The Jimmy Herring Band
Jimmy Herring ranks in my prestigious “top ten guitarists alive” list, and it was about time that he put his own band together. He recently put out an album, “Lifeboat”, which is a fantastic melodic non-vocal jazz odyssey. For this tour he was flanked with Jeff Sipe of drums and three brilliant/unknown guys on guitar, bass, and keys. I caught them at the Grand, my least favorite venue in SF. Fortunately, they simply tore it up. There was endless interplay between all five truly stellar virtuoso musicains. They would all play off each other in an feedback loop of accelerating awesomeness. It would have been the ultimate show to see at Yoshi’s. I’ve been seeking out good jazz for the past two years, and this show scratched an itch so hard that it started bleeding joy. It was an outstanding show, and currently contender for show of the year.
Another show that merits mentioning this regard was a killer set from Reeble Jar at the Connecticut Yankee. Another five piece all instrumental ensemble, they favored the funk in many flavors with the occational odd time signature. I love me a show at the Yankee where there are only 12 of us in attendence and the band is playing for all they are worth. I felt bad for them since they made so little money, but had such a crazy good time rocking out.
Note – I did not shoot these videos. I’m getting pretty lazy with my camera. I’m also armed with the knowledge that someone else will shoot a better video/pics then I and share it on the internet. I heart the internet.
