SONNY BOY
(w/ the Jerome Jordan Trio)

At the Cutting Room, NYC (11/29/02)

 


At 9:40pm, the Jerome Jordan Trio hit the stage. Unfortunately, this was more of a soft-rock set than the power hardcore funk-rock show at MAYAPALOOZA. The first song, "I Don't Mind", featured some good wah-wah guitar by Jerome Jordan and good drumming by Abhita. That was followed by a slower rock ballad with a Hendrix-style guitar solo and some good backing vocals by the bassist, Ganessa....unfortunately, her vocals needed to be louder. Jerome was doing some amazing intergalactic guitar riffs during the next soft-rock song! The following song was funkier with some solid bass riffs! Later in the set,

Jerome's trio ended with a powerful hardcore rock tune (!!) that featured a chorus that was tacked to the end of the song "Good Life".....from the Funkface EP "The American Dream"!!! The bassist did some of the most liquidifying bass riffs ever, with the thunderous drumming & nasty guitar solos!! And let's not forget the insane vocals of JEROME JORDAN!! At 10:25pm, the show was over.



SONNY BOY hit the stage at 11:00pm, amidst the continuous problems involving the sound system! Of course, all the technical snafu's did not really take away from the magnitude of SONNY BOY's funk bomb!! (and I mean, it was on the magnitude of the hydrogen bomb dropped on Hiroshima!) The funky intro was followed by the guitar funk of "Soul Junky"!! (well, I'm a funky junky, baba!) "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Bout To (Lose My Mind)" featured Sheldon Riser's funky vocals, some backing vocals and a NASTAY guitar solo, meaty bass, slammin' drums during the guitar solo, and some good wah-wah guitaring!!The gospel funk stinked up the Cutting Room with some grinding organ riffs and great falsetto vocals & bluesy guitar by Shel! (one problem: Shel's falsetto was ruined by the mic being turned down too low!!) "Devil's Got You High" was funky as hell with some thumpin' bass, nasty guitar and lots of churning organ! (Of course, I wished the guys did the song close to the way it was recorded on the CD, but it worked!)

"Like Collard Greens"???
Well, it was a slice of funk heaven!! Good ole fashioned funk....prepared by Chef Sheldon Riser & his background singers....cooked to perfection......a groove served with a hefty side of powerful rock guitarisms, smothered in odorious bass riffs, seasoned with some bombastic drumwork, and topped with some good organwork!! (Yeah, the groove was BROWN.....straight outta da SKILLET!!)

The encore was a song dedicated to George W. Bush....it was aptly called "You Ain't Done Nothin'"....a soft-rock song with some funky guitar by Shel!!!! The show was over at 12:15am.

 

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