Just days after the release of theirfirst album in over five years, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe played a rollickingshow at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California, on March 14, 2019. Theband has been hitting clubs around the United States while on their Wintertour, testing out some of the new material from the just-released “Gnomes andBadgers.”
Karl Denson, the 62-year-old touringdynamo, brought a long set of KDTU standards, new tunes and a few specialcovers to The Troubadour, just one stop on his packed gig schedule. Aside fromleading his Tiny Universe seven-piece band through several upcoming Spring and Summershows, he also has a few performances booked with his other band, The GreyboyAllstars. He will also resume his recurring role as touring saxophonist for alittle group known as The Rolling Stones, along for their upcoming Summer tour.
Denson’s Tiny Universe always bringsheavy doses of funk, soul, rock, jazz and blues to their live shows. While Densonled the charge at The Troubadour with explosive saxophone and flute solos aswell as expressive vocals, he seems to be taking the current volatile politicalclimate to heart. He took time between songs to express his wishes for peopleto be kinder to each other and think before speaking.
The new music is a way for Denson toexpress his most personal thoughts, views and philosophy. The band played“Gossip,” “What If You Knew,” “I’m Your Biggest Fan” and “Can We Trade” midwaythrough the set. “Gossip” is the only cover on the new album, but a timelychoice. The Leo Nocentelli-penned song, originally recorded by Cyril Neville in1969, is as relevant today as when it was originally recorded.
Denson’s passionate singing and the band’simpressive funk chops carried “What If You Knew.” "I’m Your Biggest Fan”deals with a scary stalker and features fast-paced strumming by guitarist D. J.Williams and impressive keyboard runs by David Veith. On “Can We Trade,” Densonpreaches harmony and plays a sparkling flute solo.
As a subtle tribute to his other band,the group played an instrumental version of the Rolling Stones' “Under MyThumb.” Denson and trumpeter Chris Littlefield took turns playing the melodyand each took artistic solos. Drummer Zak Najor also played a nice chest-rattlingsolo. The band showed off their versatility on additional tunes, all the whilekeeping the audience dancing. On “Boogaloo,” Denson, Littlefield, guitarists D.J. Williams and Seth Freeman and bassist Chris Stillwell showed off theirsynchronized dance moves for the up-tempo tune. They encouraged the crowd tojoin them while Freeman showed off his incredible slide playing.
For the afrobeat-sounding “Elephants,”guest saxophone player Mike Owens joined Denson and Littlefield for someincredible horn playing. On “The Mighty Rebel,” the band broke out their reggaevibe to keep the audience swaying to the hypnotic beat. The show closed with aninstrumental song written by their always busy and sometime drummer Alan Evans,who has left the band to reform AE3. “Have You Seen Him” is a rowdy, funk-heavytune that afforded each of the bandmembers a chance to show their immense chopsone more time.
Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe has clubdates and festival shows including the New Orleans Jazz & HeritageFestival, Mountain Jam and High Sierra scheduled through September 2019. Thenew songs from “Gnomes and Badgers” are some of the best the band has producedand their deep catalog of funky, dance-inspiring music makes them one of themust-see live acts on the scene right now.
