|
A NEW NIGHT, A NEW SOUND
By Harith
Abdullah, The Fountain Pen
April 2,
2004
For many,
Albany is one of the best places to see live music.
Mike Conti, lead singer of Albany-based band The High
Socks, says, " There are so many good bands here it
hurts my head to think about it."
High Socks drummer Jim Kaufman agrees. "There's
something for everybody. Even a one night kind of a
thing, there's four bands and none of them are the
same."
In the spirit of science, I decided to test out this
theory. I set out to see just how varied the music scene
in Albany really is. Nine days, four bands, and
approximately 16,435 drunk people later, I can say with
some degree of confidence that, if it's variety you
like, Albany has variety to spare.
Friday, March 12: Jared and Jeff, Professor Java's
Coffee Sanctuary
Sometimes it seems that the local coffeehouse is the
last haven for intimate music. Professor Java's Coffee
Sanctuary, a groovy coffeehouse tucked away on Wolf Road
in Colonie, prides itself on its counter-cultural
nature. In keeping with their overall theme of
representation of the artistic underworld, Java's
frequently hosts live music.
"It's something nice to have," said Java's manager
Charles Pemburn. "It's entertaining, and it gives the
smaller bands someplace to play. It's a bit of a change
of pace for [the staff], and we like to support local
artists."
On this particular Friday, Pemburn happened to have
given a forum to two friends of mine, Jared Funari and
Jeff Green, who played a full set for the first time.
The aspiring singer/songwriters channel Incubus and Jack
Johnson, interspersing long jams that recall Dave
Matthews and Tim Reynolds. Over the course of the
two-hour set, the acoustic duo played mostly original
material, with a few covers thrown in for good measure.
|
|
|
Jared Funari & Jeff Green perform at Professor Java's |
This show was the very definition of an intimate
musical performance. Of the approximately 40 people in
the crowd, at least 30 were friends and family of the
performers. The audience's participation seemed almost
as important as the music - aside from the song
requests, open heckling was abundant.
For Funari, Java's was the natural choice for his first
performance. "I live here," he said. "I'm here every
day, every single night of my life."
It was Funari's way to make everything he says seem so
logical that it takes on its own sort of effervescent
reality. Thus, when I asked why he spends so much time
at Java's, he responded, "I've always had this goal to
be the guy who goes to a place every day, everyone knows
his name, knows his order." The way he said it, you
think, yeah, everyone wants that, really.
Funari got the gig, and recruited Green to play with him
because, in his own words, "I don't have two hours worth
of material."
Between the two of them, they pulled off a fun show,
engaging the crowd and improvising like pros. Their
dynamic extended off the "stage" (in reality, just a
spot where the amps were placed) and into the crowd, who
knew them well enough to realize that they would be
greater at ease if the environment is just a little
silly.
This was illustrated perfectly in the last song of the
night, a spontaneously created tribute to Funari's rat,
Muffy. Funari expressed his grief over his beloved rat's
recent death with a detached sense of humor that his
friends know and love.
When I asked why he thought the audience responded so
well to them, he replied off-handedly, "I didn't know
they did. I blanked out most of the time." He let out an
uproarious laugh, and added, "Because I'm awesome,
that's why!"
[Read rest of article] |
