The Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute Band

[Phil T.]

I saw this band at Yoshi's on Wednesday last week. They tore the place down! Cindy was killin'; Vernon Reid was cutting throats out there - amazing stuff. Medeski did a very credible Larry Young, creating the sonic backdrop for the rest of the mayhem. It was great to see Jack Bruce, too. He warmed up and was really going for it by the second set. And a guy named Carlos came out a couple of times. He did a blues jam at the end of the first set and a 20-minute "let's-tear-up-the-joint" session at the end of the second set. We got Sunshine of Your Love > In A Silent Way > Born Under a Bad Sign > Purple Haze > snippets of a half dozen other tunes. Great fun. Great show.

[willyz]

With that lineup they'd be stupid to not put out a live record. A DVD would be killer too!

[Clint Hopkins]

I saw this band at Yoshi's on Wednesday last week. They tore the place down! Cindy was killin'; Vernon Reid was cutting throats out there - amazing stuff. Medeski did a very credible Larry Young, creating the sonic backdrop for the rest of the mayhem. It was great to see Jack Bruce, too. He warmed up and was really going for it by the second set. And a guy named Carlos came out a couple of times. He did a blues jam at the end of the first set and a 20-minute "let's-tear-up-the-joint" session at the end of the second set. We got Sunshine of Your Love > In A Silent Way > Born Under a Bad Sign > Purple Haze > snippets of a half dozen other tunes. Great fun. Great show.

Nice review Phil! Sounds like a great show, but was this a Bob Moses approved tribute?

[Phil T.]

Nice review Phil! Sounds like a great show, but was this a Bob Moses approved tribute?

Oh, yeah. I asked Bob for written permission to attend before I even thought about getting tickets...

Go see 'em if they come to your town. Look for some sort of live release later - they MUST be recording these shows. The band was announced as "Spectrum Road" when I saw them, BTW. I suspect something may come out under Jack Bruce's name.

[Phil T.]

Further to the "Spectrum Road" angle, here's a press release from Jack Bruce & Vernon Reid:

http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/exc ... 011/127169

It says in part:

During an historic interview at Music Player headquarters on February 4, 2011, bass icon Jack Bruce (Cream) and innovative guitarist Vernon Reid (Living Colour) announced that the Tony Williams Lifetime Tribute band with keyboardist John Medeski (Medeski, Martin, & Wood), and drummer Cindy Blackman-Santana (Lenny Kravitz) has morphed into Spectrum Road. The band will continue to use the spirit of legendary jazz drummer Tony Williams (who passed away in 1997) as a touchstone for playing the music of his pioneering Lifetime fusion groups, as well as for moving forward with original material.

I'm guessing this means Cindy Blackman and Medeski are staying but it doesn't exactly say so. Also, they're going into the studio and are getting offers to play festivals. They could be coming to a venue near you. Cindy is perfect in this band. I don't want to mess around with anyone else back there.