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Nate Edmunds rocks
`til Zulu dawn.
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Foxtrot Zulu does
not take a stage gingerly. A lot
of jam bands begin their set with loose, rambling
improvisations that only slowly come into focus, the real
energy not kicking in until several minutes later.
Foxtrot Zulu starts a set full-tilt, full-blast, singer
Nate Edmunds whooping the crowd up from the beginning.
From there the Foxtrot Zulu train chugs down the track at
a steady pace, with the horn section giving warning to
anyone who would try to slow the band's groovy momentum.
The first time I catch Foxtrot Zulu is when they're
playing The Dunhams
radio show for WZGC-FM/Atlanta. Its a double-bill with
Minneapolis's Big Wu at a bar called the Brandy House
where Jeff and Maria Dunham broadcast their show live at
1 a.m. Monday mornings. This is the first time Foxtrot
Zulu has ever played Georgia, yet the Brandy House is as
full of people and energy as if it were a Saturday night.
"I think that the radio station, the Dunhams, the
Brandy House -- fantastic," says
singer/guitarist/co-founding member Edmunds, enjoying a
cigarette and beer after his set. "We usually don't
play Sunday nights and to have this kind of response,
this kind of crowd, this kind of exposure, quite
honestly...our first time in Georgia and we're on the
radio! From what I understand its a pretty big station (I
tell him yes, its 100,000 watts, as big as they get).
That's what I like to hear, that's great! I was actually
kind of nervous going onstage. The guy comes backstage
and says, 'Don't be nervous,' like the entire University
of Georgia or whatever is listening. I would be listening
every Sunday night." |
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T.K. Kyan and Jeff Light on da
horns.
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Foxtrot
Zulu began in Providence, Rhode Island six years
ago. Or was it four? "We've been around for
about six years, but we mark it by leap years,
February 29th, so it was four years ago, 1996, of
doing what we're doing now, touring out, being on
the road. As a band maybe five or six years
together." The seven piece, including
Edmunds (vocals, rhythm guitar), Brad Haas
(bass), Neal Jones (lead guitar), T.K. Kyan (sax,
mandolin and organ), Jeff Light (trumpet), Paul
Miller (percussion) and Jeff Roberge (drums),
first got together at parties at the University
of Rhode Island. Friends and strangers seemed to
like what they heard, and within six months the
band was playing all around New England. Three
studio CDs have been recorded in the past five
(or four) years, Moe's
Diner, Burn Slow and most
recently, Frozen in Time.
Now the band has released a live CD called,
memorably, Live...
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Though being
from New England and bearing a pronounced funk
has attracted the jam label, Foxtrot Zulu
actually prides itself on tight, succinct songs.
Does Edmunds feel they're really a jam band?
"To make it interesting for us and for the
listener you do different things. I love segues
and that's where I think a lot of interesting
stuff happens. Sometimes there's risk involved
and it can fall flat on its face, but that's the
risk. If it works out beautifully we feel great
and the fans enjoy it. We also have certain songs
that are like, 'This is the jam song of the
night,' but we try and space them out. If you go
too far into just jams...you know. We don't want
to be just a jam/noodle band."
Live...
amply demonstrates that Foxtrot Zulu is not a
noodle band. As this story is being written I'm
listening to it and I hear -- hey, there’s a
violin! -- no noodling, but they are jamming. The
difference between noodling and jamming is
noodling is listless, jamming is full of energy
and focus, and what I'm hearing on "Raygay
Rocky" is definitely a jam.
The disc was recorded over two nights, January
7th and 8th 2000, at The Ocean Mist in Matunuck,
Rhode Island. Both shows were benefits, the first
benefitting "Save the Bay," which is
self-explanatory, and the second night, the
Envisions Gallery. |
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Neal Jones, lead guitar
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It seems
sorta nutty that a band that's never been in the
state before should be drawing better on a Sunday
night/Monday morning than most resident bands get
on a Thursday night at 10 o'clock. I ask Nate
Edmunds what he would attribute the Sunday night
crowd to. "I think that there's a lot of
great underground things going on and surely the
Internet is incredible, an incredible source of
information. Jambands.com, do you know about
that? The Internet is one incredible tool for
making the scene a lot larger because its global.
The Internet's great, word of mouth has been
great, things like Relix,
your periodical...," At this point I pencil
Foxtrot Zulu in for ten cover stories.
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Zulu has
worn a faded streak in the highways and biways of
the Northeast and has made short stabs West and
South. Are the audiences any different between
jam-happy New England and, say, Georgia?
"Here's one thing that I will say about New
England. It seems to me like down South, and also
out West, people seem very open to new bands
coming in. Up North it seems like there are a lot
of bands coming out of New England, but its
tougher to grab a hold. I don't think as many
people come out just to hear live music. Well, I
can't say that, because there have been some great
nights. But like tonight, these people have never
seen us but they came out, and its fantastic!
Unreal. I don't think if we were playing in, say,
New Hampshire I'm not sure...I mean on a Sunday
night? This is impressive."
And so is Foxtrot Zulu! Learn more about them and
get their CDs at their Web site,
www.FoxtrotZulu.com. Their discs are also
available from the Homegrown Music Network
(www.homegrownmusic.net).
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