5/15: Bark Culture @ Tubby's Kingston

[clifford_thornton]

 

It gives me great pleasure to let you know that on Thursday, May 15 Philadelphia's Bark Culture will be performing at Tubby's on a bill with Blue Lake (Denmark/Texas) and Ezra Feinberg (ye olde Hudson Valley).

 

I've been trying to do something with Bark Culture –– which features vibraphonist Victor Vieira-Branco, bassist John Moran, and drummer Joey Sullivan –– for a while now, and finally we were able to lock something in. I first saw them in a collaboration with saxophonist Michael Foster at Smog (the student venue on Bard's campus, on a bill with Nicholas Serrambana's excellent band Trance Macabre), and was blown away. Moran and Sullivan are also in Foster's trio The Ghost, who have played in Kingston a couple of times, including with Joe McPhee at Tubby's in 2024. At that point we were hatching a plan to bring Bark Culture to the Tub around the time of their debut LP release, Warm Wisdom (which is one of thee great debuts of last year), but scheduling isn't always easy. Good things come to those who wait!

 

Ever since I was a young person I've dug the sound and look of the vibraphone; my dad, a pianist and composer, played in a group in Topeka with a Milt Jackson-inspired vibist named Irving Curtis, and he was awesome. Once I actually got into jazz, Bobby Hutcherson and Karl Berger were quick favorites –– two musicians I was also lucky enough to see and speak with over the years, now no longer with us. Bark Culture is an equilateral unit that focuses on the dance between composition and improvisation among three highly inventive and direct players; they're also a somewhat new band, and exponentially getting more and more into their thing(s). Progressivism and advancement are loaded terms that don't always fit with creativity but suffice it to say that what has materialized on record and in concert from Bark Culture previously is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

I'm also eager to see Blue Lake for the first time (psychedelic multi-instrumental music, not sure if the name is a Don Cherry reference) and Ezra Feinberg again (American acoustic guitar fantasias), and trust that the evening will be sonically varied and compelling.

 

Tickets are available in advance or at the door. Thursday night hit, Dorjee momo from the kitchen and a well-stocked bar + incredible sounds throughout.

 

[T.D.]

Looking forward to this!

Plus the food... 😁...Dorjee Momo isn't there on the Sunday nights.

[clifford_thornton]

5 hours ago, T.D. said:

Looking forward to this!

Plus the food... 😁...Dorjee Momo isn't there on the Sunday nights.

exactly... they're delicious.

[mjazzg]

Listening to 'Warm Wisdom' now, right up my street. Sadly no copies seem to have crossed the Atlantic.

[clifford_thornton]

yeah, it's a superb record. It does indeed seem like the LP, which was a limited pressing, stayed stateside and was mostly sold at shows.

[mjazzg]

£45 to import one, ouch!