And now for something different.
We in Sussex County are blessed with access to a wide variety of good music - classical, opera, jazz, soul, R&B, country, big band, rock, bluegrass, you name it. We all love most of the music we grew up with, I think, and not everyone likes all of it. Since I came of age in the ‘60s and ‘70s, you can guess that I take a shine to music from those decades, and there is no shortage of musicians in this area whose repertoires are enriched by it.
Especially in the off-season, those of us who survive the tourist onslaught of the summer are ready to go out and hit the happy hours, and listen to some talented musicians, and if we’re in the mood, dance. Anyone who has been around here long knows the local talents with a regular following: Keith Mack, Ed Shockley, the Funsters, and various combinations thereof, Cathy Gorman, 33-1/3, Five8, Lower Case Blues, Big Hat No Cattle, Love Seed Mama Jump, No Byscuyts, Fishwhistle - the list goes on. Local aficionados know who they are.
And now there is a different combo on our radar, comprising three well-known local musicians who don’t normally play together, though that may be changing. They call themselves Jake & Elwood, and they currently play Wednesday nights at Irish Eyes in Lewes. They are not a dance band, as such, but more of a jam session phenomenon. Now, most of us envision a jam session as something that occurs only in a smoky bar in the early hours of the morning after the faint of heart have gone home to bed. But these gentlemen do their thing in prime time - no smoke in the room, but a lot of musical heat.
Jake Banaszak, lead guitar with Lower Case Blues, joins with Elwood Bishop (bass guitar and vocals) and Keith “KB” Brooks (percussionist extraordinaire and Yankees fan), both of No Byscuyts, to channel, or more accurately, re-channel and embellish an eclectic mix of established hits by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, War, Henry Mancini (yes, that Henry Mancini), Santana, Marvin Gaye, B.B. King and others.
It’s not a dance party, though they could easily bring their listeners to their feet, if need be. Mostly they play off each other with ever-changing musical dialog and heat the room up with blues improvisation that demands that you just listen, enjoy and applaud. And we do. Play on, gentlemen.
Dave Beck
Lewes
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