Bigger, better, faster, Moore

I spent this evening at the Rickshaw Stop, the City's fine little live music venue on the wrong end of a one-way street. As is often the case, I was mildly irritated by the way the advertised 8:00 pm start time clashed with the actual 9:30 start time. Even if you call them in advance, they still don't get it right. Anyway I got over it.

I've already written about first act Bart Davenport in this space, and although I had a yen to see him play the brief, compact, hear-it-once-and-remember-it-forever "Everyone's In Love With You" again, I was more interested in the Moore Brothers this time.

The Moore Brothers, who are actually brothers, are a duo from Oakland. Every time I've seen them, they have passed a single acoustic guitar back and forth (A-B-A-B style) throughout the set. Their harmonies are quite tight, their songs are very peculiar, and their off-kilter timing is exceptional. While most of their musical idiosyncracies seem intentional, there is a component of weirdness that may or may not be. Strange fellows. They're definitely onto something. Ultimately their harmonies grow fairly static over the course of the set, but their subject matter, word choice, delivery, timing and overall style are enough to keep the mood from spoiling. Nice band. Interesting people. I'm into it.

Etienne de Rocher was on next, but I went home. If the music had started at the appointed time, it would've been different. I've had a long week of social outings. It's bedtime.


FMFM: Stan Getz, Gary Burton and Kenny Burrell on Getz Au Go Go, a live date issued in 1964. Not quite a bossa nova record, although it has several Brazilian standards of the era. The eight-minute "Summertime" is the centerpiece, as it turns out. Very cool interactions on this one.