Re: Tony Levin at Acton Jazz Cafe
Well friends the show was great. Actually Tony's "set" was more like a story telling/question and answer session. He talked about the probable regrouping of king Crimson and the Electric Tension Experiment for some gigs. He didn't have a "band" with him, he played along to music on his laptop going through the sound system. He played a few songs on bass guitar and one solo Stick song from his new CD but as he explained he always used the Stick as a bass instrument and isn't really a solo player on the Stick so he also played to pre-recorded Stick tracks and mainly played the bass parts live.
He seems like a very pleasant man and was very open and willing to answer our questions. I asked him if he had experience with the NS Stick because being mainly a bass player I would think he could get a lot out of the instrument. He said he really hadn't spent any time with the instrument however he did get his hands on a proto type early on in it's developement. He didn't want to talk "Stick" too much because it wasn't really a STICK gathering however after his "set" he autographed my copy of Stick Man and we talked a little about Sticks. It was awesome having his ear for 5 minutes and talking Sticks. He was definitely into the topic, you could tell he finds the topic interesting ... as we do. Again a very pleasent person to speak with, not at all the unaproachable "star." Of course I got my photo taken with him and will post it as soon as my friend sends it to me!
Oh the back up band was a band called IZZ .... real original prog-rock and totally top shelf! As polished and progressive as any Yes or Genesis. Any of you prog-rock heads do yourself a favor and check them out. I don't think they're "Signed" but they have several disks for sale on their web site.
http://www.progressiverockbr.com/izz.htmAfter their set Tony came up and played a few Peter G. songs with them and played Elephant talk! They did an awesome job of covering all these tunes.
So there you have it. Even though Tony didn't actually play much I'd highly recommend checking him out if he comes to your part of the world doing this kind of a gig. It was a totally enjoyable evening and again Tony was a very pleasent person to speak with and an interesting person to listen too in regard to answering questions and telling storys.
That is all .........
Tap on!
Ray