I shlepped out to the wilds (now quite civilized actually) on the edge between Williamsburg (hip & or Hassidic) and Bushwick (industrial and iffy), of Brooklyn last night to catch our friends The Little Brothers at this hole in the wall "Social Club" called The Brooklyn Rod & Gun Club where the ten dollar admission entitles you to two drinks of your choice. This place which resembles nothing so much as a concrete cube provides as it happens an extremely beneficial acoustic environment in which to hear music. Those of us who also attend classical music concerts soon become become aware of the degree to which the acoustics of the venue matter. Case in point Carnegie Hall is superb, Avery Fisher Hall sucks. There was an every note clarity at BR&G that was a real pleasure. So how were TLBs? In a word OUTTASIGHT! I've actually never heard them play better. Kim was pulling out the real deal on fiddle and vocal reaffirming her status as the suigenerated girl wonder of Blues fiddle. Her vocals are getting richer and more nuanced all the time, and there's many a far more famous female Blues singer who ought to be a little concerned. There is a certain "innocent" period when people have been playing long enough to do something, but not so long that they get mannered , slick or predictable. Our Kim is right in that zone now. Let's hope she never gets any "better" because the way she plays right now is just about perfect. Frank's playing was so spot on that it was like watching a great athlete do something amazing. It was primarily backup work, nothing overtly flashy but done about as well as it could be done, with a rightness of micro-timing that just propelled the music right along. Again a sheer pleasure. Mike Hoffman really shone in his Mandolin playing which meshed like a jigsaw puzzle piece with the other two instruments, there was none of the jamming up or overplaying that can sometimes occur. Among all else the music was, it was spacious..it breathed and all the parts were discrete and well articulated. Mike's playing on the "Train that took my Baby Away" was just terrific, actually everyones playing on that was and it came off better than i've ever heard it. So I just wanted to let everyone here know again, that our music is alive and cookin' when TLB's are at the helm.
