June 20, 2006
Birchmere Music Hall, Alexandria, VA
The Birchmere Music Hall in Alexandria, Virginia was rockin’ on
June 20, when acid jazz/fusion group Down to the Bone hit town.
The guys exhibited non-stop energy from the second they took
the stage. They started off with “From Manhattan to
Staten,” with saxophonists Paul “Shilts” Weimar
(tenor) and Katisse Buckingham (alto) trading riffs, followed
by a high-octane solo by Buckingham. Other early solos included
an impressive guitar solo by Allen Hinds, worthy of any hard-core
rock band, and a funky keyboard solo from Bill Steinway.
As Shilts introduced the band to the audience, he asked how
many in attendance were seeing the band for the first time,
and as he noted the many hands raised, he grinned and announced “Virgins – we
love ‘em!” He and the band then proceeded to impress
the newcomers and veteran audience members alike. During “London
Life,” Shilts let loose with a rollicking solo on his
ancient-looking tenor, followed by a solo from bassist Rufus
Philpot. Then Buckingham wowed the crowd with one of his innovative
hip-hop flute solos.
On “Pure Fun,” Hinds played another electrifying
guitar solo, to the delight of the crowd. Philpot followed
with a feverish bass solo. Next up was “Urban Jazz” off
the group’s Urban Grooves CD,
first featuring Shilts on tenor, then Buckingham with an alto
solo that started off soulful and ended up totally rocking.
The song featured some innovative harmonies between Shilts
and Buckingham, and ended with a lilting bit of keyboards from
Steinway.
Steinway’s tour de force, though, was “Zodiac” – watching
his fingers fly over the keyboards was like watching a hummingbird’s
wings fly. The song also featured a drum solo by Tony Moore,
perched behind a bright orange Pearl drum set. The group, minus
Shilts and Buckingham, who sat the song out, crescendoed to
a massive grand finale for the song.
As wonderful as “Zodiac” was, the highlight of
the show was Shilts’ first single, “Look What’s
Happened,” from his new CD, HeadBoppin’.
This upbeat, energetic song had the entire audience on their
feet dancing. “Look What’s Happened” has
a slightly different sound than the DTTB standards, yet fits
in very nicely with the rest of the set. The song is a little
less funky than the other DTTB fare, but had a catchy, addictive
melody, with plenty of energy from Shilts, and short solos
by Hinds and Steinway.
The band returned to DTTB tunes with “Gotta Get Back
to You.” The unfortunate slight feedback problems throughout
the song didn’t dampen the audience’s appreciation
of more solos from Steinway and Hinds, who was a particular
crowd-pleaser with his roller-coaster guitar work.
“Vinyl Junkie” brought Shilts and Buckingham out into the audience
to play and featured a funky, retro keyboard solo, following by Buckingham
rapping to the delight of the crowd. The band closed out its set with “Brooklyn
Heights,” again bringing the audience to their feet to dance. The song
featured a nice piano solo by Steinway, followed by a solo from Buckingham,
along with some tight sax playing between Buckingham and Shilts.
DTTB played a solid hour and 50 minutes of pure, danceable
funk, leaving a thoroughly satisfied crowd at the Birchmere.
I’m sure I’m one of many who hope to see another
DTTB show in the DC area soon.
- Michelle Taunton
- photos by Bonnie Schendell |
