WEGO: November Seamonster

Set 1 (25 megs)
Set 2 (34 megs)
Two From Woody (10 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's second attempt at hosting the open mic at the Seamonster Lounge on Monday, November 26th, 2012. The Orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), and Me Woods (bass and voice) … with the addition of Dana (? I *think* that was his name…? I'd never met him before, but he played some sweet stuff) on trombone and Shellita (sp? … one of the fantastic open-mic regulars there) on voice for Set 2.

Just like last time, a stellar crowd of open-mic participants streamed into the expertly-remodeled Seamonster and started signing up well before 10pm.  By 10:15, the place was pleasantly packed.  We probably let the list get a little long.  Even limiting everyone to two songs, we decided to forego a third WEGO set so we could hear everyone from the original list before closing time.  Still, the two short sets we did play were pretty solid, and -- as this week's bonus item -- I also managed to record Woody's slot in the open-mic rotation.

WEGO: First Seamonster Open-Mic-Hosting!

Set 1 (30 megs)
Set 2 (29 megs)
Set 3 (15 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's first gig at Wallingford's Seamonster Lounge, hosting the 4th-Monday Open Mic (Monday, October 22nd)! The Orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), and Me Woods (bass and voice) … with the 3rd-set addition of Colin Higgins (acoustic guitar) and Shelita (sp? … voice).

There were some minor ups and downs with getting used to the format -- both in terms of our open-mic-hosting duties and in finding our groove with 20-minute set-times. But in the end, we did manage to squeeze in everybody who signed up (witnessing some truly inspiring singer/songwriter material from across the spectrum, and even an awkwardly-hilarious set of comedy), in addition to 3 short sets of WEGO, the 3rd of which included guest sit-ins and a spontaneous mini dance-party to close out the evening. Each of the WEGO sets went about 5 minutes over the 20-minute goal and simultanously felt constrained, but I'm thinking this can be a great learning experience if we stick with it.

Highlights abound, but are perhaps most concentrated at the very beginning and very end of the night (except for our extended introduction of "Logan" at the end of Set 2). However, the final set was certainly the most inspired. Sadly, when I looked to make sure I was recording mid way through Set 3, it turned out I had neglected to take the Edirol out of standby and so I'd like to drop a compliment here for Woody's kick-ass first-time take on Paul Simon's "Call Me Al", which happened right before I figured out I wasn't recording.

So for me, a great time overall! And I'm already looking forward to the next one. (Post your "woot!"s here for posterity, as comments to the FacePlant alert for these postings will all float away into the ignored proprietary ether.)

AWUR live in Olympia!

Opening Jam
Set A
Set B

Here are my selections from last Sunday's all-improv set with John Beezer (guitar), 5-Track (bass), and Patrick Lenon (drums) at Le Voyeur, in Olympia WA. Oh yeah, Ian McKagan is on the kit for the opening movement.

A good deal of excitement had built up for me by the time this happened -- a rare opportunity to play with most of these guys. (Additionally, this was my first time playing back in my old college town in quite a while. I think the last time was at the Eastside club where I filled in for James Whiton's guitarist. But even that was several years ago.) And overall it was an enjoyable and often high-energy experience.

Unfortunately, it was also marred a bit by the "activities" of a particularly drunk and relatively insensitive local, who began to show up at the mic about 10 minutes into the warmup-movements and became progressively more difficult to dislodge until he was finally evicted about 2/3rds of the way into the set … sadly, not before most of our audience had headed out to the front for a break from the awkwardness. He wasn't even that bad of a singer, but it seemed clear enough that he didn't have the presence of mind to be able to determine how long of a guest-appearance was appropriate. (Helpful guideline: If you don't know the band, maybe join in for 3 minutes and take a break. If it was great, maybe they'll invite you back up. And give up if your dozenth request for "blues" is not granted!) And, as I mentioned, he was soooooper drunk. It's tempting to include some of the footage here, for the record and the laugh. But generally, this was a sad thing that I don't want to encourage. I was really looking forward to stretching out with these guys. We're all seasoned-enough improvisers to make lemonade, but it seems to me that this diminished what could've been.

Nonetheless, the audience, *did* actually return for another brief series of movements, and even before that, plenty of interesting high-energy (almost tribal) groove-spaces materialized in quick succession. For some weird reason, it feels like I'm only using about 5% of my vocabulary in this set and the lyrical content never really takes-off, but the rest of the players are simply tearing it up and so it all works quite well.

So those are my clips! Beezer also recorded the set, with somewhat better placement (his nearly inaudible guitar is sometimes audible in his versions). He pulled out 4 solid sections more as "tracks" and posted them as an album on gemini.fm. I think I like his results better in this case. Check those out at: http://gemini.fm/awe91612/

Enlighten Cafe Closing Party Jams

5-Piece Jams (41 megs)

Here is a short bit of informal jamming by the WEGO lineup! Sadly, we learned this week that the Enlighten Cafe will be closing over the next few days. Woody had set up a last minute party and by the time I arrived at 8:10-ish, a low key gathering had convened, with Dennis, Jesse, and Ian improvising some mellow grooves to flavor the space. I unpacked some percussion and my trumpet and Woody raced out from behind the counter with his guitar, and for about 40 minutes it was practically a WEGO show … minus the chord-changes and the pop-lyrics. It was really nice to play with these guys in a more open modal-format! It makes me think we should try to spend a slightly larger percentage of our time in pure modal exploration in the future... We did signal a few nice modal shifts and Ian and I provided some lyrical focus here and there. And then it was over.

Later, Woody played a short solo set, and Ian played a few tunes with Jesse accompanying him on the djembe. I assume other players joined in later in the evening, but by then I had returned home with Tina and Lucy to settle in for the evening. As usual, I don't think much of the weight of the venue's passing hit me at the time. Too many interesting interactions to focus on! But it was great to see some of the cherished regulars and bask in the warm and slightly melancholy mood.

WEGO: August 3rd at the Enlighten Cafe!

2-Piece Intro (17 megs)
Set 1 (45 megs)
Set 2 (50 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's first Friday show at the Enlighten Cafe on August 3rd, 2012. The "orchestra" for the evening consisted of Woody Frank (telecaster and voice), Ian McKagan (stratocaster and voice), and Me Woods (bass and voice).

Despite the extree-small orchestra and the lack of percussion, this show had plenty of great moments and sported an unusual warm, crunchy ambience throughout. Revel in the stripped down majesty!

WEGO: July 2012 Show!

Set 1 (45 megs)
Set 2 (44 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's late-July makeup show at the Enlighten Cafe. The orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Dennis Jolin (uke, percussion, theremin-thingy), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Evan Strauss (bass and voice), and Me Woods (percussion, trumpet, glockenspiel, voice).

With Evan heading off to graduate school before our next show, this was the last show with the entire recent 6-piece lineup for the foreseeable future. And so, with two strong, chaotic, and celebratory sets, it was a fitting closing to a certain mini-era of the band!

(There are two small edits in the first set: right at the beginning, to remove a bunch of sound-checking-in-progress, and again at the very end of the set to move the applause for Evan a bit closer to where we stopped playing.)

WEGO: June Enlighten Show!

Set 1 (not really recommended) 67 megs
Set 2 (fairly approachable!) 52 megs

I was listening to this one in a slightly different frame of mind the other night and I realized that this band is reeeeeallllly weird! Granted -- with two people missing for the first set, Woody singing from behind the counter, and the addition of a first-time orchestra-member for the second set -- this was perhaps an extra strange show, but still!

Nonetheless -- even without the usual full lineup -- Evan is scheduled to leave town for graduate school before the next show(what!?).  Therefore the second set here represents the culmination of a certain mini-era of the band ... So with a heavy heart, please enjoy!

The Orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (occasional voice, and barista), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), and Me Woods (charango, glockenspiel, trumpet, percussion, and voice), with the addition of Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), and first-timer John Beezer (electric guitar), for the second set.

 I'd like to warn again here that Set 1 was exceptionally loose and lost all momentum several times. If I wasn't so swamped with more pressing projects, I'd edit it down to the good parts (which I estimate is about 15-min worth). If you *do* manage to listen all the way through Set 1, please post a note or two about what parts you thought were worthwhile, and save somebody else the trouble of what you just went through! ;))

WEGO: May Enlighten Show (2012)

Set 1 (67 megs)
Set 2 (35 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's May show at the Enlighten Cafe. The orchestra for the evening consisted of Woody Frank (barista, vocals, and occasional percussion), Dennis Jolin (guitars and percussion), Ian McKagan (guitar, vocals, and some percussion), Jesse Silvertrees (keys and vocals), Evan Strauss (bass, leg-bells and vocals), and Me Woods (guitar, percussion, glockenspiel, trumpet, and vocals).



 Woody also works at the Enlighten Cafe and happened to be scheduled to work on this particular Thursday. He did manage to join in for some of the most memorable singing, but with the lack of his driving acoustic-guitar rhythms, and with Jesse on Keys instead of djembe, the grooves were noticeably looser at many points throughout the night. Great movements did pick up from time to time, but you may have to dig around a little to find them. On my first listen, it seemed that we had a number of unusually stagnant sections. So, if you're a new or infrequent visitor to the blog, I'd recommend jumping up or down to a neighboring post. But if you're a true fan of our particular style of riding the edge, maybe just jump around a bit, leaning towards the later portions of the evening, and you'll be sure to discover some gems in there!

(Actually, since this one is somewhat hit-and-miss, I'll take this opportunity to encourage listeners to call out their favorite bits in the comments here.)

WEGO: Chai-Stock!

WEGO set (47 megs)

Here is the recording from WEGO's performance at the first (hopefully annual…?) Chai-House reunion festival: Chai-Stock! The orchestra for this mid-afternoon performance included Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Dennis Jolin (electro-uke), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Evan Strauss (bass and voice), and Me Woods (percussion, glockenspiel, trumpet, and voice). Gerry Amandes generously offered up his spacious studio -- the perfect venue for a day of music that kicked off shortly after noon and went until well after midnight.

(Coinciding with Cinco de Mayo, this came less than a day after our first (highly-successful!) studio session for some sort of album… Most of that will be cut down into song-structures, but it's possible there will also be a few extended rock-outs that I can post here in the coming months.)

WEGO: April 20th (2012) House-Party!

Ian Gets Down (3 megs)

Warmup Set (with no Evan) (17megs)

A Seeming Eternity of Insane Feedback (300k)

Set 1 (36 megs)

Set 2 (34 megs)

Cooldown Set (with no Jesse) (22 megs)

Here are the recordings from the house party WEGO played in the Mapleleaf area on 4/20/2012.  I think the audio pretty much speaks for itself here, so I'll just say that this turned out to be a fantastic way to spend the evening of my birthday!  

WEGO: March (2012) Enlighten Cafe Show!

MP3 (122 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's March 8th show at the Enlighten Cafe! The orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Dennis Jolin (percussion, glockenspiel, and uke), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Evan Strauss (bass, banjo, and voice) and Me Woods (guitar, evan's bass, and voice).

This was another supremely fun evening of "orchestral" movements. A sizable in-the-know audience accumulated by the middle of the evening, and things seemed to build a little more organically and completely as a result. I *think* it's a good sign when you decide it's about time for a set-break and realize that it's only 10 minutes until closing time...? We probably debuted more new lyrical standards than we recycled, prompting us to consider trying a series of "theme" evenings, where we play mostly brand new standards selected to fit a given theme. For now, I'm just leaving the whole recording as one unbroken megalith, but I may try to pick a couple of natural pauses and break it up at some point.

(Ian had to work and sadly had to miss this one. I tried to cover a bit by bringing out my acoustic 6-string -- the first time in quite a while in this context. (This turned out to be a good idea, since Woody couldn't make it until about a 3rd of the way into the evening.) Also, I forgot to snap any photos! So if you took any pictures while you were there, send a couple along and I'll replace these stand-in shots of my guitar-setup.)

WEGO: Feb 9th (2012) Enlighten Show!!

Set 1 (61 megs)
Set 2 (48 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's February (2012) show at the Enlighten Cafe. The orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Dennis Jolin (uke, light-theremin, etc…), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Evan Strauss (bass and voice), and Me Woods (dumbek, glockenspiel, trumpet, charango, and voice).

This was a strong show, opening with a rare mostly-instrumental mood-jam that lasts fully 15 minutes, eventually giving way to a nice mix of both seasoned and first-time lyrical standards ... plentiful momentum and groove throughout the evening.  A consistently balanced mix too!  Things seem to be ever gelling and building for this group right now. Check it out.

WEGO: Feb 3rd (2012) at Molly Maguire's

Set 1 (58 megs)
Set 2 (75 megs)
Set 3 (31 megs)

Here are the recordings from WEGO's first ever full-night show at Molly Maguire's on Feb 3rd, 2012. The orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Dennis Jolin (uke and theremin-thingy), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Emma Staake (voice), Evan Strauss (bass and voice), and Me Woods (glock, trumpet, charango, percussion and voice). Wow, that's a big orchestra for a stage that is perhaps optimal for two acoustic musicians! Did I forget anyone?

There are lots of high-points here (especially whatever the hell Evan was singing near the end of Set 1 … and my weirdly macho rendition of 'Single Ladies' in Set 2 ... and both of Emma's lyrical-standards from the end of Set2 -- 'Kiss the Girl' and 'A Man Needs a Maid'). But the entirety of Set 1 is perhaps a great template for the best of WEGO. It's just a little on the edge, but still chock full of groove, spontaneous truly-musical interplay, and vocal synergy that builds well beyond the basic lyrical content.

Molly's was packed pretty tight when we started, and I was continually surprised to look out from time to time and see that an overwhelming majority of the crowd was actually watching and listening intently. With our improvisational format, WEGO usually thrives in this type of a environment, looping positive feedback on the attention of the room. Frequently, laughter erupted. Later in the evening, the "power of the beer" may have become too strong to resist, and I fear we lost some of our dynamic range -- stabilizing into a loud, somewhat-messy din. It seemed that we lost some of our audience at this point too, though perhaps it was just getting late. Regardless, in light of the many high-points, I'm declaring this show a huge success. Hopefully the staff of Molly Maguire's concurs and we'll be back again very soon!

(I don't think I've ever seen so many people taking photos and videotaping us as during this show, but at the moment, I've got nothing to add to this post. Is anybody acquainted with any of the evening's paparazzi?)

WEGO: First 2012 Enlighten Show

Set 1 (32 megs)
Set 2 (30 megs)

Here are the recordings from our first Enlighten Cafe show of 2012! The orchestra for the evening was Woody Frank (guitar and voice), Ian McKagan (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Emma Staake (barista and voice), Evan Strauss (bass and voice), and Me Woods (uke, trumpet, glockenspiel, and voice).

Moments of more traditional grooviness materialize throughout, but overall this was one of our most free-wheeling improv-o-thons yet! After two full sets of sounds and words, I don't think we hit more than 3 or 4 lyrical standards. Instead, lyrical themes tended to build spontaneously from the circumstances of the moment. One of the only proper standards to make an appearance (Ween's "Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?") wasn't even on anybody's sheet until it happened … though I think I'll probably transcribe it for the next one! Conspicuously absent was Dennis. So we sang about him instead. There was also a 20 minute trio-jam at the top of the evening (Jesse, Evan, and me, before Woody and Ian showed up). It was probably okay, but I really felt like I was floundering on the uke ... and possibly trumpet as well ... too embarrassed to go back and look. So, in the versions I've uploaded here, it's as though the guitars were there from the very beginning.  (I also delivered our first version of "Enter Sandman" during this excised set of movements ... a light jazzy rendition.)

Personally, in spite of continuing to struggle to find the right combinations of instruments to sprinkle into the mix, I had a really good time.  This might not be our most accessible pair of recordings to date, but for those of you who were fans of our early work in the late 60's and find yourself complaining that we've become too "safe" in the new millenium, maybe give this a listen.  Can't wait for Feb 3rd at Molly Maguire's!