Garcia Peoples; Photo by Ethan Covey
Jazz, DJ sets, and jams abound tonight.
James Brandon Lewis with Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams, Hamid Drake, Constellation
Acclaimed saxophonist James Brandon Lewis plays in a quartet tonight with some of the greats of Chicago’s contemporary jazz scene: saxophonist Dave Rempis, bassist Joshua Abrams, and drummer Hamid Drake.
Neon Falls is an underground event that emphasizes building a safe music community. Tonight, they partner with record label T4T LUV NRG to honor queer love with two b2b performances: Hi-Vis, the project of artist Alex Bond, and her partner Glenna Fitch (sold), and DJ Eris Drew and her partner Octo Octa, whose Resonant Body was our #9 album of last year.
Hand Habits & Garcia Peoples, Schubas
Hand Habits’ placeholder was one of our favorite records of last year; when previewing Meg Duffy’s show at the Hideout last year, we remarked on Duffy’s wise observations about relationships as well as compositional and instrumental chops, guitar (“pacify”, “jessica”) and otherwise (MIDI output “heat”). Since then, they’ve released an album under the name Hand Habits and friends, containing placeholder’s “wildfire” and covers of it by Kacey Johansing, Angel Olsen, John Andrews & The Yawns, Tara Jane O’Neill, and Lomelda. All profits from the record benefit the the Amazon Conservation Association, as Duffy was inspired to help out after witnessing the devastation caused by the wildfires in California.
New Jersey jam band Garcia Peoples have released three records in the past year and a half: hooky debut Cosmic Cash, Americana-tinged Natural Facts, and the two-track One Step Behind. The last one is considered a full-length because, well, the title track is a full 32-minute long odyssey unable to fit on one side of the record. It starts with overdubbed twin saxophone from Bob Malach (father of band co-founder Tom Malach) before it spirals into Tom and co-founder Danny Arakaki’s trademark dueling guitars. Cesar Arakaki’s drums kick about 10 minutes in, as the guitars become more distorted and fuzzed out and the song changes tempo once again. Arakaki starts singing 13 minutes, in harmony with the other band members, and the track choogles on, bits of Pat Gubler’s organ painting the canvas. The spiraling, jazzy midsection builds into a sludgy, bluesy, then motorik, then borderline freak klezmer coda, the band having traversed the heady musical terrain in one fell swoop. Track 2, “Heart and Soul”, is a 1/4 the length of the title cut, so a still-hefty eight minutes. It’s a tender, piano-forward love ballad written and sung by Derek Spaldo, normally the bassist, with live bassist Andy Cush appearing on record for the first time and Gubler providing pretty flute.
Over the course of Garcia Peoples’ history, they’ve added members seemingly with every new release, recorded countless hours at the Live Music Archive, backed Chris Forsyth and Ryley Walker, and developed a stellar live reputation. They’re not to be missed, and they’re already almost finished with another record.
Fran (the project of Chicago-based artist Maria Jacobson) & Fauvely (the dream-pop project of Chicago-based musician Sophie Brochu) open.
Tedeschi Trucks Band, Chicago Theatre
Tedeschi Trucks Band returns to the Chicago Theatre for their annual residency, which took place last night as well as tonight and next Friday and Saturday. Their most recent record was last year’s Signs, which we described as “definitely a band showcase,” highlighting the horns of “Walk Through This Life” and Susan Tedeschi’s blues guitar picking on “The Ending”. A year removed from Signs, expect to hear from all over their discography and a smattering of covers, especially if their set last night was any indication.
