Nashville's 5Spot is in the Five Points neighborhood, and I wanted sounds off the beaten path. I got them, courtesy of Asheville N.C.
C Shreve the Professor is an old school rapper who delivers the narcotic over a tape backup. He's got skills. Rappers today rap about how hard it is to be an MC, and the professor did not veer much from that.
King Garbage, comprised of Vic DiMotsis on drums and vocals and Alex Taub on keys, has worked with leading urban artists.
For two white guys they have as deep a background in funk, Latin music and improvisational jazz as you could ask. And they don't stop and tune up like rock bands do; they just keep playing.
Basically they turned cover hits into improvisational jazz funk, like Just The Two of Us, Dancing in the Dark, Superstitious and the Chariots of Fire movie theme.
Imagine Weather Report fronted by Doctor John, or Return to Forever with Tom Waits singing, and that's King Garbage. DiMotsis loves his three crash cymbals like the greats of bop -- Art Blakey comes to mind.
Their best song was an original that had a refrain "She ain't doin' retail no more."
The sound system at the 5Spot is more than adequate, meaning too loud for the about seven people in the audience. T.B. has played shows like that.
The highlights of the night were when the three Asheville artists performed together a few times. The mesmerizing flow of the professor and the funk of KG was highly entertaining.
