Saturday, April 24, 2010

Paul Warren : Wreckin' Sh*t Can Be A Good Thing





Guitarist Paul Warren is here after a 2 year hiatus from Harvelle's. That's too long. Paul can rock the house like nobody's business.






For years, this guy at the club has told me that Paul Warren is his favorite guitarist. That he can outplay anybody, that his passion is palpable, that he can thrash, throw down and stand toe-to-toe with the best of em.

Lemme say : Greg is no liar.

Paul Warren came to shred, blow the roof off the sucka, and give people a show they won't soon forget.
Another great night at the coolest bar in L.A.

I sincerely hope he'll be at Harvelle's again sometime sooner than 2 years.

€.                                   €.                               €.

Tomorrow night:
Blues with Joe Lewis Walker

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Friday, April 23, 2010

Harlow Gold : Pasties and A G-String




The last 2 Thursdays of the month, burlesque troupe Harlow Gold take over Harvelle's. The ladies' reputation preceeds them. The women of Harlow Gold are fierce, sexy and amazing dancers. Performing in venues all over the world, I'm pretty sure they are internationally known.

Debuting their new show in Santa Monica to a sold out west side audience tonight - every table and every barstool was filled.

And everyone knows that Harvelle's is the best place to see burlesque.

The club pioneered the burlesque revival with it's Bongo Fury spectacle that was here Tuesday nights for many years.


The whole club is theirs. They bump and grind from the front to the stage and back again.

Those in attendance stayed and danced after. They were apparently revved up from the performance.

Next Thursday we'll do it again.


∞          ∞           ∞           ∞
Tomorrow night:
Rock N Roll with Paul Warren.


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Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Kirk Fletcher : The Return Of The Mack


Monday night is alright. 'specially if you're Cali cool and Santa Monica mellow.


Paulie Cera on sax and lead vocals.



Kirk Fletcher runs his new skool So Cal blues through a time machine and brings it back to the present.



Luke Miller on the keys


Somewhere between the Memphis "Stax" sound, the blustery blues of Chicago and the swampy Southern grime, Kirk leads his group through it all, making detours along the way to infuse more modern operators like Eddie VanHalen and Jack White.


Mr James Gadson -one of the funkiest drummers of all time commands the drum throne.


Kirk Fletcher - guitar


Jerry Brown sat in on the drums.


Kasey from the band Miss Willie Brown brought the house down with her version of Bonnie Raitt's "I Feel The Same". Sam Meek - (behind Kasey) on lead guitar sat in and showed off his legendary chops.


James Gadson




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Monday, April 19, 2010

Toledo Show Pix

A few photos of The Toledo Show in Santa Monica.




Walter Davis on saxophone.

Asa Watkins on the drums.

Dame Erin seduced by the soprano sax.


Asa and Brian Allen on bass.

"T" Plays It Cool.

Toledo : You talkin' to me?

The Toledo Show
Every Sunday night at Harvelle's


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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Toledo : 2000 Miles West Of Ohio


The Toledo Show, which is every Sunday at Harvelle's in Santa Monica, is in full force.
There's plenty of time to make it down and imbibe the burlesque manic spectacle


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DJ : Dennis Jones : 4th St Bluez

Electric baadasssss blues man Dennis Jones is rocking Harvelle's tonight.


Dennis Jones guitar and vocals.


Sam Correa on bass


Michael Turner on drums & vocals.


DJ in full effect!!


Saturday night party people fill the checkerboard and dance, dance, dance.

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Friday, April 16, 2010

Thursday On Tap : PAYOTE & BUSHWALLA






























With a double bill on tap, I arrived at Harvelle's earlier than usual - around 9 - I didn't want to miss a note of singer Jessie Payo's band PAYOTE. Featuring Johnny Stachela on guitar, Vince Fossett on drums, Aaron Leibowitz on sax and Bjorn Fleuren on bass, there was an implied "no disappointments" guarantee.



















































Johnny Stachela opened the set with some laptop slide playing, accompanying Jessie's lone vocal. As the band gathered onstage, Jessie treated us to some new tunes and a couple of faves, all the while, Johnny digging into those frets coaxing every single blue note out of his Gibson SG.






















As reported here before, Jessie has a voice literally like no other. A magical explosion of blues, soul, gospel, country and classic rock's greatest, it has drama and passion, make you rock or break your heart.

I can't write about Jessie Payo without also mentioning her playful personality and sexy appearance (or is it the other way around?). She exudes warmth and beauty and love.

She's got it all.
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An Adidas man, like myself - a man fraternally nick-named Bushwalla - packed the place with fans, and entertained them with his tight band and great songs, that the crowd knew every word of. His bright red Sambas boasted white triple stripes, and kept the singer/songwriter buoyant and respectable as he set the night on fire.