drums, vocals
Website: http://www.zatchymusic.com
Selected MP3's: http://www.zatchymusic.com/lazy/tunes.html
Selected photos from the show, including photos of openers Clovis:
Location Info:
400 Bar
Artist Info: Justin Bell and Lazy Susan
Share this story:
Article comments powered by Disqus