Ben Alman 

in case of emergency?

well, i guess we're not going out that exit

lettuce brings the funk

what do we have here but an enormous BLT sandwich, just hold the bacon and tomato, and add a healthy dose of the funk. i remember seeing lettuce years ago at the old house of blues in boston (i think that's where it was, maybe i only half-remember) and they were a solid brick wall of the funk even back then. but they're still layin' it down old-school, jb's style with fred wesley at the newport jazz festival.. and they are mad funky, better than ever, no question. check out their new album "rage!" if you get a chance, we have it in the regular rotation over here

pedals, and knobs, and keys, oh my

neal evans has himself quite a handful (and footful?) here, playing all manner of real and fake organ (and crazy synth bass) with lettuce

more funk faces

i can't remember who the female singer is, but her afro could totally kick your mom's ass in a fight. of course, nigel hall's just hanging with her, doing his thing.. while krasno stands in back, laying down that sick funky rhythm guitar thing he does

the queen of soul

it was the end of a long day, so robyn and i didn't stay for too much of aretha's set.. but from what i could hear, she was amazing. unfortunately, her band was not so amazing, so i felt no compunction about heading over to see lettuce play some kick-ass funk

tell it, baby

aretha franklin still has those pipes, yes sir. mmn hmmn aretha, you tell us what it's all about

christian scott

robyn and i have seen christian scott a few times at newport, as well as at scullers jazz club in boston. and while image clearly factors heavily into his on-stage persona, the music composition and playing are great. scott is one of those acts i much prefer live rather than on cd, and if you haven't seen him live, you really should check him out, he's great

chevy chase, ass

i really appreciate chevy's performances in saturday night live, caddyshack, fletch, vacation, three amigos .. the list goes on and on. he's a funny guy. but PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GIVE HIM A SCRIPT to read from next time. he just doesn't have enough filler material to keep the crowd entertained. not even close. i mean, he was already out of material before the first group ever set foot on stage. ugh

any way, he came down to watch chris botti play (i guess it's not just generation-x girls that fall for botti's smooth muted-trumpet, spikey-haired, pretty-boy charm) and for whatever reason, i waved at him as he came out into the photo pit area. like, he was supposed to know who i was or something (well, i'm cowboy, duh). anyways, he looked at me as if he thought i was insane, which actually seems about right, considering the circumstances

so, i took a photo of his ass and put it on the internet

♥♥♥ robyn & chris botti ♥♥♥

robyn and chris botti, sitting in a tree. k-i-s-s-i-n-g

chris botti

wow, he's so.. pretty. no wonder the chicks dig him