Concerts
Date: 03/03/2010 Eclectica Wows a Packed House at the Mendelssohn PAC
by Gregory C. Johnson gregor@beetcafe.com
It was a special night at the Charlotte’s Web concert featuring the amazing music of Eclectica. The crowd was treated to a world class performance from four outstanding musicians.
The evening started out a bit late as the band ran into a snow storm while leaving their previous gig in Athens, Ohio. They arrived safely and held an improv/techniques workshop before the concert. The workshop was a great way to discuss techniques and learn from four musicians that have a wide variety of backgrounds and experience to share with the workshop attendees. The workshop was held in a free form style that allowed the attendees to work with the members of the group that best matched their own musical interests. I highly recommend checking out more of the workshops that Charlotte’s Web hosts in conjunction with some of their concerts.
The concert itself was something that will last in your mind as a very special evening of music. Eclectica played through several of the songs off their current CD as well as a number of other pieces during the show. It was a treat to watch these four musicians bring their own styles and talents together to create a unique sound filled with improvisation throughout each piece. The group is extremely tight even with the various improvisations that are going on between each of them during their performance.
Tracy Silverman with his custom built six-string electric violin puts on a show that you will never forget. Silverman takes the violin to musical places you would never think possible. If you weren’t watching him play the violin you would swear he was playing lead guitar during certain song segments. He flows effortlessly from classical to jazz to rock with an artistic flair that is a delight to hear and watch.
Roy “Futureman” Wooten is one of the greatest drummers I have seen in a very long time. Futureman doesn’t over play like many drummers do. He shows that the drumming is truly an art in the right hands and not just a rhythm instrument to keep the time of the music. His playing flows with the melody while keeping the beat. He even comes out from the behind the kit and keeps drumming across cymbal stands and anything he can find to rap his sticks against all the while keep perfect time.
Steve Forrest on bass fits in perfectly with the rhythms of Wooten and the chords/melodies of Silverman. The bass is meant to keep the rhythm with the drums and give a song a groove feeling. Forrest shows you that in the right hands the bass can be much more. His fingers run up and down the neck; yet he never loses that important groove that keeps a moving rhythm with the beat.
Rounding out the lineup was Phil Lassiter on keys and trumpet. Lassiter has a gift for inserting some of the most interesting sounds I have ever heard into the songs and they work with a charm. He does a keyboard solo lead with a dual vocal scat that I have never seen nor heard done before that was totally cool. As the others do with their instruments, he creates sounds from a trumpet that you would not think possible and they mix perfectly with the music.
You can tell when you go to a concert if the musicians are there just because this is how they make a living or if they truly love what they do. From that first notes of the night you can tell these four guys love what they do. It comes out in every note they play. I reviewed the Eclectica CD before seeing the concert. I was impressed with what I heard; but it is not even close to what you experience seeing them live in concert. If you get a chance to see Eclectica live; do not miss it.
The evening included a special presentation for Tracy Silverman. The Rockford Area Music Industry committee awarded Silverman with this year’s RAMI Outstanding Achievement Award for his musical accomplishments and his dedication to coming back to the area to work with students from his alma matter Beloit Memorial High School. It was a great evening; one that will be remembered for a long time to come.
