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| (Photo credit Lisa Boehm) |
Of all the music that spoke to a young Mike Dillon--prog
rock, jazz vibe greats Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson--punk rock has had the
longest lasting, most viable effect on the versatile New Orleans vibraphonist/percussionist. With
the amalgamation of his various trios (Mike Dillion’s Go-Go Jungle) coupled up with
the showmanship and raw energy of performance, Dillon ventures forth with bold
mallet strikes.
“I was into King Crimson, Yes and, of course, Frank Zappa,”
Dillon said in an interview with #TMGR. “Zappa’s humor, his compositions, and
the ways he crossed musical boundaries spoke volumes to me.”
But when the punk rock of Mike Watt and The Minutemen came
around there was no turning back. Here was yet another musical entity that sought
to blur and obliviate conventional lines. Similarly, harmonic battling, tons of movement,
and plentiful space are features Dillon values in his current trio.
“I tour with bass, drums, and vibes,” Dillon says. “The
first thing the sound guy says is ‘Where’s the guitar?’ I point at the vibes
and say this is the guitar tonight.”
Dillon feels it important to give his band members—drummer
Brendan Bull and bassist Nathan Lambertson—the freedom to do what they do best
as long as they don’t get in the way.
“It’s pretty much free range chicken in my band,” Dillon
said with a laugh. “I get people in my band because I like them. I never tell
them what to do or not to do unless it’s something musically I don’t agree
with.”
Dillon says the old school punk bands that left an
impression veered from Steely Dan covers to ‘Tequila.’ What he’s doing now with
his vibe-based outfit is the esthetic concept of The Minutemen and a little New Orleans funk.
“Jazz of the 1950s through the mid-1960s and classic punk
rock is where I come from,” Dillon said. “I also study world music and pay
respect to it, but I like to mix it all up. To me that’s what jazz is all about.”
Roosevelt Collier + Genetics members & Mike Dillon Trio,
9:30 p.m. Saturday @foundersbrewing
FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1417425045041235/
FB Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1417425045041235/
