Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe: Eat a Bunch of Peaches at 420 on the Block, Wanee, and Jazzfest

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe blew everybody’s minds on Jam Cruise, and now Karl D and crew are ready for more, starting with Hogs for the Cause in the Crescent City, then teleporting to Colorado for Hops and Handrails and a show at Belly Up, Aspen.

Later in the spring, KDTU has a pair of dates at the Alaska State Fair and plays both weekends at Electric Forest. They’ll also play Hot August Music Festival.

But in between. Oh, in between! For three shows, Karl will again present Eat a Bunch of Peaches, with KDTU playing tribute to the Allman Brothers Band. They debuted this last November in San Francisco. They’ll play 420 on the Block in Colorado, then teleport back to Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park for the Wanee Music Festival, which was of course the festival birthed by ABB. They will also perform Eat a Bunch of Peaches at Jazzfest in May.

About the Jam Cruise pool deck set, we wrote at the time:

As we arrived, Denson, flute in hand, was walking the band through “Dance Lesson #2.” He also blew some sweet alto, DJ Williams knocked one out on guitar, followed by Seth Freeman doing same. KDTU has been doing a bunch of A Bunch of Peaches shows, so “Dreams” was not a surprise. Neither was seeing the ubiquitous Marcus King on stage, tearing it up on vocals, Freeman on slide guitar.

Freeman handled the vocals on “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More,” Denson on tenor. Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” received great respect, David Veith on keyboards, then King. A percussion battle broke out between Zak Najor and Mike Dillon (as best we could see). When the opening strains of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” resounded across the deck, there was a moment of reverence, followed by undiluted joy as KDTU + King + a bunch of friends on stage sent that one toward the heavens and Gregg and Butch, but it was “Whipping Post” that gave us, perhaps, THE moment of the cruise. Well, about 20 minutes, actually, but you get the idea. DAMN.

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe are: Karl Denson, saxophones, flute, vocals; DJ Williams, guitar, vocals; Zak Najor, drums; Chris Stillwell, bass; David Veith, keyboards; Chris Littlefield, trumpet; and Seth Freeman, guitar, vocals.