Went to see Shogun Warrior last night at the Baked Potato, and they were just awesome. The band consisted of Jeff Babko on Keys, Toss Panos on Drums, Mike Elizondo on Bass and John Daversa on EVI and Trumpet. They had a modest crowd for the first set, maybe 15 people, but for the second set, literally only 3 stayed. Now mind you, at the bar I was surrounded by some of the finest musicians: Joel Taylor, Travis Carlton etc. It still blows my mind that millions will watch some half-assed singing on a TV competition, but this group of master musicians barely show up on the radar. Their music is pretty awesome actually: very free and funky, long form jazz. I’ve been conjuring up what will be the next thing in Jazz, coming up with the term “Circus Jazz” and they would fit in there very well I realized!
When I first knew about Elizondo, he was a kid right out of college, just trying to make a few bucks. Highly regarded in town, he played upright and electric, working with all kinds of folks, including Don Randi and the BP house band. Over the years, he got more and more into production, and at some point started working with none other than the D R E, a straight G, Doctor Dre! A quick search on Allmusic shows that since, he has amassed quite a resume: producer credits on some of the biggest pop albums, from Snoop to Rihanna, compositions, bass for Christina Aguilera and the list goes on. This has nothing to do with luck: the guy is super musical and his bass playing last night was really awesome. No tricks and flashy shit like most guys at the Potato, but just awesome grooves and such a great ear. Pino Palladino would be proud!
Toss Panos I’ve know since going to Musicians Institute in 1992, where he was teaching. I had never heard of him before, and he was not on of the most talked about teachers, but I immediately was a fan. He’s got tremendous chops, but drumming is never a sport for him. It’s not easy to describe, but watching him play is like watching a dance: he is one with his drums and with big bold moves and tremendous groove he lifts any band to great heights. To this day, I’ve never had the pleasure of doing a gig with him, but I found out last night he at least knows my name!
As far as Rhodes playing goes there are 3 guys in this town: Mitch Forman, Derron Johnson and Jeff Babko. They carry on the legacy of those funky 70s, the stuff that Herbie and George Duke started. 13 years ago, Jeff was the kid from CSUN who was kicking everyone’s ass, and I was lucky enough to get him to play my tunes for what later became my first CD.
Now it’s time to do another one and it looks like he’ll do a couple more tunes for me. I’m trying to do this live, like the first time, instead of the ridiculous, everyone at home, on at a time, to a click track, kind of recording so many people seem to have accepted as normal! It’s SO hard to get people together for something like that these days, even when you pay them. I guess if you throw big bucks around you have a better chance, but I’m working with a very modest budget here; trying to make ‘art’, with little chance of a large financial reward, although my goals are higher than playing for 3 people at the BP. Stay tuned….
