Larry Graham, BB Kings, August 28, 2013.
Larry Graham brought his funk-mastery to NY last night, with a hard funk and smooth cutting soul prowess that he is now legendary for. Some only know Larry for his Sly years, and slap pioneering days. But he is long established in the industry as a wonderful writer and producer
Larry, and the group actually took the stage early - and started early (there was a reason for this, see below), despite some snafus by the house stage crew (snarled wires, disconnects). So the band had to come out and stand around looking tacky for a few minutes with no music at all (ugh!), while the stage hands fumbled with connections and rat’s nests of wires. The ‘rat’s nest’ is when wires become so entangled that it’s easier just to throw it away. Evidence of a snarled wire always is egg on the stage crew’s face, so they hate when they get caught.
Larry came strutting wireless from the bar-side, or entrance of BB Kings, wearing his customary white suit and feathered fedora, and an assortment of impressive bling: tie-clip, diamond ring, cuff-links, and his gold-plated bass hardware. He began with a few blistering funk jams, and then told the crowd to be ready for a long evening - so to make amends for the last time they played a short-set (he remembers all sets).
Larry brought his all-Oakland crew (the vocalist was from San Francisco). The vocalist (Biscuit) held her own pretty well with this bunch, however, her range was not extraordinary. Her mix sounded so bad I wondered if they even sound-checked. One of the two keyboardists kept up horn backdrops. A live horn section would have been killer, but never fit. The guitarist laid down bluesy soul licks, with crisp cutting solos on his ‘Strat, leaving the open funk 9ths to the keys.
Larry is an extraordinarily seasoned performer, which is clear the moment he sets on stage. The first thing you notice is his wiry and elegant frame, and how gracefully and assertively he moves through (his) space. When things perk up, he jumps and jives with the athleticism of an 18 year-old, and the grace of a true artist.
He played his hits, as well as a smattering of cuts from his new album “Raise Up,” an album that is essential to your archive. It is produced on vinyl and CD (‘ol school). Prince appears on three of the scores. Most notably, fabulous interpretations of Al Green songs - Love & Happiness, Ain’t No Fun to Me, and Can’t Stand the Rain (Ann Peebles)
The set was a little uneven in the middle, and there may have been a few too many monologues. But for the most part of that we heard great stories form Larry, and expressions of his love for his audience. Larry is a great story teller, and has buckets of charisma. I particularly enjoyed his anecdote from the early 70’s about entering a room under one of those wide brim numbers with the feathered boa. Mmmmmm, mh!
Although BB Kings is one of the best rooms in NYC, there were too many snafus by the sound crew: not the focus here, but I noticed:
continual low volume in the monitors (typical, cats can’t hear the vocal queues)
cut out of one of the Tritons
the mix levels were way off in the PA, so you would never hear all the instruments. So one of the keys might play a whole song two-handed on two keyboards, and no one might even hear one of them at all. If that was the horns - well, you got no horns.
That being said, Larry’s bass and remote mic mix were dead-nut crisp wet and nasty spankin’, the way he likes it.
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