Great time closing the night out with our friends Jason Fritts (sax) and John Kidwell (trombone)! Killer talent pool we have here in JH for such a small town. Enjoy…

Acoustic soul meets ski-bum reggae
While some of you may have realized by now that acoustic soul-folk-pop duo Benyaro splits home time between JH and Brooklyn, it’d be hard to figure it out when they are on the road for eight weeks at a time. Featuring Ben Musser (lead vocal, acoustic guitar, kick-drum, egg shaker) and Bobby McCullough (upright bass, hi-hat, harmony vocal), the current tour takes them to multiple showcases at Sundance Film Festival, Big Sky Big Grass Festival, and the mega South by Southwest. Your chance to catch the region’s best multi-taskers will come in a trio of opportunities. Benyaro plays at 9:30 p.m., Friday, with horn-fused reggae unit Chanman Roots Band at Town Square Tavern ($5), 7 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, at Alpine Wines in Driggs (free), and 3 to 6 p.m., Sunday, in the Trap Bar at Grand Targhee Resort (free).

Country heroes of psychedelic
Pondering the term “psychedelic country,” I think of The Grateful Dead’s American Beauty era, and Austin’s The Lonesome Heroes. Not that they eat acid every night and play shows (or maybe they do), but the combo of Landry McMeans’s reverb-drenched electric dobro against Rich Russell’s Beck-esque draw paints a desert-Texas scene not unlike McMeans’s recent art pieces shaped from cardboard. The dynamic duo brings a slightly different lineup each time they roll through Teton County. This round will feature none other than the two of them (as if you need more), digging into tunes from Daydream Western. The Lonesome Heroes play at 10 p.m., Friday, at the Knotty Pine in Victor (Cover TBA, 208-787-2866), and at 8 p.m., Saturday, at Rock Rabbit in Pinedale (free, 307-367-2448).

Orbit for soul
Sometimes I get the sense that a band is beyond its years, veterans even, when listening to its tracks for the first time. Then I dive into the press kit and realize that the band isn’t as widely known as I had thought. Hence, time to spread the word! Enter The Orbit Group—a seven-piece conglomerate that brings to mind Earth, Wind and Fire and The Roots, with an R&B-soul vocalist that channels Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury. This is Kool & the Gang-era jazz meets funk-hop, supported by inspired Rhodes piano, sax, trumpet, guitar, bass, and drums. Get it. The Orbit Group performs at 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at the Mangy Moose in Teton Village. $7. MangyMoose.net.

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Jackson Hole, Wyo. – When an artist has been there and done that, its time to dig in and figure out an oblique approach to market and inspire the fan base.

Chicago native and former Jurassic 5 emcee, the rapid-firing Chali 2na, has helped bridge the gap between the hip-hop community and the jam-festival circuit in recent years. Known for his trademark baritone voice, he has collaborated with Galactic, Ozomatli, Long Beach Dub Allstars, and dubstep star Rusko, all the while playing numerous festivals including Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.

In the early 2000s, Jurassic 5 was instrumental in distinguishing itself from the ghetto hip-hop that had saturated the mainstream, veering away from negative black stereotypes and instead opting towards the old school. Jurassic 5 boasted four emcees and its last album, Feedback, was released in 2006.

“We were historians. We were trying to preserve a certain aspect of it. It got lost,” Chali told Pique magazine last week. “That technology era that was kicking in to where people weren’t necessarily paying attention to what was happening in the past, it was just whatever they were exposed to when they first got into that sound.”

Since the split of J5, Chali has released a couple of “mix tapes,” which featured his collaborations with groups like Linkin Park, as well as 2009’s solo album, Fish Outta Water. And while the current state of the music industry has some veteran artists wondering where they fit in and how to do it without a major label backing them, Chali has figured a new vehicle with his forthcoming album, aptly titled Against the Current.

“I didn’t want to fall in line with exactly what was going on, hence the title,” Chali said. “It’s a volatile world in the music game right now. Nothing is traditional. Nothing is happening like it used to. It’s been definitely baffling, just coming from my perspective of age. Just watching things change in your face is like watching David Blaine or Criss Angel for the first time.”

While details are fairly sketchy, Against the Current will be released in five online increments, essentially five EPs to equal an LP. Each installment, Chali said, will be influenced from different genres of music with the last being straight hip-hop.
While it’s unclear what his live band will entail, the current tour is billed as “Chali 2na & the House of Vibe.” One thing is for sure—with 20 years of experience in the industry, this emcee has every tool to put on a great show as a solo artist. Evolving with the genre is what it’s all about, and for Chali, embracing the current environment stays true to an old set of roots.

“The one thing that’s been consistent with hip-hop is it’s always going to reflect what’s going on around it,” he said. “It’s going to talk about what people don’t want to talk about. It’s going to reflect the current state of the kids that are participating within it. You have a lot of hipster cats, new cats and swag addicts and things of that nature who were born into a world that was already filled with hip-hop, that was already filled with computers and things. You have a different generation with a different grasp on reality, and a different reality because of it.”

Chali 2na, 10 p.m., Tuesday, at the Knotty Pine in Victor. $15. 208-787-2866.

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Be the Void Dr. Dog / 4 stars

If I could join any indie band right now, it would be Dr. Dog. Good albums can shred your illusions of being bored with current listening avenues. Try Be the Void, then backtrack to 2008’s Fate.

Jackson Hole, Wyo. – Welcome to progressive Americana Week. Let’s go ahead and call it The Teton Americana Winter Invitational. By coincidence, all of these bands will be playing varying nuances of contemporary American roots music in Teton County in the coming week: Greensky Bluegrass, Matt Flinner Trio, Great American Taxi, Hot Buttered Rum String Band, Head for the Hills, Random Canyon Growlers, Screen Door Porch, Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats, Boondocks, Steam Powered Airplane, Jackson Six, and One Ton Pig.

Disclaimer: this is a made up festival name and concept, but yes, all of these bands are on the calendar. Seven venues in a five-day period, and shows range from free to $15.

Zooming-in on Greensky Bluegrass, it’s immediately evident that this hardly strictly newgrass unit has the goods. With so many progressive bluegrass acts on the road in recent years, developing a distinguished modern take with bluegrass instrumentation has become a hard line to cross. Greensky helps define a new era of hair-band grass that brings folk harmonies, jam elements and the knack for branching out in the studio with pedal steel, percussion and even, yes, distortion pedals.

“We’re more of a rock band with a traditional bluegrass setup,” said guitarist/vocalist David Bruzza, who grew up listening to his father spinning Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs, and experienced his first Dead show at the age of 12.

“We are definitely a live band—we use 16 channels and are really electric. We’ve been known to do 25-minute versions of songs, but it’s more tame on the record.”

Handguns, the band’s fourth studio release, is one of the strongest non-traditional, bluegrass-based albums that I’ve listened to in a while. It boils down to the songwriting, the infusion of honkytonk and country-Western, and a low and lonesome sound that reminds me of New Grass Revival-meets-Railroad Earth. While experimental enough to be on a stage before a jamband like moe., Greensky can also pull heartstrings like the Avetts.

“Three of us have been playing together for 10 years,” Bruzza said. “It’s pretty funny how you go backwards and then forwards. We started out playing Monroe and old traditional tunes, and then it got to the point where all of our other influences growing up—rock ‘n’ roll, a lot of us were really into the Grateful Dead and Phish. Just taking elements from everything we like, John Hartford and New Grass too, and adding to what they did in the 80s.”

Though Greensky formed in 1999, it wasn’t after the 2006 victory in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition that the group began crisscrossing the country and playing 175 shows a year. A wide demographic of fans began showing up to their sets, and they were invited back to Telluride in 2007, played the first Rothbury Festival in 2008, the Northwest String Summit Music Festival, and on to even bigger stages of Hangout Fest and Bonnaroo. Now they are selling out venues like the Bluebird Theater in Denver and the Fox Theater in Boulder.

“Last year was amazing. We’ve grown immensely as a unit in the past few years. We’d come off stage somewhere and be like, ‘wow that was great,’ and the next week we’d play somewhere else and be like, ‘that was even better,’” Bruzza said.

Greensky Bluegrass plays at 9:30 p.m., Friday, at the Mangy Moose in Teton Village. Admission is $10 at the door. MangyMoose.net.

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Two nights of psychedelic soul
Referred to as black rock, or psychedelic soul is the sound developed in the late 60s ala Curtis Mayfield. San Francisco’s Monophonics—formed in 2005—have genuinely sunken into the slow burn, textured by punchy horns and patiently soulful vocals. Contemporaries like Sharon Jones & The Dapkings bring the in-your-face James Brown side of this warm, vintage sound, while Monophonics prefers the hard-hitting backseat of funk-soul (YouTube cue: “Like Yesterday”). Be prepared for a funky dance party via this sextet. Poppa Presents hosts Monophonics, 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at the Pink Garter Theater. Tickets are $8/advance or $10/door. PoppaPresents.com.

Flinner brings Winter Harvest
There are mando players, and then there are eight-string tweakers in the league of Chris Thile and Sam Bush. If you haven’t already been introduced, take a chance to meet Matt Flinner on Tuesday. Flinner prefers to tunesmith daily—while on tour!
All members of his trio, which also features exciting instrumentalists Ross Martin on guitar and Eric Thorin on upright bass, are responsible for writing, rehearsing and performing a new instrumental composition for each venue. Over the course of 70 shows resulting in over 200 tunes to date, the string band handpicked a new collection for their January 31 release, Winter Harvest (Compass). Show up and see what they harvest for you.
Matt Flinner Trio performs at 8 p.m., Tuesday, at Dornan’s in Moose. Tickets are $15, available at Valley Bookstore and Dornan’s. 733-2415.

Americana without borders
Produced by Todd Snider, Great American Taxi rolls into town with Paradise Lost, an album that has occupied the Top Ten Americana airplay chart in recent weeks. Dubbed “electrified folk music for our times” and “Americana-without-borders,” the Nederland outfit brings elements of Little Feat and The Dead, and has made Targhee a frequent stop over the last few years. Great American Taxi plays at 8:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, in the Trap Bar at Grand Targhee Resort. Tickets are $5/advance or $10/door. GrandTarghee.com.

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Handguns GREENSKY BLUEGRASS
There’s a lot of contemporary grass that passes by my ears without reprise. My old grassy standbys are Monroe, Old & in the Way, John Hartford, Doc Watson and Grisman. The late 90s/early 00s onslaught of jamgrass ala Yonder Mountain String band and before they went techno, The String Cheese Incident, was interesting at first, but now sounds diluted.

But Handguns has re-sparked my interest. Known for lengthy improvisational jams and extended suite-like songs, this Michigan-based unit seems meticulous in its writing, especially lyrical phrasing. The New Grass Revival-meets-Railroad Earth vibe is one of its own, veering off the tried and true with songs like “All Four”—a near 12-minute musical odyssey that expands boundaries yet never loses steam.

A cohesive unit with equal weight in instrumental prowess, the double-stopping drive of Anders Beck’s dobro is an asset that shines on “Beauty and Pain” and “Blood Sucking F(r)iends.” The addition of pedal steel (“Handguns”), horns (“I’d Probably Kill You”), kazoo and slide (“Hot Dogs (On Parade)”), and effects (“Before Bring Out Your Dead”) reminds one that this ain’t daddy’s grass.

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Did you just say Triple-Bill?
Vibraphone-whacking percussionist Mike Dillon has been described as “a brutal, yet meticulously deranged blast of raw, jazz-rock power.” Dillon’s heroes Black Sabbath, The Minutemen and Bad Brains have internalized a punk ethos into a rage-against-the-machine spirit – punk to funk, rap to rock. His collaborations and band names are piling up: Ani DiFranco, Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade, Garage a Trois, Mike Dillon’s GoGo Jungle, Hairy Apes BMX, Dead Kenny G’s, and Critters Buggin, Billy Goat. That aside, let’s contemplate a set of Yo Jimbo Funk – a truly non-directional sounding, vaguely-described “bodacious blend of funk, hip-hop, rock and improvised experimentation that gives you the urge to shake your body and scream-just like Carly!” Top it all off with a set of Jackson’s own Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit, and you’ve got one hell of a quirk à trios. Mike Dillon, Yo Jimbo Funk & Jet Black Ninja Funkgrass Unit perform at 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, at the Knotty Pine in Victor. Admission is $8 at the door. 208-787-2866.

Identical folk
Portland’s Shook Twins – sisters Laurie and Katelyn joined by upright bassist Kyle Volkman – are becoming a staple to Grand Targhee’s Trap Bar. Folkies at the core, sibling harmonies are supported by banjo and guitar, sometimes venturing out-of-the box with looping, effects and even beat boxing. The happy go-lucky, quirky folk trio originated in their hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho. The Shook Twins play at 3 p.m., Sunday, in the Trap Bar at Grand Targhee Resort. Free. GrandTarghee.com.

One kick-drum is not enough
Oh, man. I get it – four kick-drums on the floor. Ok. No bass player. Double guitars, a full drum kit, and three dudes stompin’ the hell out of their own kick drums, 4 on the Floor is all about the clap-groovin’ Delta vibe, not to mention a solid dose of The Black Keys. Despite having a name that is saturated via the Google wash of bands of sporting the same name, this music is built for drinkin’ and cussin’. What’s Good Here? Productions presents 4 on the Floor at 9:30 p.m., Thursday, at Town Square Tavern. Admission is $5 at the door. 733-3886.

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Nothing is Wrong DAWES
****
On Nothing is Wrong, lead singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith channels Jackson Browne’s literalness with Neil Young’s slow-burning electric guitar grooves. All at once accessible, easy-going and emo-rock, this is the new Laurel Canyon sound that plays the sort of nostalgia card that makes you want to cheers a beer with your best friend.

While I keep wanting this to be a rocking album, the downbeat hooks of “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” “My Way Back Home,” and “A Little Bit of Everything” are prime examples of the Browne-esque sensitivity that is at the epicenter. (Dawes coincidentally backed and supported Brown on a European tour.) It’s dramatic and caring, and inspires flashbacks of the good times.

As a bonus, Nothing is Wrong was recorded live to two-inch analog tape and showcases the well-oiled machine that the Dawes live show has become. (I saw them in Atlanta circa 2009.) While this album does drag in spots, there is some seriously well-written and well-performed material worth sinking into – which is what it demands.

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Jackson Hole, Wyo. – The contemporary stamp on Klezmer and Hassidic influences into mainstream genres is as dynamic as you’ll find across the over-flow of music in today’s cloud-based and mobile indulgence. The Chabad Jewish Center of Jackson Hole acts to expose the artists that are helping to define this latest era of creativity by hosting the 3rd Annual Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival over the next three Sundays in Teton Village.

Artists to be featured at this year’s fest include San Francisco’s Klezmania, the eclectic Breslov Bar Band, and world hip-hop/pop artist Y-Love. “Working to reinvigorate a thriving Jewish culture that exists and is waiting to be re-discovered,” the local focus of The Chabad Jewish Center acts to expose the general public to this culture through quality musical acts. “It’s been unbelievable to see the overall growth in terms of both the presentations that we’ve been putting on as well as the support from the community,” said Rabbi Zalman Mendelsohn. “Every year, the quality of the music becomes more world-renown and more world-class.”

From concert pianist Gershon Wachtel to the rowdy Rocky Mountain Jewgrass and the Jewish jazz of the Andy Statman Trio, last year’s fest drew a total of three hundred concertgoers. Visitors from both coasts came specifically for the concerts, as well as opportunistic skiers that were drawn in via local advertising.

Kicking-off the fest, The Breslov Bar Band brings Klezmer/Hassidic music with middle-eastern, rock, jazz, reggae, and punk. Infused into a high-energy show that aims to be both visually and musically compelling, members pride themselves on being powerful improvisers and having no two performances that are alike. In addition to keyboards and vocals, bandleader Binyomin Ginzberg plays the vibrandoneon – a mouth blown variation on the Argentinean bandoneon that adds an exotic component to the group’s sound.

As for Klezmania, the band was formed by Ben Brussell in 1989 – one in a family of Jewish Ashkanazi immigrants from Russia and Romania. Exploration into Klezmer revealed to him a dense network of musical and historical roots that spans over 4,000 years. Much of Klezmania’s improvisation is based from Eastern European folk music idioms with influences of classical and American jazz – and is considered a continual work in progress.

An activist for social change, Brooklyn-based Y-Love’s positive revolution is focused towards anti-racist, anti-fascist and anti-prejudice – all the while keeping it kosher. With the help of collaborator and manager, Diwon, Y-Love’s style is described as “global hip-hop.” He intertwines English, Arabic, Hebrew, Latin and ancient Aramaic languages. With bits of ethereal scripture and social consciousness, his pop-fused hip-hop also reflects a life-changing conversion to Hasidism.

“Y-Love certainly takes the cake in terms of unique presentation,” Mendelsohn said. “It has something very different that it’s offering in terms of cultural hip-hop. You don’t really find hip-hop to be associated with Jewish music, or for that matter, anything that has a positive message.”

The 3rd Annual Jackson Hole Jewish Music Festival presents Klezmania at 5 p.m., Sunday, in the Sundance Room at Snake River Lodge and Spa in Teton Village. Breslov Bar Band (Feb. 19) and Y-Love (Feb. 26) will perform at the same time and location. Tickets for the concerts are $20/advance, $25/door, $100/sponsorship, and free for children under twelve. Available at JHJMF.org/Tickets.

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