Grizzly Magic Entertainment

Grizzly Magic Entertainment

Homespun and Rane September 12th @ The Living Room

Guitarness with Scott Murawski and Jeff Pevar August 29th Living Room

Bumpus & Funkshun April 25th, 2001- The Living Room

Sector 9/ Soulive @ The Middle East

Gala Jive Jut March 21st Living Room

Project Logic And Miracle Orchesra Living Room January 26, 2000

Jazz Mandolin Project featuring Jonathan Fishman The Palladium - Worcester, MA 2/1/00

Percy Hill- The Met Cafe - Providence, RI 2/5/00 Opening Band: Distant Relatives

Ulu & Funkshun January 24th- The Living Room

Homespun & Rane 9-12-01 @ the Living Room

Guitarness with Scott and Jeff-- 8-29-01 Living Room

Review Written By Mike Maresca www.grizzlymagic.com
Set 1-- Jam>chicken>louisiana sun> i'm ready > Blues Jam
Set 2-- cruel world> easy wind>delay jam> down by the river>jam>river
Rough estimation of set list as best remembered by me, scotty, jeff, eric and scott's friend who i wish i could remember her name. Sorry
What a fuckin night. To start things off, two of the best guitarists around are the only people on the stage. Warming up with a mellow jam, Scott Murawski and Jeff Pevar were already having a good time. They seem to be able to read minds. Somewhere in the process, the two were joined by Greg Vassar on drums, and Dave Livosi on bass. What was called "guitarness" had turned into a full band.
The four gelled, as three of four had played together in the past. Watching them warm up was a treat, to witness these four people counting out beats and learning a song. I don't know if they played that song they learned before jumping onto the living room stage, mostly because all the sweet melodies and solos were so tight and interesting, it was tough to think these songs hadn't been played thousands of times before.
The first song went about a half hour, teasing and twisting through a surprisingly great sounding Living Room. The first song that i recognized was about half an hour into the set, and what was tempted exploded. With high expectations, the quartet pounced into Louisiana Sun, a crowd favorite among Creek Freaks. Scott was wailing out the lyrics, possibly feeding off the very excited crowd. Pevar and the band was forced into the stratosphere of energy as well. The bass and drums were supperb through out the night. With all the guitarness going on it could be easy to forget about the rest of the band. But these two rhythm virtuosos flowed smoothly, throwing in the perfect accents and fills, truly forming the full compliment to lay the background for things that are tough to explain.
For me to explain the craziness is difficult, but some things happened tonight that will be talked about forever. In the second set, after a 20 minute break, the shit hit the fan so to speak. What was mostly a mellow first warm up set (minus the Lousiana jam) the second set was beyond belief. Kickin off with cruel world, another creek fav, going into easy wind, then down by the river into a long craziness that i'll get to in a second. The crowd was still full of energy and wasted no time warming the band up for the second set. I am damn surprised the place didn't catch on fire with the smoking set. Down by the river was an especially great moment in time, Scotty and Pevar really started to bust each other;s balls, and start really trying to make each other push the boundaries. During down by the river, Tim Palmieri from Psychedelic Breakfast came out and ripped shit up. He was laying down behind a sweet, funky blues beat, and impressing the shit out of everyone. An unexpected surprise to me, and an unexpected break for Pevar. Tim held his own and maybe even more. When Pevar took over the reigns in mid song, to loud Tim cheers, he seemed to be energized to the next level.. What ended the show was the most spectacular thing ever!! As said by more than one happy camper in the crowd. Pushing the legal boundaries of time, the band exploded into what should be called the money shot of music. Raging guitars on a pounding rhythm, this is why the night was called guitarness. The call and response between all in this band proved songs can be longer than 4 minutes and still be worthy of all gold awards. The night ended with pictures and smiles and to all a good night.....until tommorrow in connecticut cause cause tonight was so fucking good.

Bumpus and Funkshun 4-25-01 Living Room

Bumpus was awesome at the living room on April 25th. They came from Chicago, and they brought the funk. Horns, guitar, vocals, drums, bass. very simple combination. But the style and complexity they brought was unreal. Rachel the vocalist had pizazz, and the band was ready, matching her step for step. Actually, she more complimented the music by giving the bands soul a very human feel. Now I suck with song titles, but they ranged thru originals off of their albums, of which they have two. I could let you know what they are, but I just got home from the show, and don't know both their names right now. I Might look them up upon revision, but for right now know they are not a cover band. their style is unique, very upbeat and these guys have the incarnation of soul in their chops. The two covers that stick out were by NIN and You sexy Mother fucker By Prince. These songs got the crowd confused. when NIN played, people were like what the hell is this. I've heard it before, but it sounds funkier. If not Funkiest version of the song. Then when the chorus of " I want to fuck you like an animal hit" The crowd was ballistic. People who hate NIN loved this version of the song. Along with the soulful screeching (ironic isn't it) vocals, a flute solo on pace with Ian anderson of Jethro tUll brought everyone close to the stage.
If that sounds exciting, you should have heard their songs. Bumpus's four years shine through, as the band is tighter than leather on a hooker. Each instrument allows mucho freedom to the rest, and with the large ensemble they have this is no small feat. Add in the crowd, and the band enjoyed that energy even more.. More than once did the crowd keep the beat by clapping.
This hour and a half was great. Even their song titles, which I got after the show so I could throw a few at ya, are funky. Brass-Tang --- Some Kinda-Diamond Jam-You got That- Bottom line- this band rips. They get you up- and to the front of the stage. They don't hold back and everyone noticed. If you like to dance, this is the band. They are good enough to match DBB as far as fun and groove go. Bold, but Bumpus Has the flava

Funkshun as an opener is almost a bad idea. In this case Ii worked great.. The Funky Instrumental mix proved killer tunes to dance. Each horn, each Bop of the bass and punch of the drum got your ass movin. The keys laid a rhythm and funk all its own, layering the smooth groove Funkshun brings. A young band that is well familiar in the old school groove, they bring it on tasty. Like Hendrix turned people on to the guitar, James Brown, Bootsy Collins and Herbie Hancock Spawned Funkshun. Their influences ring through, but so do their youth. They take the music In chunks, not notes. Each section moves you a different way. The set started off slow, warming you u like a good orgasm should. They go to peaks, the crowd yelling, cheering them on. The band goes for it. This happened all night. When you needed a breather, the band could tell, and a slow keyboard solo pops in, letting you catch your breath for the funk crescendo to approach. And when it did you felt the cement floor shaking. I wish I knew the song titles they played, But put it like this, if I ever hear their music on the radio, I'll know it since the groove was only Funkshun.

Gala Jive Jut 3-21-01 Living Room

lets just say this night started out with some pressure on everyone at the club. The headlining band was nowhere to be found, and it was like 930p. Gala Jive Jut was asking Grizzly Magic what the word is. GM was not too worried though. (Fat Apple got their van impounded-) Having seen Gala Jive Jut a few times, the most recent opening up for Dr Didg. These guys are players. They started out the night kind of mellow, slow sax and blues guitar funk. People were groovin, most have been really ripped. If i knew song titles, i could tell you what they played. I do know as the crowd warmed up, the band kicked it into gear. Finishing off their first set on a higher note, people were pysched. After a short break, the second set was even more exciting. Their style is similar to ulu and the like, their tone is unmistakenly Gala. Second set proved just that. Nintendo fans at heart, the theme song to Zelda has never sounded so good. That was one of the few covers they did, sticking mostly to their own original tunes. What seemed like a downer with a band canceling turned into a awesome showcase for this upcoming band. At the end of the night, the lights came on but no one left. Even the band who played the maximum amount of funk possible on a wednesday night. The end of the show pulled out everyone's second third and fourth wind, with a call and response with the crowd shouting back and fourth between well thought out pauses. i could see the band laughing and pulling out some crazy ass riffs. Improvisation rang hard as each of the four band members (guitarm sax, bass and drums) soloed over tight grooves. Awesome!! -------------Mike

ulu w/ funktion 1/24/01

Walking in to see my friend Scott's band ulu, I had wondered who the opening band was going to be. While hanging with Scott and the rest of the band backstage I heard them start to play. I was impressed with what I was hearing through the walls of that little backstage room so I cam out to check it out along with someof the members of ulu. I have to say they looked really young! However, their sond was not. It was the sound of an old school funk band complete with a tight horn section. The bass player and the keyboardist impressed me the most. The keyboardist was playing licks that sounded very much like the right hand of John Medeski, et al. The whole band was tight and it was great to hear good funk being played right in front of your face. These guys are in no doubt ones you will most certainly be impressed walking into as I was. I'm glad they opened up for ulu or I probably would not have heard of them for a little while. At one point the bass player lit a cigarette and was pumping out bass lines while he smoked it with no hands. I looked at Dave, the bass player for ulu and he said "now that's bad ass". A great opening act and I look forward to the next time I see them. I was glad to see that Wednesday nights at the Living Room are starting to catch some attention. When ulu came on everyone was certainly warmed up and more people were ready to dance and have some fun. ulu is just plain amazing and five years of tight playing and touring has shown up in them undoubtedly. When they groove, they can just rip, and they all know each other so well, which shows in the sound they can produce, which is a unique one at that. "Hang up your hang ups" by Herbie Hancock (played at my request backstage...thanks guys) was well played and really turned things up a notch. They slammed home the different sections of this song and everyone was feelin the vibe by then. The rest of the set was magic, and I am delighted and pleased to see my friend doing so well musically. ulu is a band that will become more commonly spoken of in the next few years, and I am absolutely sure about that. I had blast and I greatly look forward to another great Wednesday night real soon!!!!!!!! ALL YOU JAMBAND FREAKS AND I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE, COME CHECK THE SCENE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peace, Thad

Sector9/Soulive- --

Project Logic and Miracle Orchestra January 26th 2000 The Living Room Providence

Walking in I was really surprised to see how many had gathered at the Living Room for this Wednesday night jam session. These nights have certainly started to get going, and it is only a matter of time before the word gets out. PHAT MUSIC WED. NIGHTS AT THE LIVING ROOM. Anyone familiar with the Combustication Album featuring DJ Logic was going to be in for a treat tonight. The Miracle Orchestra opened and was playing as I entered the scene. This was my first time seeing them and I was impressed by yet another tight jam band. I noticed how well the guitarist played and how enthusiastic he was to be improvising phat jams. The crowd in no doubt reacted to this enthusiasm. DJ Logic came out and set up his table and began to play with the Orchestra. The one thing you can expect on Wed. nights at the Living Room is plenty of INTERMINGLING OF MUSICIANS. Whoever is playing is always happy to be there and happy to take advantage of each other's playing abilities. The warmup jam was great. Logic's band came out and the second session started. Everyone was in high spirits and glad to be enjoying great music on a Wednesday night. The band consisted of a keyboardist, a bassist, a drummer, a sax player who also played this cool looking instrument called an e-wee or some thing like that, he told me after the show that it was a small MIDI machine that produced various sounds. The band also consisted of the many cool sounds of DJ Logic. DJ Logic was in no doubt calling the shots, Every time he put on a new record, a new jam would start. It was amazing to see how calm and collected DJ Logic seemed while still being able to pump out high energy scratching and mixing with his band. He was producing some really cool sounding sounds off of his board, and of course scratching that was making everyone shake their ass. The guitarist and sax player came out and took part in some jams. The two saxophonists got into some nice call and response jamming midway through one of the jams. The crowd roared in appreciation of their efforts. Everyone was having a blast, time flew by, and then Project Logic was all done. It was a very fun night and I was glad to have seen great live music in the middle of the week. If you are reading this and have not been down to the Living Room on a Wed. night THEN COME. If you have been going then TELL MORE PEOPLE. We need to keep these events happening and we need people to take part in the action. This is a great thing that is happening to Providence and we need to keep it going. Peace out.
Thad

Jazz Mandolin Project featuring Jonathan Fishman The Palladium - Worcester, MA 2/1/00

When I heard about this show I knew it was going to be a great one. If you haven't been to the Palladium it is a really cool place to see a show. The whole venue is like this decorated theater, almost like the PPAC in Providence. The last time I was there was for Ratdog in September, and the place was jam packed. I was surprised by the relatively small amount of people who showed up for this event. They didn't even have the upstairs balcony open. I figured since Fishman was playing the place would be mobbed, but that wasn't the case at all. There was very much room to roam around to wherever you wanted to, so in that case it was pretty cool to not have that many people there. I must comment on what assholes the security in Worcester are, both at the Centrum and the Palladium. The setup behind the stage was this huge ancient Greek structure that looked like a big piece of the Parthenon. The show began and the floor in front started to fill in a little bit. THE MUSIC WAS UNBELIEVABLY TIGHT. These are serious musicians. Jamie Masefield is absolutely phenomenal in his ability to create a jam, he reminds me of the way Trey uses tension and release to really get himself going. The two used to play together all of the time in Burlington under the name Bad Hat. Fishman of course was also great. He is in no doubt one of the top, top drummers on the circuit right now. By the end of the first set I already felt like I had gotten my money's worth. This is as phat of a jazz band as you can get. The stand-up bass player, new to the band, seemed to have a small amount of difficulty keeping up with Jamie and Fishman. He still did a good job though. The second set started and after the first two songs it was time for Johnny B. Fishman to take a drum solo. All I can say is Fishman can roll like a freight train, and then flip the whole track over. His ability to create multiple layers of drumming patterns is memorizing. He never stopped keeping it nice and steady on the ride either. I would have payed the fifteen dollars just to see that drum solo he took. The rest of the show was tight. When Jamie Masefield introduced the band he called Fishman "Dirty Sanchez" straight from Mexico. I realized that was their first show of the tour. It is going to be a good one. The music just flowed. A very, very good night in Worcester.

Percy Hill - The Met Cafe - Providence, RI 2/5/00 Opening Band: Distant Relatives

Back at the Met for another good show. Saw alot of heads waking away from the venue and I wondered what was going on. Later I found out that many thought the show was at Lupo's and took off when they found a band that sounded nothing like Percy Hill. Walked in to my first earful of the Distant Relatives. Have heard of them before from somewhere, a flier probably, but here they were playing right in front of me. Sounded pretty good. Bass player was busting out some phat upbeat lines. The lead guitarist was very good. He without a doubt knew his way around the fretboard. They did a very good job of warming up the crowd for Percy Hill. Walking in I actually thought Percy Hill had already started playing because everyone was already up and dancing. The Distant Relatives went off and on came Percy Hill. These guys just have an absolute amazing ability to blend in with each other during a jam. Years of playing together have payed off for this band. I really don't think the keyboardist played a wrong note the entire show. I have heard about his musical abilities and I am impressed every time I see him play. These guys build up their jams together. Nobody really steps out and takes a driving lead, they just add layers slowly and steadily. It sounded really good. I was surprised when they took a break. Probably due to the fact that the bass players amp went completely out during the first set and they probably wanted to check it out. Had a little puff session with the Distant Relatives in the back room telling them about Wed. nights and they were most interested. Second set was even better than the first. Warmed up and without technical difficulties, the band really took off and started pleasing some ears. The light chord funk progressions these guys produce just makes you want to dance. They played Exodus for Bob Marley's birthday which is 2/6 and I thought that was pretty cool, despite some confusion on the lyrics. The last song and resulting jam had everyone in the place moving. Even the doorman had to come out from away from the door and shake his ass for a little while. Encore was great and everyone stepped out into the cold streets of Providence with a smile on their face. Another good night of music in Providence.