FREAKY FRIDAY WITH CLARKE, KUZBIK, HOFFMAN AND LEMISH
Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving, everyone.
Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that feels a little weird to celebrate like we do in this day and age.
It has essentially become an excuse to get together and eat turkey (or something like that, anyway) with the family, but not many people think of anything beyond that.
However, it is a statutory holiday — and a traditional family dinner for a lot of people, at the very least. So here are a few great concerts on Friday night that you can check out before Thanksgiving weekend really starts to dominate your time.
ROMAN CLARKE
When: Friday, Oct. 11
Where: Amigos Cantina
What: Roman Clarke’s music is full of soul. It’s the kind of modern music fusion that tends to take aspiring performers far — a great blend of soul, rock, and pop elements to give it all slick melodies and a steady rhythm. It’s a little hard to describe exactly what makes Clarke’s music so good, but it’s genuinely awesome stuff. It’s the kind of music you expect to hear on the radio all over the place because of how smooth it is. Clarke’s vocals couldn’t be more perfect for what he’s doing — and it’s something we don’t get a lot of on the prairies. Think a more rock version of someone like Denise Valle and you’ll get at least somewhere in the ballpark.
AMOS HOFFMAN & NOAM LEMISH QUARTET
When: Friday, Oct. 11
Where: The Bassment
What: This is one of the coolest music combos you’ve probably never heard before — but you should hear it now. Amos Hoffman and Noam Lemish are brilliant jazz musicians with Israeli heritage, who have (in this quartet) magnificently merged Jewish folk melodies with more classic jazz styles. Frankly, it’s just super cool. Hoffman plays the guitar as well as the traditional lute-like oud, and Lemish rocks on the piano. Bass player Justin Gray and percussionist Derek Gray round out the quartet, and help formulate the slick combination of small ensemble jazz and Jewish melodic motifs.
PAUL KUZBIK
When: Friday, Oct. 11
Where: Capitol Music Club
What: Kuzbik, a Saskatoon-based guitarist singer-songwriter, hearkens a little bit to the gritty blues guitar riffs of Reignwolf — but with a bit more of a chilled-out feel. The biography on Kuzbik’s Facebook page self-describes his music as “psychedelic soul,” and that works to a point — but the songs fall a lot more firmly into a cool, grooving blues-rock sound with some silky vocals that aren’t normally associated with blues-rock. Whatever you want to call it, it’s great music — the kind of thing I can close my eyes and imagine myself listening to live in a club.