James Brandon Lewis Trio and the Messthetics At Club Cafe or Can You Top That?

On Friday, March 17, Club Cafe hosted one of the biggest bills of the year so far, with both the James Brandon Lewis Trio and the Messthetics sharing the stage on the same night. The Messthetics feature half the members of Fugazi, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brandon Canty, with guitarist Anthony Pirog completing the lineup. James Brandon Lewis, as I've said in the space before with no sense of hyperbole, is simply in the top tier of modern tenor saxophonists and should never be missed. Twice, I've missed the Messthetics on their visits to Pittsburgh, so that wasn't going to happen again.

Although Lewis posted some teaser videos on Instagram prior to this show,  it wasn't clear to this fan that Chad Taylor was going to be seated behind the drums on Friday night. Sure enough, there he was, with Josh Werner playing bass. They hit the stage without a word and launched into a set that was heavy on more than one level. 

Werner served as something of an anchor during a lot of the set, giving his bandmates the liberty to stretch out while he kept one foot on the ground. His solid double-stops fueled the trio's version of the Donny Hathaway song "Someday We'll All Be Free." Lewis started off playing long tones but before long he started wailing in the way that blew the lid off the sound, making it sound righteous. Taylor threw complex fills in behind him,, crossing his arms and moving the sticks across the kit with ease. 

"Within You Are Answers" started delicately like a ballad, with just tenor and bass. Before long, the trio couldn't contain themselves. Rather than simply wailing, they made things feel like a spiritual. Nothing was excessive. Lewis surprised us when a song with a groove like a Meters lick turned out to actually be a tune by a forefather of big tenor sound - Gene Ammons' "Shop Around." One song later, he went into the opening phrase of "My One And Only Love" and immediately followed with a line that sounded like a backwards recording, as if he was taking that old standard back and starting over. Then he did it with two or three more standards, before launching into the actual tune.

There were a few times during the set when Lewis seemed like he might have mined the same low overtone or high wail to drive home the power of his solo. But if those materials did the job, the results seemed fresh and appropriate each time. The sheer energy of these three gentlemen onstage was astounding, part visceral, part technical. It proved that Lewis is still the tenor saxophonist that everyone should be listening to closely. 

He's also a tough act to follow.

Before the Messthetics started their set, drummer Brandon Canty took the mike and gave a warm introduction to the crowd. Throughout the set, he felt like the driving force behind the band, steering the sound with his fills and accents, occasionally hitting a hanging bell for extra emphasis. Lally, his longtime rhythm section companion, was completely in sync, keeping things simple but engaging. That gave Anthony Pirog free reign to groove along with them or throw in a tangle of arhythmical chicken scratch, cobbled out of two - count 'em - banks of effects pedals, which he utilized with ease (see the last photo below). 

"Touch Earth Touch Sky," the second song in the set, offered a landscape-wide glimpse of the band's approach. At times the slow, heavy tune felt like spaghetti western music, creating a high lonesome sound. At other times, it felt slow and metallic. You might not consider the Messthetics a jazz group but at this point in the night, it didn't matter what label suited them best. They were doing their own thing and taking us with them.

"Pay Dirt" kicked off with some sly, jerky funk and even took a turn into Ornette Coleman's "Dancing In Your Head." During this one, most notably, Canty was doing a lot of smiling, clearly digging the music as much as it was being enjoyed by the mix of punk rock elders, jazz nuts and the hard-to-categorize. Pirog might have been relying heavily on his pedals for leverage, but during "The Bear" [if my set list picture is accurate], he threw in all manner of technique, from tapping to long, bent notes. A long-time fan in the audience later told me the only thing missing with the stereo effect that can be experienced on their albums.

As good as the trio sounded, they got even better when Lewis joined them onstage for a couple tunes, including "Fear Not," the anthemic closer from the saxophonist's new Eye of I album, which came out on Anti- last month. For the first couple four-person songs, it was a little hard to hear the tenor over the guitar - at least right in front of the stage - but you could definitely feel it. Pirog and Lewis worked well together. In one piece, the rhythm section got into some deep funk, inspiring the guitarist to take off and wail. That was quickly followed by Lewis, who took things even higher.  They couldn't gone on for another half hour, if you ask me.

Never let it be said that punks don't swing. Or that jazz cats can't shred.