Mike Gordon has performed with any number of musicians, from George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic to Bela Fleck, Warren Haynes and BB King. His bass-playing skills were sometimes overshadowed by the ripping licks of Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio but even before that band's break-up, Gordon was proving himself to be its most promising export, a dark horse talent who could bring the funk just as easily as the folk, a musician you wouldn't even know was playing if not for the bob of his head and the ever-shifting movement of hands on his five-string Modulus.
He's kept himself pretty busy this past year, ringing in 2005 with The Benevento/Russo Duo and playing some dates with them in the spring; recording and releasing Sixty Six Steps, his second album with veteran acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke; and generally causing quite the musical buzz in his wake.
In November, after coming off a 25-show tour with Kottke in support of their new album, Gordon announced that he'd once again be playing a series of shows with the Duo leading up to (and on) New Year's Eve. The actual New Year's Eve show occurs in Miami, which, luckily enough for Bay-area folks, means a stop in St. Petersburg along the way. If you're a fan of jazz or funk or pretty much any good music, this is a show you'd be foolish to miss.
Mike Gordon and The Benevento/Russo Duo, 8 p.m. Fri., Dec. 30 @ Jannus Landing, 16 Second St. N., St. Petersburg, $19 in advance/$25 day of, www.jannuslandingconcerts.com.
