Saturday's 'Setlist': 10/18/14 Super-Dave's Super-Jam

Jammin'...

Our drummer hosted a massive jam session this weekend in his rehearsal space. It was glorious. 

One thing about jam sessions: there's always too many guitar players. So I strummed for the first 45 minutes or so, then took the opportunity to jump behind the second drum kit and proceed to go all Rhythm-Devils-crazy with Dave the remainder of the night. It was a blast. Besides, too many of the songs I wanna play on guitar have some little tricky part that no one wants to take the time to learn (for evidence, see the "There's Actually a Third Part Jam," which goes nowhere fast!).

Taki the Mad Keyboardist was our leader for the most part, subtly guiding us through changes in the shape and feel of the jams. There are plenty of influences at work, and what comes out is a heady blend of hard-driving funk, R&B and blues, with just a touch of psychedelic madness courtesy of some well-timed guitar effects, Taki's insane Moog acumen and our double-drumming pushing and pulling the jams back and forth.

What a gas. Enjoy!

Click here to stream/download, courtesy of Archive.org.

Setlist (bearing in mind that I'm randomly naming most of the jams):

Jam

Let Him Go (Wailers)

Jam*

Sweet Jane (L. Reed)

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) > Whipping Post (false start)

Whipping Post Shuffle Jam

Lil' Red Rooster (C. Burnett)

Soul Jam

Taki's Spacey Jam

Phishy Funk Jam

Free Your Mind Jam* >

Second Line Jam** >

Breakdown Jam >

Superstitious-ish Jam** >

Jam

Blues Jam >

Monster Moog Jam >

Get On Up Jam** > Fame tease

Kyle's Low-End Warm-Up Jam >

Groovin'

Stretchy Funk Jam >

Kyle's Jam I** >

Hurricane Funk Jam

There's Actually a Third Part Jam

Just Pick Four Chords Jam

Chunky Funk Jam

*Billy T., improvised vocals

**Kyle Lawson, improvised vocals

From Charlie Hustle:

Dave Varasse, drums

Patrick Varine, guitar/vocals (through 'Soul Jam'), drums (rest of set)

Other players:

Kyle Lawson, guitar/vocals/bass

Taki Batis, keys/Moog

Billy T., vocals/congas

Will the Bass Player, bass

Several Other Fine Gentleman Whose Names Escape Me at the Moment, guitar/bass

Come check out the debut of CHARLIE HUSTLE!

So we were the Varine/Lawson Project for all of about 72 hours before we settled on an actual band name... so come check out the debut of CHARLIE HUSTLE, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. at The Hideout, 45 Bates St., in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

128 Oz. of Great-erade: 'Off the Grid,' by Dinner at the Thompson's

French singer Lucille Tee and Cali-based producer Fablive have combined to put together one of the best Franco-U.S. collaborations since French fries, a heady, psych- and hip-hop-influenced soul record that oozes cool.

Tee's vocal presence is like a less-nasal Erykah Badu, but with the same penchant for breathy, multilayered harmonies. But where Badu, for the most part, stays grounded in soul and R&B, even when working with hip-hoppers like Madlib, Dinner at the Thompson's sound on Off the Grid has the heavy knock to support a guest MC like Guilty Simpson, who shows up on the swinging "Rice'n'Beans."

Fablive's intricate production - which this particular reviewer would love to see paired up with any number of MCs - weaves hip-hop, jazz-soul, bits of electro and a heavy dose of modern psychedelia into the mix. On tracks like the twitchy "Levitating," the synth-stabbing "Whatever It Takes" and the uptempo "Different Beings" (featuring modern funkateer Lee Fields), the music is unerringly catchy, diverse and accomplished.

Three short, hidden tracks following the closer, "You are Love," also hint at the great potential this duo has to expand their range into solidly hip-hop territory.

Sit down to a little Dinner at the Thompson's; it's a well-prepared meal.

• Dinner at the Thompson's on MySpace

128 Oz. of Haterade: 'Lions, Fires & Squares,' by Carolyn Malachi

The Washington Post has described Carolyn Malachi's music as "hard to put into words," but to me, it's pretty simple. If you took an empowered female, put her at the head of the P-Funk All-Stars and asked them to tone down the weirdness just a little bit, you'd have Carolyn Malachi.

The six tracks (two remixes) on Lions, Fires & Squares, purportedly influenced by the D.C. native's recent trip to South Africa, encompass slow-rolling funk, spoken-word, R&B, the occasional video-game bleep and anything else that seems to fit.

"Textual" finds Malachi requesting "Let's get textual/I think you wanna know what's on my mind/Can't talk/I gotta run/I got a gun pointed at my personal time," as an uptempo groove suddenly spins off in rivulets of triplets, with guest HHR contributing an excellent verse.

"Orion" has her falling for the ageless constellation, inviting "Hey space cowboy/I want you in my interplanetary good vibe zone" as waves of neo-soul and harmony wash over the bottom-heavy beat.

A Claire Hux remix of "Textual" gives it a club-music spin, and Kokayi adds a syncopated swagger on a remix of "Orion," but it's Malachi's smooth, sliding alto that commands the most attention.

I haven't heard her first two records yet, but I'm happy to work backwards from here. Chances are, it'll be a worthwhile journey.

• Carolyn Malachi on MySpace