Yanni/Lionel?? How about Judo Chop (kee-yah!) at Mile High Spirits – Denver’s Distillery for #TaperTuesday!
Denver’s funkiest martial arts inspired group brings their blend of jazzy funk-soul to the city’s best distillery! Starting things off was a Brant Williams original was somewhere in between a smooth jazz groove and a rocking funk jam. The songs main riff has such a natural turn-around that it feels like they could jam it for days and I’d be fine with that. While Brant’s guitar work truly shines on the track, keyboardist Deshawn Alexander (Marcus King Band / Eric Krasno Band) makes his presence well know pulling out a beautifully accented solo then continuing to cradle the tune into it’s outro. Next up might have been the highlight of the set for me as they performed an instrumental interpretation of Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box”. It was jazzy, it was funky, it was Judo Chop to a T and highlighted once again superb playing from both leads as well as the tight pocket created by Magic Beans drummer Cody Wales and The Workshy bong rattler Jiho Han.
The following tune was interesting for me as a taper. The first time I had ever seen Judo Chop, Eric Luba (The RunniKine) was rocking the keys and they performed this tune. The next time I saw them, Casey Russell (Magic Beans) sat-in on keys and once again they played this song. So it almost seemed like a right of passage for Deshawn Alexander to have a run on the Stevie Wonder classic, “Jesus Children Of America”. Very cool to have three unique interpretations by three incredible keyboardists. The following was another Brant tune, this was one did have a name, “Busty” showed off the band’s jamtronica chops. The song had a strong melody and would definitely sit well with the Lotus / STS9 crowd. A nice little insight into the range of what Judo Chop’s sound is capable of.
For the end of the set, the band brought up MLIMA‘s Jessica Jones to run through an eclectic batch of covers starting with Prince’s “Controversy”. Jessica’s vocals brought a fresh energy to the tune while Deshawn’s multi-layered synth work helped give the some its vintage 80s flair. The following was an adaptation of a Curtis Mayfield tune, “Diamond In The Back” which had an awesome hook and a Deshawn & Jessica trading vocal lines. The set closing “Living For The City” was another raucous nod to Stevie Wonder and fully put on display Jessica’s soulful and powerful voice over the bluesy-gospel tune. A strong ending to a highlight filled opening set.
Judo Chop | 2018-05-10 | Mile High Spirits, Denver, CO
-=One Set=-
01. Original #1
02. Heart-Shaped Box (Nirvana cover)
03. Jesus Children Of America (Stevie Wonder cover)
04. Busty
05. Controversy (Prince cover)[1]
06. Diamond In The Back (Curtis Mayfield cover)[1]
07. Livin’ For The City (Stevie Wonder cover)[1]
Show Notes: This was an opening set supporting Shots Fired.
[1] “Controversy”, “Diamond In The Back” and “Living For The City” featured Jessica Jones (MLIMA) on vocals.
Thanks to Judo Chop and Mile High Spirits – Denver’s Distillery for being cool with taping/sharing shows. Go see live music and tip your bartenders! #spacetapes
LINK: https://archive.org/…/JC2018-05-10.AKG.P170.CA14.cards.AUD.…
