The Opie Meets the Weasel

It was over three decades ago that Weasel Walter came roaring into town with the Flying Luttenbachers, sharing the stage with the Water Shed 5tet (who might have just been "Water Shed" at that time) at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern. Done up in black and white face paint, Mr. Walter was an astounding drummer, leading a lineup of the band (which included trombonist Jeb Bishop, who was on bass guitar that night) through a set that combined smart jazz and hardcore. It wasn't Naked City-style hardcore either (i.e. 45-second blasts of complex passages and pure chaos). They were tunes played a hyper speed that veered into freedom and snapped back just as easily.

Last Wednesday, Walter returned to town, this time playing with one-time Water Shed saxophonist Ben Opie, both together onstage at the same time. This meeting of the minds revealed how ompatible and complementary they could be when working together. 

Weasel utlizied a mutant kit of drums that seemed to have a floor tom in the place of a typical kick drum, with roto toms, snare, a variety of cymbals (some chipped, some not) and other devices. He was in motion constantly, rolling over the kit, moving percussives off and on the drums heads and cymbal stands, or slowing down and reducing his work to loud pounds as the moment required.

Opie brought along his tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, along with the bass clarinet. Each one produced a different mood. Tenor came first, blasting out of the gate, proclaiming this is what energy music sounds like. His soprano featured some strained, gruff emanations, the result of vocalizing through the horn while blowing, making the most un-sopranolike tones. Bass clarinet cued in some more reflective moments in the roughly 45-minute set, while the alto portion was full of enthusiasm, and this writer's favorite part of it.

The evening began with a solo performance by Joey Molinaro, who calls himself a heavy metal violinst. Metal wasn't what came to my mind that night, but his free-flowing set was imaginative, utilizng long, bowed tones and melodies with a minimum of scraping or sawing (actually none of that, if memory serves). He accompanied himself by stomping tempos on a wooden crate set in front of him, which added to the dymanics of it. Molinaro is also an author who had has written a few books, which he had that night as well.