Row Jomah and JOOSE Garner Rave Reviews from Packed House at Dunedin Brewery
There is this thing happening. I almost don’t want to mention it, at the risk of breaking the magic. Sometimes it seems like I am living in a glorious dream. Maybe you’ve felt the same sensation.
Almost every time I go to hear live music, the bands are delivering “best-ever” sets, often next-level stuff. I understand that is the way we would hope things work in theory, but to witness it so much in real time is incredible.
And so it was on Saturday, September 16th, at Dunedin Brewery, as Row Jomah debuted tunes from their second studio album, Guns & Gods & Gold. Opening for them was JOOSE, a band that has created a huge sensation since their formation a little more than a year ago.
I have never seen DunBrew more crowded than it was for both sets — nor more enthusiastic. And that’s after almost one hundred visits there. It was a magical night in every way.
It says much about the local music scene and the confidence Row Jomah had that they invited the most talked-about “new” band to open the show. Since the first appearance of JOOSE in early 2016 and their brilliant Herbie Hancock set a year ago, this band has created an enormous buzz, and they only upped the ante when they expanded from a quintet to a sextet before Orange Blossom Jamboree.
The band has been working on a five-movement original opus about life, and they debuted part of it at OBJ. This night, we got three and one half movements. Impressive as the debut was, it is clear that this work has really gelled in the past four months, adding more power and providing new dimensions for exploration.
“Birth” exploded with Christian Ryan on flute and Mark Mayea on electric piano, evocative of the Herbie material the band can play so lovingly. There was a kickass shift as Ryan switched to tenor sax and Justin Lee Walker tore his first excellent guitar solo. There were space sounds, alto sax with pedal effects, and funk thumping from bassist Taylor Gilchrist.
During Act 2 (“Childhood”), Ryan had a superb tenor solo as the piece moved into Latin jazz, highlighted by Yral ‘datdudeondrums’ Morris and Jimmy Rector, whose percussion really stood out. It also included an amusing vocal exchange between band members.
The first section of “Adolescence,” “Efflorescent Atonement,” contained a blistering fusion solo from Walker and some fine Hammond B3 courtesy of Mayea. And this was the public debut of the first part of “Adulthood.” “State of Shock” matched Ryan on flute with Mayea on synthesizers, then a wicked prog section with Ryan on clarinet, his first time playing that reed instrument live.
For an encore, they offered a great cover of “Them Changes” by Thundercats, great funk fusion with Mayea on vocals (he was really good!) and Ryan’s tenor sax, pedal-effected. The crowd response throughout: LOVING IT.
And then it was time for the main event. I had the opportunity to review Guns & Gods & Gold before the release party and was very impressed with the album in every aspect. Now it was time to see how Row Jomah would bring the album to life. And the Dunedin Brewery was the logical location for this show, as the band lives close, plays there often, facilitates the Wednesday Night Players’ Jam, and recorded their live album there last year.
Row Jomah opened the show with “Intro > Fade Away” and “The Corner,” the first tracks on the album. The vibe in the room was electric, and it was clear that Row Jomah had found another gear, rising to a new level. Chris Fama had everyone dialed in perfectly from the soundboard, too. And leader Joe Roma was in great voice from the very start.
They next jumped ahead into the album with “Shred the Gnar.” Austin Llewellyn’s keyboards were great, the synths especially effective. Next, they opened “Tell Me,” a tune from fist album Cat People!, with a kickass country rocker. A quick funk jam led to “Windowpanes,” a tune from G&G&G that was also on the live album. Mel Walsh had a superb guitar solo. His guitar work is highlight of all of the band’s tunes, but he really stood out here.
Llewellyn had a dynamite electric piano intro into “Little Plans,” and then Sara ‘Mama Bone’ Phillips, who sits in often with Row Jomah, joined in on “Couldn’t I Be With You.” Somewhere between “Couldn’t I” and “Fire & Ice,” the setlist indicates that the band made fun of me once again with “Cab Peephole” (read about that in the album review). Walsh was all over “Fire & Ice,” as was Llewellyn on organ. Percussionist Dave Gerulat of shoeless soul, who often sits in with the band, played the entire set, sounding great on this tune. And, because it is always all about that bass, Jason Berlin offered some great bass lines on this tune and killed the entire set.
Next, Roma invited Vinny Svoboda of Displace to play bass. Svoboda mastered G&G&G and played upright bass on several of the tracks. Roma also called up Christian Ryan to play alto, and the band lit into on of its best covers, DMB’s “#41.” Walsh blazed away, Ryan had a great solo, then Llewellyn on electric piano, Svoboda with a tremendous turn on bass, then Llewellyn on organ. It was Justino Lee Walker’s turn to guest next on guitar and vocal on fan favorite “Shudder,” followed by “Back & Forth,” a tune from the new album that had never been performed live — a great success!
Then it was back to time-tested “Cat People,” the band’s fun romp. This allowed everyone to solo: Gerulat, Berlin, Ryan on alto, Llewellyn on organ. At the point when the band routinely would have jumped into “Cantina Band;” they instead busted out a joyous reading of “Jessica,” the Allman Brothers Band tune. Then Jon Ditty hopped up for a quick hip hop rhyme, and drummer Dylan Chee-A-Tow, who was awesome start to finish, was featured.
Next up, Roma & Co. doubled our pleasure with a pair of Talking Heads covers they play so lovingly: “Once in a Lifetime > Burning Down the House.” They do these so well. Of special note were the backing vocals by Gerulat on “Burning Down the House.” New tune “Crawl” was very effective, going double-time with Walsh throwing down again.
We were close to the end, and I was hoping. And my hopes were answered, as Roma closed with “Better Days,” the song I identified on G&G&G as quintessential Row Jomah. It was magnificent. Walsh did his thing, Llewellyn on electric piano, and then Berlin on bass. Roma sounded so good all night on vocals.
There was zero chance the packed brewery was letting Row Jomah go without an encore. “Funk” opened with Roma’s great acoustic guitar, and the fans shut it down with more enthusiastic applause and shouts.
Two hours and forty-five minutes. That seems to be a DunBrew record for longest set. We wouldn’t have settled for a second less.
Bravo to Row Jomah and to JOOSE for a brilliant night of next-level music. Both bands will play next weekend at the Great Outdoors Jam with a ton of other talent.
Photographs courtesy of Bryan Edward – Sobokeh, and MusicFestNews is delighted to have him back!
[JOOSE: Act 1: Prologue, Neoshi, Genesis; Act 2: We’ve got a lot of work to do, Flight of the Kiwi, Pandora’s Box; Act 3: Efflorescent Atonement, The Long and Difficult Conflict of Kronos and Bones, Peacock Strut; Act 4: State of Shock; E: Them Changes (Thundercat)]
[ROW JOMAH: Intro > Fade Away, The Corner, Shred the Gnar, Tell Me, Windowpanes, Little Plans, Couldn’t I, Cab Peephole, Fire & Ice, #41, Shudder, Back & Forth, Cat People!, Once In a Lifetime > Burning Down the House, Crawl, Better Days; E: Funk]