I meet a lot of live music fanatics whose only exposure to Steve Kimock is his occasional affiliations with former members of the Grateful Dead in the late 90’s (Kimock played on the Further Tour with the Other Ones and occasionally with Phil Lesh and Friends). Other folks have seen various reincarnations of the Steve Kimock Band and maybe even seen his recent reunion shows with his old Bay Area band, Zero. But a lot of folks don’t know that Steve Kimock once had a near-perfect band: KVHW. Kimock, Vega, Hurtz, and White, was a two-year Kimock project from 1998 – 1999, involving bassist Bobby Vega, drummer Alan Hertz (now part of Garaj Mahal), and rhythm guitarist and ex-Zappa vocalist, Ray White.

While I am a pretty big Kimock fan in general, the reason that this project sticks out most is because of the other members of this band. In particular, it is the inclusion of the tastefully funky bassist, Bobby Vega, that allowed KVHW to bring out a distinctly funky and bluesy side of Kimock. It is a side to his playing that you might not ever hear as a part of a Grateful Dead side project or even in his later playing in any variations of the Steve Kimock Band. It’s funky, bluesy, soulful rock jamming at Kimock’s finest.

For our 58th podcast, I’ve pieced together some highlights from two nights of KVHW at the Wetlands, which basically was the unofficial ‘jamband HQ’ in New York City until its closing last year. These two nights capture KVHW at its peak as a fresh, energetic, and exploratory improvisational rock band made up of four amazing musicians. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…

• Live Music Blog Podcast #058 [mp3] (67.7 MB)
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Tracklist:
10/16/98
Poonk >
Cissy Strut (Meters cover) >
Poonk

10/17/98
Rocco >
Whipping Post (improv)
Express Yourself (Charles Wright cover) >
‘Down in the Wetlands’ improv

67.7 MB
Total running time: 49:21

Both shows are available for download/streaming at the Live Music Archive.

• Live Music Blog Podcast #053 [mp3] (51.3 MB)
• Subscribe via RSS or Subscribe with iTunes

Total running time: 40:43

Sidenote:
By the way, if you like the theme of this podcast, but are disappointed that your favorite guitarist didn’t make the cut, it is likely that I just don’t have a good quality recording, don’t know about them, or didn’t want it to be too long. If that’s the case, feel free to make a suggestion. Just be sure to send me a link or a copy, and I’ll do my best to include it on a version II of the same theme.

Tracklisting after the jump…

Tracklisting – Podcast #053:

1) “Meatman” – by David Lindley and Wally Ingram
(feat. David Lindly on Weissenborn)

2) “Why Can’t We All Just Samba” (aka Samba) – by KVHW (Kimock, Vega, Hurtz, and White)
(feat. Steve Kimock on lap steel)

3) “Sahib Teri Bandi / Maki Madni” – Derek Trucks Band
(feat. Derek Trucks on Gibson SG, electric slide)

4) “Forgiven” – Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
(feat. Ben Harper on Weissenborn)

While I almost always dig Steve Kimock’s projects no matter who is involved, I have often felt that he sounded best playing with Bobby Vega, who matched a thick tone and funky rhythm to Kimock’s virtuosic guitar. Kimock and Vega played together for years in various projects, including Zero, KVHW, and the Steve Kimock Band. I documented the merits of KVHW in an earlier post here. But something went awry in 2001, and Vega jumped ship not to be seen with Kimock for years. In fact, earlier this year Zero re-formed for a reunion and Vega was the only missing element (and very important one at that).

But it looks like they will reunite to play a three-night run at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver, CO, on 12/21, 12/22, and 12/23. They’ll be joined by Stephen Perkins’s Banyan project, Willie Waldman on trumpet, and a very special addition of Ray White (the W from KVHW and a former Zappa sideman).

While the H of KVHW, Alan Hertz, will be sorely missed on drums, it’s just great to see that Kimock and Vega have made amends and decided to play together once again. Here’s hoping for a complete reunion of Zero or KVHW at some point in the near future.

Not exactly perfect quality, but then again, it’s YouTube…whadya expect?

By the way, Kimock releases the majority of his shows (from Zero or SKB) via DigitalSoundboard.net, which in my experience is a great independent, digital music portal with solid customer service. If you dig Kimock’s sound, you can definitely find something worth downloading.

Enjoy!

Steve Kimock has been involved in a variety of musical projects, including stints with ex-Grateful Dead members in the Other Ones, on the Furthur Festival tour, and most recently with the Rhythm Devils. Since 2000, he’s also created various formations of the Steve Kimock Band, usually involving Rodney Holmes on drums and with a revolving cast of other musicians on rhythm guitar or keys.

But there’s something special about the sound of KVHW during their first few months as a band in Fall of 1998, and this Wetlands run seems to capture an almost perfect blend of psychedelia rock, blues, and funk. Plenty of jam-friendly fans and guitar-geeks know the music of Steve Kimock, but considering how long he’s been around, I feel like the eternal tonemaster rarely gets his due. And while I definitely still enjoy Kimock in all his formations, I don’t think he has ever played with as funky a bassist as Bobby Vega or such a soulful (and garrulous) frontman as Ray White. And, amazingly, Alan Hertz was only in his early 20s when he played drums with these guys, but he realy held his own keeping the beats tight and funky.

Unfortunately, because it’s an old listing, the Live Music Archive only has the shows available in SHN format, and does not include a streaming function. So, I’ve decided to try something new by creating a compilation of my favorite highlights from the two-night run as a zip file of MP3s.

Here’s what the ZIP includes (with some especially solid segments in bold):

10/16/98:

1. Samba
2. Spring Water
3. Slumber
4. It’s Not Impossible (w/ Grant Green Jr.)
5. Poonk >
6. Cissy Strut (Meters cover) >
7. Poonk
8. Bad Hair

10/17/98:

1. Tangled Hangers
2. It’s Your Thing (Isley Bros. cover) >
3. It’s Not Impossible
4. Spring Water (yes, a 2nd time; the solo is a must-listen, esp. when compared to the version from the night before)
5. Express Yourself (Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd cover)
6. Rocco >
7. Whipping Post jam
8. It’s Up to You

Download: KVHW Fall 1998.zip

And don’t forgot you can let me know what you think in the comments below!

The sixth annual Jammys took place Thursday at New York City‘s Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Leo Kottke and ex-Phish bassist, Mike Gordon, won an award for studio album of the year with “Sixty Six Steps,” Frank Zappa was honored with the Lifetime achievement award, and the tour of the year went to the Big Summer Classic, among other awards. As always, the awards show featured performances that mixed jam-friendly artists with random vintage rockers like Peter frampton and Joe Satriani, making for interesting combos of folks you’d probably never see together onstage; this year’s unique surprise was Blues Traveler’s performance with soul veteran Bettye LaVette.

But more interesting to LMM is the seemingly slow creep of the Jammys, and jambands in general, into the mainstream conscious of the traditional rock press. Billboard’s coverage lacked the standard knee-jerk reaction to jambands that usually includes comments on the smell of the “Hippie-college” crowd or an over-attentiveness to the long length of guitar solos. The AP coverage also hints at this gradual acceptance of improv-heavy bands–although it is framed in the reverse-order, as acceptance by jam fans of more mainstream bands like Guster–but my sense is that it is also working in the other direction. So are jambands no longer being mocked by the mainstream rock press and live music fans? Probably not the case, but it’s interesting to see a gradual shift in the way the “scene” is being covered these days. The rest of this year’s winners are covered here and below the break.

In other ‘jam-friendly’ news…

The history of the now-defunct NYC music club, the Wetlands, has now been captured in a new documentary, “Wetlands Preserved,” directed by Relix magazine and jambands.com senior editor Dean Budnick. Throughout the 90s and early 00s, the Wetlands was a constant grooming ground for some of the big acts in today’s jam scene, but it also hosted first NY concerts by the likes of Rage Against The Machine and Pearl Jam. The film includes songs from Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, Phish, Pearl Jam, Ani DiFranco, Sublime, Ben Harper, moe., Robert Randolph and Michael Franti & Spearhead.

Although the Wetlands was dirty, dank, and came to be so notorious for its lack of ventilation that it was nicknamed the “Sweatlands,” it was also the venue for some of my favorite concerts ever played, including: the uber-experimental by the Disco Biscuits shows to close the venue in September of 2001 (9/1/01) and a series of shows by Steve Kimock’s various projects like KVHW (Kimock, Vega, Hertz, and White) on 10/16/98 – 10/17/98 and Steve Kimock Band in February and December of 2000…keep in mind, each of those concerts are now nicely documented at the Live Music Archive for your downloading pleasure, and come highly recommended by LMM.

Here’s the entire list of Jammy Awards winners:

• Studio album of the year: “Sixty Six Steps,” Leo Kottke and Mike Gordon
• Song of the year: “Taught To be Proud,” Tea Leaf Green
• Vonage Live album of the year: “Live at Myrtle Beach,” Widespread Panic
• Live performance of the year: moe., Feb. 10, 2005, Roseland Ballroom, New York
• Tour of the year: Big Summer Classic Tour, Summer 2005
• Archival album of the year: “Live at Madison Square Garden New Year’s Eve 1995,” Phish
• DVD of the year: “No Direction Home,” Bob Dylan
• New Groove of the year: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
• Lifetime achievement award: Frank Zappa
• World music award: Baaba Maal
• Green Apple industry award: Larry Bloch