Skerik Band at Jack London Revue

Skerik, the endearingly saxophonic, punk jazz iconoclast, introduces his latest project Bandalabra. Joining him are three of his fellow Seattle hometowns most revered players: Andy Coe on electric guitar, Evan Flory-Barnes on upright bass and Dvonne Lewis on drums. In Skeriks words, Bandalabra is intended to conjure the sounds of Fela Kuti meeting Steve Reich in rocks backyard. A bold assertion, but one for which the music bears witness. Together, the quartet syncopates and snakes, floats free and snaps tight with hypnotic afrobeat rhythms, minimalist canons and improvised harmonics. Theres a duality that demands listeners both dance communally and get lost in their daydreams...

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Skerik, the endearingly saxophonic, punk jazz iconoclast, introduces his latest project Bandalabra. Joining him are three of his fellow Seattle hometowns most revered players: Andy Coe on electric guitar, Evan Flory-Barnes on upright bass and Dvonne Lewis on drums. In Skeriks words, Bandalabra is intended to conjure the sounds of Fela Kuti meeting Steve Reich in rocks backyard. A bold assertion, but one for which the music bears witness. Together, the quartet syncopates and snakes, floats free and snaps tight with hypnotic afrobeat rhythms, minimalist canons and improvised harmonics. Theres a duality that demands listeners both dance communally and get lost in their daydreams. On their debut album Live At The Royal Room, captured at the bands first ever public performance, the foursome head into the deep unknown, creating music in the moment for over 60 minutes straight. Halfway through the evening, they hit upon the illest of psych grooves, one later dubbed Beast Crusher. Here the visceral and cerebral become one, the music explodes into the Northwest skies and Skeriks Bandalabra is born into the world a fully realized vision.

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