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U2 Tour Dates
09/15/2017 San Antonio, TX Studio Theater at The Tobin Center
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“I haven’t played a solo show in a long time… I guess muscle memory is a real thing”-
Finger-styling guitar wizard Kaki King recently stopped by the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis for an increasingly rare solo acoustic performance, in support of her upcoming live album, Live at Berklee with the Porta Girevole Chamber Orchestra (BIRN Collective Recordings) due out Sept. 22.
That album’s re-workings with a 12-person ensemble contrasted completely opposite to this night’s performance of just King, a few different guitars and a couple of guests, playing songs in the most elemental way, and in the manner she first gained widespread attention and acclaim.
The evening began with another enthralling instrumental performance from South African guitarist Derek Gripper, in support of last summer’s Libraries on Fire (New Cape Records). Gripper has a unique sound that blends traditional African, jazz, and folk elements, with more of a contemporary approach, including taking the complex rhythms of the traditional kora (a 21-string harp) and interpreting that on a six-string guitar, without omitting any notes.
Playing just short of an hour (he wished he wore a watch to keep better track of time- not that anyone minded) Gripper mentioned meeting King at several guitar festivals beginning in Chicago, developing a friendship and discussing their main influences, which he demonstrated by covering Brazil’s Egberto Gismonti on ‘Selva Amazonia’.
After a short break, Kaki King emerged to tune up and begin her eighty-minute headlining set. In addition to her sound evolving over the years, she got married five years ago and now has two young kids to consider as well.
Her principal live presentation in the last few years has been an immersive multimedia projection mapping show in which her very guitar is used as a screen to help tell a story. King brought along and played much on the large white custom Ovation Adamas guitar used for the other show, although admitted it wasn’t ideal for this kind of stripped down performance, though she completely made it work.
Early on, she called out any guitar police- “dudes who sit in front with arms folded, in judgment” though the crowd was filled with mostly older people and those adoring of her playing style, with one couple driving some 600 miles that day to see her (“Well, I flew… like 1000 miles to be here, so I win!” she joked).
After a dreamy ‘Cargo Cult’, King spoke at length about her kids with humorous affection (“two children is like having a pack of wild dogs”), mentioning that two-month old son Bowen, was named after a suggestion from a writer friend, and coincidentally, King had an older song about Canada’s Bowen Island as well.
A third in, King switched briefly to a Koto guitar: a Bedell parlor guitar played lap-style, with a second bridge added which lift the strings about ¾” off the fingerboard, for a sound that recalled traditional Asian works, lamenting being away from her family, but happy to have the time quietly to catch up on the last few Twin Peaks episodes aired.
Violinist Kip Jones was somewhat of a surprise guest, he of NYC string quartet ETHEL (though he lives locally and King has toured with and collaborated with the group previous), for ‘Trying to Speak’ and 2012’s ‘Great Round Burn’ with Jones adding lush musical body to both.
King prefaced 2015’s ‘Anthropomorph’ by saying it was in 7/8 (in case any guitar police were curious), told the story of their anonymous donor at the sperm bank, and finished her main set by playing ‘King Pizel’, a song that ideally shows off both her own finger dexterity and the capabilities of the Veillette Gryphon, a mini 12-string that makes everything sound more madrigal.
For the single-song encore, King brought back opener Gripper for a delicate instrumental duet that brought both worlds together, with the audience witnessing two masters at their craft.
Kaki King has said that “the guitar really does the speaking, and I'm just the interpreter" but as shown on this night, this interpreter speaks a language that everyone in the room, was more than excited to hear.
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Derek Gripper |
Kaki King |
Kaki King |
Kaki King |
Kaki King |
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Kaki King (with Derek Gripper) at Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis (05 Sept 2017) |
Thanks for the great review. I was there up on the mezzanine with my jaw on the floor for pretty much the whole show. Incredible performances which left me in awe and feeling very fortunate to have been there and witness it. It was too bad that the audience seats seemed only about half-filled. So many people missed a beautiful and astounding night of music.
Posted by: Jay R. | 09/12/2017 at 04:48 PM