NO Shaky Ground with Roosevelt Collier Trio & Holey Miss Moley!
Photographs courtesy of Danny Clemmons
(which is why there are no photos of the Holey Miss Moley vocalists!)
Blazing hot music helped to thaw us out on the first cold night (well, Florida cold) in Tampa on Friday, November 16th, at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa. And this was an incredible pairing of funk monsters — first, Holey Miss Moley, then the Roosevelt Collier Trio. Both bands made stunning statements.
Holey Miss Moley, who used to be a seven-man, one-woman funk machine, have upped their game now as a seven-man, THREE-woman funk machine. The two additions truly make a difference to the sound of this fine group. Evidence to follow.
Skipper’s is an outdoor venue with a back section that is covered and has several heaters, so until music began most patrons were hiding in various warmer areas of the venue, but that changed almost immediately when Holey Miss Moley jumped into their opening original composition “Bermuda Triangle,” with Danny Clemmons and Miss Robyn Alleman intertwining their voices. Christian Ryan soloed on alto sax and Mikey Guzman on keyboards.
The relative calm of “Bermuda Triangle” shattered as they launched into “Shake It with Me.” Anthony AC Cole, playing drums with Roosevelt Collier, came out with his tenor sax to match up with Ryan and with Jen Peacock Ryan on trumpet. The addition of Peacock (so as to distinguish her from Christian) is one of those aforementioned additions. Her trumpet adds a great layer to the band’s sound, and she is a fine vocalist as well. And speaking of fine vocalists, the other addition, Ellie McCaw, joined in the fun as well. Kenny Harvey was blowing out some superb space bass, heavy on the Afrobeat. Cole soloed, and the percussion section — Anthony Morales, Vernon Suber, and drummer Jamal ‘Music City’ Wright — took a turn as well.
Alleman took the lead on a deep interpretation of “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In),” followed by five singers (including Ryan) chiming in on “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks.” When HMM got to the Rick James song “Standing on the Top,” McCaw commanded the stage with a dynamite effort, Harvey really rocking that one along. We then got the Central Florida debut of the band’s new song “Here to Dance.” Guzman penned this one, and McCaw added lyrics with Alleman in mind, but Alleman knew this one belonged to McCaw. It is a brilliant tune. Look for that on video (soon, I hope).
They offered “The Dump,” the Lettuce classic, lovingly rendered. Cole came out and soloed again on tenor, then wrangling with Ryan on alto. Guzman had a fine solo, and the percussion boys again did their thing. Alleman and Clemmons next traded stanzas on an unexpected gem, “Hold On, I’m Coming.”
The band’s magnum opus is the stunning “Afroshaft,” and this was as powerful a version as the band has ever played — to my ears, and I’ve heard a lot of ’em. Ryan soloed first with his tenor sax modified through his pedals, then percussion. Guitarist Jacob Cox, who’d been having a fine set to this point, really ripped this up, as did Guzman. Ryan came back with flute, and then he and Guzman on synths bounced it back and forth.
Guzman stood out again on “Big Bad Wolf,” and the ‘Mary Jane Girls’ closed it out with — what else? — “Mary Jane”! Fabulous set!
Roosevelt Collier can play with anybody. He has performed with Widespread Panic, The Travelin’ McCourys, The Allman Brothers Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bokante, Electric Kif, The Mike Dillon Band, and of course The Lee Boys. He has eight shows, beginning tonight (Wednesday, November 21st) with Unlimited Devotion playing the music of The Grateful Dead.
Something very special happens, however, when he works with his “regular” trio. Matt Lapham plays bass with Shak Nasti, an outstanding band from Orlando. He also plays in Con Leche and spent considerable time in a trio with Bobby Lee Rodgers, the incredible guitarist. Anthony AC Cole is a titan, pure and simple. He played drums and saxophone with jazz legend (and that is not an exaggeration) Sam Rivers in his trio, the band Fluid Motion, and River’s big band Riv-Bea Orchestra. He played with The Legendary JCs (that’s their name), and he played drums in Mofro with JJ Grey. He also plays bass and piano and is a fine singer.
Those of a certain age might regard the live version of “Spoonful” by Cream at the Fillmore East as exemplifying the power trio: three individuals jamming as a unit. [If this is unfamiliar, I would recommend you take 16:44 so you understand what I’m referencing here.] When Collier, Lapham, and Cole perform, they do sometimes perform actual, you know, songs. Just as often, however, they free-form jam, and it is absolutely stunning. We got a lot of that brilliance last Friday.
The first jam was built on The Meters’ “Hey Pocky A-Way,” which leaned heavily toward the Jimi Hendrix side of things. The second jam was straight-up “Spoonful”-like magnificence, each member of the trio draping layer upon layer of sound onto the jam. The third jam was a slowed-down blues, almost “Daytripper”-ish. It too was drenched in Hendrix vibes; Collier often performs Jimi Does Funk sets, so this was no surprise and certainly a delight.
Cole took the lead vocal as the trio played “Who Knows” so lovingly. To this point, Collier was using his new lap steel guitar that is actually a guitar; prior to this he used a special board so that he could stand while playing his old lap steel (without a lap). He then sat down at his pedal steel guitar, blasting out a “Give Up the Funk” intro to “Shaky Ground.” Just ridiculous.
There was a short lovely melody which yielded to a blazing jam centered around “Hot ’Lanta” that just screamed. For “Third Stone from the Sun,” Collier called Christian Ryan and his tenor saxophone to the stage. Ryan had a fine solo, and Lapham destroyed this one. (He destroyed the whole set. Amazing.)
Time for one more tune, and Collier led the trio plus Ryan into “The Way You Make Me Feel.” This became a gorgeous slowed-down jazz tune. Ryan had an even better solo here, and then he and Collier batted the melody back and forth. And Cole does more with his stripped-down drum kit than most drummers can accomplish with twice as many.
The Funk is strong in the Sunshine State!
[HMM: Bermuda Triangle, Shake It with Me, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks, Say Goodbye, Standing on the Top, Here to Dance, The Dump, Hold On, I’m Coming, Afroshaft, Big Bad Wolf, Mary Jane]
[RC3: Hey Pocky A-Way Jam, Jam 2, Blues Jam, Short Funker, Who Knows, Shaky Ground, Lovely Melody, Hot ‘Lanta Jam, Third Stone from the Sun Jam, The Way You Make Me Feel]