Last night, I saw Sir Richard Bishop, Eyvind King & Jessika Kenney, and The Youngs at Zebulon Cafe.
The doors opened about an hour late (not complaining--I like the opportunity to get to a decent but manageable level of drunk and seal a deal before the show). The Youngs put on a uh...interesting set. They're an experimental acoustic husband and wife duo but when their show started, only Timothy Young came on stage. He sat there for a moment with his guitar in his lap.
"The Youngs are pretty much over," he told us. "After tonight I think I'm pretty much going to get a divorce. If anyone has a better idea for the set, you're free to come up and do it." Then he stared at us with his guitar sitting in his lap. Sir Richard Bishop went up to him and asked him if he was alright and if he was going to do this for the next 45 minutes before going back off stage. The venue dimmed the lights on him and turned on the music after about 15 minutes before he signed off. He got a lot of applause. I would have given him the full time, it could have turned into an open mic/therapy session. I hope that Tim doesn't kill himself, he appeared rather distraught.
Eyvind Kang & Jessika Kenney are also a husband and wife duo, and both of them showed up! The show started with a poetic solo piece by violinist Eyvind Kang that had the audience in the palm. Then he went into the crowd and vocalist Jessika Kenney took the stage. Now, I had come to the show only knowing about Kang through his work with/for Zorn and by extension his solo stuff. I had reservations about Jessika because I've seen far too many scenarios where a band member or solo artist will have their wife or girlfriend sing despite them being painfully mediocre (if that sounds sexist to you, check out a few local jazz shows on a slow night). It also seems like people who are connected at the pisser are a lot less critical of each other's ideas than standard bandmates or ones who only **** every once in a while. The moment she started singing, Kenney used the low bar I had set as a jumping off point to reach the insurmountable levels of respect that she deserves. Meditative and powerful displays of extended voice technique filled the room. It was breathtaking. After a few minutes of Kenney's encapsulating solo performance, Kang started playing within the audience and around the venue. Kenney joined him and they both improvised within the venue, moving around as they leapt through a wide range of ideas and emotions. Highly recommended.
Sir Richard Bishop
Opened up with about ten minutes of excellent American primitivist (?) neoclassical jazz jam that runs through his solo work. Then he did a handful of Sun City Girls songs that I was too drunk to recognize. His performance of those tracks was spot on yet loose and heartful, but the magic of Sun City Girls is really in the dynamic of the band, especially when it comes to the vocals. Still enjoyed it quite a bit, but it was a letdown coming off of the excellent performance by Kang and Kenney.
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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.
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