Tampa Calling

For those as far out of the loop as myself, Street Sweeper Social Club is The Coup’s Boots Riley and RATM/AudioSlave guitarist/Nightwatchman, Tom Morello. They’re currently filling the opening slot on the Jane’s Addiction / NIN tour. (Pictured below playing the May 9 show at Ford Amphitheatre; photo taken by Phil Bardi.)

I saw Boots last year while he was out on the road with Galactic and he totally stole the show. The idea of him collaborating with Tom Morello has me extremely excited. Unfortunately, the three tracks of theirs that my buddy supplied me with last night have done little more than disappoint.

None the less, last Sunday, Boots and Trent Reznor shared the stage and mic duties on a cover of MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams” and I think it turned out pretty awesome.

(VIDEO AFTER THE CUT THAT I’VE PLACED HERE TO INCREASE THE “CLICK COUNT” ON THIS POST)

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He was the bespectacled white kid from the suburbs trying to sit in with musical legends in New Orleans. But instead of getting the cold shoulder, drummer Stanton Moore was welcomed on the bandstand by any number of prominent players. And the crowd dug him, too.

Stanton Moore Trio, Thurs., May 28, 8 p.m., Crowbar, Ybor City. $10.

“To tell you the truth, when I was coming up and they’d let me sit in, the regulars at the bar would be, ‘Listen to the white kid,’” Moore says by cell phone on his way to a recording session in the Crescent City. “They’d be dancing and egging me on. They were real supportive.”

It probably wouldn’t have gone quite so well if young Stanton had sucked. But from an early age, he committed to learning the distinctive, tricky and at times peculiar nuances of the New Orleans drumming style. (See his video demonstrations at the bottom of this post.)

“I had a great guy who taught me the basic rudiments,” Moore says. “But it was a real challenge to go from that to learning from [storied NOLA drummer Johnny Vidacovich] to loosen up. But I was determined. I really worked on how to loosen it up and apply it to my drum set.” Read the rest of this entry »