Jackson Hole Underground

Just back from cycling through the Alps, correspondent Favio Snimp went over to Driggs last week for his first taste of the Music on Main free concert series, and promptly had his mind blown. Here’s his account of a two-night bender with the best band to come out of Britain lately.

Photographs by David Swift © 2008. Click to enlarge.

I defer to Jim Stanford’s ample research for specifics about The New Mastersounds, even if he has yet to establish whether or not the band’s name is intended to be ironic.

I’m not sure why they blew me away — why, that’s the very definition of art! — but there I was, dragging myself to the Moose well after bedtime Friday to catch their second local show after NMS had rocked Driggs Thursday night. Because there is plenty of room on the Internets, allow me to dwell on what makes The New Mastersounds one of the best live bands I’ve ever heard.

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The New Mastersounds continued their conquest of America with two gigs in the Tetons, kicking off a spree of music that arrives at just the right time.

On Thursday night the booty-shaking Brits rocked the free Music on Main concert in Driggs, an event that quickly has mushroomed into a pillar of community. (Jackson Town Council, are you listening?)

Last night the lads from Leeds conducted an exercise in “tension and release” at the Mangy Moose. Borrowing from The Meters, Sly and the Family Stone and, if I’m not mistaken, even Lionel Richie, the group let loose and turned what could have been a slow night before a small crowd into an outrageous funk party. The release was akin to the Snake River pouring through Jackson Lake Dam.

With a full moon shining over the mountains, and shooting stars streaking across the sky, it was a perfect summer night (even if some yahoo dancing with a beautiful girl got a little too carried away with the tambourine at the end).

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(The Neville Brothers were in Jackson last night to play a concert at Center for the Arts. Last summer, before their performance at Targhee Fest, I sat down with the venerable keyboardist Art Neville, aka Poppa Funk, for an interview, in which we discussed the fate of The Meters, the state of New Orleans, football and the Iraq War.)

It was late in the afternoon, and golden light bathed the Targhee basin. A black SUV pulled up behind the stage, and out stepped one of my musical idols, Art Neville.

A crew member helped him from the vehicle, and he walked slowly with a cane. I set up two folding chairs. There was a break in the festival, and it was quiet.

I asked him how he was feeling, having heard that the band was struggling with the altitude at 8,000 feet. “I feel pretty good,” he said, “as long as you don’t have any wild animals running around.”

This was his first visit to the Teton Range. I asked him what he thought of Wyoming. “Good people,” he said. “I can see that already.”

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Photo © Jim Stanford. Click to enlarge.

As first reported here back in April, a new music festival will be making its debut at Teton Village this summer.

The Jackson Hole Music Festival has added soul guitarists Ben Harper and Robert Randolph to a lineup that already features Wilco, the Black Crowes and Son Volt. The two-day event will be held at the base of the Eagle’s Rest slope on Aug. 16 and 17.

Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals, have performed several times in Jackson Hole, as have Randolph and his Family Band. Both are fan favorites.

So far, the lineup looks like this: Saturday, Aug. 16 — Wilco, Kaki King, Medeski Martin & Wood, Backdoor Slam; Sunday, Aug. 17 — Black Crowes, Ben Harper, Robert Randolph, Son Volt, the Avett Brothers.

The music will run from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. both days. Single-day tickets are $72.50, while a two-day pass costs $130. For a limited time, you can purchase a discounted “early bird” pass for $110 (plus $13 service charge) by clicking here.

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Photos © Jim Stanford. Click to enlarge, and use arrow keys to navigate slide show.

How fortunate the world is that while studying Shakespeare in high school, Maceo Parker decided it was better to suffer the slings and arrows of life as a musician.

Despite the weather, it sure felt like summer inside the Knotty Pine on Wednesday night as the noble sax man unleashed a torrent of funk, including the recitation from “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” that has become a staple of his routine.

Rivulets of sweat poured from his head as soon as he began to blow. The Victor log cabin was packed, and the crowd, weary of cold and rain and ready for something to get excited about, let loose.

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