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Steepwater Runs Deep After 12 years, four full length albums and


approximately 1,300 live shows, Steepwater drummer Joe Winters figures he and his bandmates have a pretty solid bond. “After all these years, everybody’s found peace being musicians,” Winters says. “We love doing this, and in the long run, our records have gotten better and our live shows have gotten better.” Winters and the rest of the Chicago-based


Steepwater band will bring their tight, blues- kissed sound to the Dinosaur-Bar-B-Que, 246 W. Willow St., on Thursday, Aug. 5, 9 p.m. There is no cover. Steepwater, which also includes singer-


guitarist Jeff Massey and bassist Tod Bow- ers, is a no-frills kind of rock’n’roll band in the tradition of the classic rock greats, but don’t look for a nostalgia trip. Their 2008 independent release Grace & Melody is full of foot-stomping, funk-infused tunes that clearly represent a modern perspective. Tunes like “Healer,” “Lord Knows” and “At the Fall of Day” are as radio-friendly as anything released by their contemporaries, The Black Keys, My Morning Jacket or even current indie faves Minus the Bear. “For blues purists, we’re not that,” Winters


warns. “We’re always being influenced by whatever is going on.” Steepwater typically records in its native


Chicago, but decided to go-Cali for Grace & Melody, working with former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, a longtime friend of the band. Winters says the experience was a necessary step in the evolution of the band’s sound. “We wanted to make sure that we had a lot to offer with that project,” he says. “And we learned so much from Marc. He really knows how to make good use of space in a song, and has a good approach to arranging. He knows how to be efficient.” Working with Ford was something of a


full-circle reference point for the band. Win- ters and Bowers, who had played together in and around Chicago for years, met Massey at a Black Crowes concert in 1996, and Ford was a member at the time. “Something clicked and we just knew we wanted to start playing music together,” Winters recalls. Today, the band is bound by far


more than just a shared apprecia- tion for certain bands. “Things have definitely changed,” Winters says with a laugh. “When you are 25, you’re playing music for parties and for girls or whatever. But now, two of us are married. For sure, we love the music, and we are such good friends. It’s almost like a musical marriage.” Steepwater released a maxi-


single, “The Stars Look Good Tonight,” earlier this year, and is currently back in the studio mixing a live CD they hope to have out this fall. Another disc of new material could be ready by next summer. Winters says the band still


believes in the old-school approach to promoting their music: deliver- ing the goods on stage every single show. “We’ve always been fans of


20 Stillwater: Chicago-based bluesers make a Dino Bar-B-Que pit stop on Thursday August 4 - 11, 2010 Syracuse New Times


Led Zeppelin, and their motto was ‘tight but loose,’” Winters says. “That’s what we try to do. We try not to plan too much. We allow some freedom and spontaneous jams. Our set is always changing; we include a cover or two. We just recently started playing John Lee Hooker’s ‘Boom Boom.’” Sure, the guys could fret about the fact that


“Healer” wasn’t the huge hit it deserved to be, but Winters says the members of Steepwater are perfectly happy to keep doing things the way they always have. The rewards, he says, are worth the persistence. “With a band like ours, you basically have to


go find the audience—or more like your audi- ence and the band have to find each other,” Win- ters says. “But every year, we get better and the fans are right there with us. We just love doing this and when people see us play, they know it.” For more information, go to www.steep


water.com. —TAMMY DIDOMENICO


Urban Soundscapes When you’re in a mellow mood and


close your eyes to sit back and listen, jazz can take you for a ride in your mind as the improvisational nature of the music allows your thoughts to bop and riff along with the groove. Back in the day and henceforth, to indulge a cocktail of live jazz, hordes of people would strut the sidewalks of Harlem and other cities ’round the country, ‘round midnight, to see artists like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Eric Dolphy and their brothers in instruments since. But in August, in Syracuse, jazz struts to


the people. That’s because the annual Jazz in the City weekly series kicks off this Thursday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m., in the parking lot of Dunk & Bright, 2648 S. Salina St., with a performance by The BlackLites with special guest Jackiem Joyner. This traveling four- concert series that takes place every Thursday in August is set up so that every side of this city—North, South, East and West—gets their own installment of a neighborly atmosphere with some good tunes providing the backdrop; admission to all concerts is free of charge. “{Jazz in the City} is a celebration of the


neighborhood,” said Steve Becker, producer of the event that is presented by the Pomco Group. “We’re always intent to go into each quadrant in the city of Syracuse and bring people together.”


Jackiem Joyner: Home-


grown tenor sax wizard will be distinguished during the first Jazz in the City on Thursday.


The event, modeled after the Harlem


Jazzmobile, first grooved in 2001. Then, the jazz remained dormant from 2002 to 2004, as well as 2006, as finances kept the music silent, but it has steadily grown in popularity, running strong since 2007. “Last year, we had more than 1,500 people turn out for the South Side concert,” continued Becker, “and there was everyone from 80-year-olds to families to young kids enjoying the music.” A mainstay on the Syracuse music scene,


The BlackLites gets down for the funk of it the first week of the series. The group made a conspicuous appearance during the 2008 Syracuse Jazz Fest when they opened for Aretha Franklin for a crowd of more than 50,000. With their fingers on the pulse of the beat of old-school soul and rhythm’n’blues— performing everything from Earth, Wind and Fire, Marvin Gaye, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and many more—it’s bound to be a hip-shaking good time.


Sitting in with The BlackLites will be


Joyner, a Fowler High School graduate now based in California, and considered one of the top smooth jazz saxophonists in the country. There will also be a special presentation dur- ing Thursday’s kickoff event: Joyner will receive a proclamation by Syracuse Common Council President Van Robinson who will declare Thursday as “Jackiem Joyner Day.” Folks in attendance on Aug. 5 will get a sweet sampling of Joyner’s tenor sax, and they’ll likely come back for more when the Aug. 12 Jazz in the City event, to be held at the park- ing lot across from Cummings Field in East- wood, features Joyner with his own touring band out of Los Angeles. While the South Side gets the boogie


of The BlackLites and the East Side gets Joyner’s smooth jazz, Becker also mentioned that musical demographics played a part into what band was booked for a particular area. “We’re trying to cater the music with the flavor of each neighborhood,” he continued. “When we go to the West Side {on Aug. 19 on Oswego Street by Skiddy Park}, we booked Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers from New York City that play a kind of Latin booga- loo, because we know there is a large Latino population in the area and we envisioned people dancing in the street and it becoming one big block party of sorts. “Then, for the finale {on Aug. 26},


we’ve got the Urban Jazz Coalition from Columbus, Ohio, who’ll perform in Little Italy on the North Side,” he continued. “And as in the past, all the Italian restaurants in the area will be putting their tables outside so diners can eat and listen to the music as well as our anticipated crowd.” All events begin at 7 p.m.. For more


information, call 479-JAZZ or visit www.cnyjazz.org.


—TOM KAHLEY NEWS & OPINION FEATURE ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS CLASSIFIED


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