Stick Men at The Tralf

(w/Pat)

“Groove” is king when it comes to Stick Men. Tony Levin, Michael Bernier and Pat Mastelotto quietly took the stage at the Tralf last weekend, tinkered with some settings, and following a short tape loop of sounds proceeded with an attack that was technical but always rhythmic.

Two Chapman Stick players (Levin and Bernier) and drummer Mastelotto playing acoustic as well as electronic drums and triggering all manner of vocal and sound loops, create an experimental, percussive sound that at times threatens to be accessible. This is because of the groove. No matter how “out there” the music got at times you could always center yourself on the pulse. Often it was Mastelotto laying this down, while other times the melody as well as the rhythm was taken up by one of the Sticks, with the others jumping quickly on board.

After the show I got to meet Tony Levin and then I headed over to a surprisingly crowded drummers table (no one ever wants to talk to the drummer!). Pat was nice enough to have a picture taken and then fill me in on an upcoming “Tuner” project after I had asked him to bring them to Buffalo . He and his Tuner partner Markus Reuter have one live disc almost ready for release, and another double disc due this fall. Apparently that double disc will create a third “disc” of music when played at the same time. He got pretty excited talking about this, telling me how difficult it’s been syncing the entire concept together, and how they are really looking forward to getting this out.

At a time when many musicians are phoning it in on the nostalgia circuit, or touring behind a new release that you’ll be lucky to hear two songs from live, these guys are out in clubs doing new music that is intelligent, groove oriented and combining composition along with improvisation. I'm glad there's musicians out there not afraid to push themselves and have fun doing it, and it's encouraging to see that if they do, people will follow.

(w/Tony)

**pictures courtesy of my brother Gary**

Niagara Bike Path

Took a bike trek on Friday from the office to my in-laws house in Tonawanda. Nice because two-thirds of the way was on a designated bike path along the river. Turned out to be a bit longer of a ride than I had anticipated though, and I rode into the wind the majority of the way, but the scenery was nice.

(beginning of the trek near Harry's Harbor restaurant on Niagara St.)

(along Niagara St.)
(under the Grand Island bridges)

(path through Niawanda Park)