Rodrigo y Gabriela's "Tamacun" is probably the best new song I've heard this year. There's just something magical and electric about its searing flamenco flavor and unbeatable melody. [All photos by Tracy May.]
At this point, you're probably assuming I liked the duo's live show, right? Wrong. "Tamacun" itself is a magnificent piece of music, but I couldn't get into Rodrigo y Gabriela's performance for multiple reasons, which I will list soon enough. But for now, let's focus on the opener, Alex Skolnick Trio.
The three-man jazz group opened up the show to a crowd of mostly older people, with none of the characteristic peach fuzz and braces of a younger demographic. For their first few songs, they played in darkness, backlit by only turquoise and purple lights. Being biased (the only jazz artist I'm a true fan of is Stan Getz), I clearly couldn't get into this group, especially not their metal-inspired tracks. I get a disagreeable taste in my mouth whenever I hear metal. I just don't like it. Yet they played songs influenced by headbanging enthusiasts like Kiss, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. To me, hearing these bands cited as influences is usually a reason to run far, far away from the music. However, I can't beat up on the trio too much; they did do some stuff I enjoyed, including a song that had a Bollywood vibe. But, in all, it was just not my kind of music.
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2010.