We arrived at Davey’s Uptown at 10:30 on Wednesday night. There were 50 people in the audience which is good attendance on a Kansas City weeknight. Davey’s Uptown is not my favorite venue for two reasons; it’s dirty and the sound engineers are terrible. I felt the sound engineer should be more conservative with his levels. I despise excessive volume because it is physically harmful and ceases to make music sound better. As a fan, I recommend anybody attending a show at Davey’s Uptown to wear ear protection.

 

Audio Recorded Feb 2010 at Davy's Uptown

I recorded Jake Black and Ryan Bier at the UMKC studios last fall resulting in two funky jams that lasted twelve minutes each. I enjoy this duo and felt excited to see them live. Gunther produced the recording and joined them on bass that night for a few sessions. Since Black and Bier have such outstanding instrumentals, they will never belong to corporate radio. The jam band festival circuits could receive their funky groove music quite well. At Davey’s Uptown, it’s a different ball game than the recording studio because there is no double tracking and definitely no retakes. When Nectar Notes is in the house, we rarely review a show without recording it.

Ryan Bier is an outstanding funk drummer from Kansas City. He keeps consistent tempo, rarely letting his fills drag. His sense of dynamic contrast and structure kept Black and Bier sounding clean and well rehearsed. Ryan plays on a five piece with a double kick which he used appropriately to increase the energy of his fills. My only complaint is that Ryan’s solo wasn’t long enough. Ryan Bier tore it up; however, he really could have built something breathtaking with a longer solo.

Ryan used a device in his ears. I assumed it was earplugs but Ryan told me he uses an ‘in ear’ metronome that works with Jake’s Logic Pro program. There are two ways I contemplated this. It is either cheating or it is paying careful attention to detail. In Black and Bier’s case, the metronome system does wonders for the sound of the band. Who wouldn’t want their drummer to be accurate the entire performance? I have played with drummers that severely need this metronome system because that fixes many musical problems.

Jake Black is the compositional mastermind behind the band. He has talent with keyboard, guitar, and vocals. His keyboard runs synthesized sounds through Logic, where he creates loops and solos over them. Jake uses a similar technique with guitar, only with foot pedals instead of computer programs. His transitions with loops are excellent and he stands out as a fine guitar soloist. He doesn’t overcomplicate his guitar solos and has command over rhythm, tone, and scale work. Jake’s keyboard has quality synthesized sounds that when looped, make the duo sound like a five piece band. Funky rhythms are explored on keyboard; however, in his soloing I hear lots of repeated triads and single handed melodies. He knows his chords but the sound can get a bit choppy sometimes. I think if he focuses more on left handed chords and right handed melodies, the keyboard solos will improve. The vocals clipped through most of the show, which is at fault of the sound engineer. I think Jake is definitely a strong instrumentalist and sings to better connect with the audience.

Black and Bier played a ninety minute set that included funk, jam, shuffle blues, and rock. Cunningham showed skill with slap happy funk, as the precise drums and offbeat guitar comping filled the club with danceable music to enjoy. I really wanted to sit in with them for a jam or two but decided not to ask. Black and Bier have a good chance of success. I thought that the shuffle blues and vocal rock styles were not their strongest. It is through funky instrumental jams that Black and Bier have enormous potential.

Published Friday, 2nd March 2010 - Written by Alex Tate