Following the two-set shake ‘em on down by his Mad Skillet,keyboardist John Medeski stood at the merchandise table signing posters and CDs. “Setlists are for cowards,” heproclaimed. “I want you to quote me onthat.”
Start with an intrepid and quirky quartet, already uniquewith its appetizing basslines flavored by Kirk Joseph’s sousaphone; big lungs diligentlykeeping the bottom end groovy and moving. Double down with an all-instrumental, unplanned repertoire that trackedtheir creators’ every impulse, splaying multiple genres on the plate – funk,blues, jazz, soul- that couldn’t helpbut raise obvious equivalences to gumbo, jambalaya, and stew, given the NewOrleans origins of the group. Drop thatinto a 1920s Masonic lodge in Highland Park, a Metro train stop about halfwaybetween downtown Los Angeles and suburban Pasadena, on the Saturday before theOscars, and it becomes one provocative and tasty tour finale.
Medeski did, indeed, work without a proverbial recipe, callingout each of the evening’s selections as they went; his keyboards spinning cogentphrases in a perpetual whirlpool, speaking in exotic tongues or barkingpercussively in response to Terence Higgins’ seamless flow of drumbeats. An intuitive conductor, he often held up afist or patted his head; sign language to his three improvising bandmates toclose out the song or return to the theme. On guitar, Will Bernard proved to be a terrific accomplice to Medeski’s flurryof keyboards as he ran angular chord shapes, or offered crystal clean funkycomplements and charred solos, including on steely slide. Heavy downbeats buttressed the funkyexcursions, or flexibly followed wah-wah reggae as it transitioned to baroque ballroom,with Medeski dabbling on melodica, and then lush B-3 organ.
Whether evoking hot, greasy steps on the dancefloor or offeringa swinging kiss of Jelly Roll Morton, the ensemble kept the nearly-full roomengaged through a pair of 60-minute stanzas. In the crowd, an artist painted a canvas, inspired by the ever-shiftingsounds, in colors mostly blue and grey, as Medeski suggested coded meaning inthe imagery on the walls of the second-story temple. Post-midnight, the show came to a satiating close,as the four turned off the burner and climbed out of the frying pan, perfectly renderedand done cooking for the night.locked0 Co
