Claypool, Copeland, Anastasio To Unite For Show
Primus bassman Les Claypool will lead a power trio featuring Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and former Police drummer Stewart Copeland for a one-off gig on Thursday, May 4 at the Saenger Theater.
New Orleans-based concert promoters Superfly Productions asked Claypool to concoct a group for a one-time show, which will be taking place while the New Orleans Jazz Fest is in full swing. The organization says that the bassist immediately thought of Anastasio (with whom he's jammed previously while sitting in with Phish in May 1994 at a show in Monterey, California and December 1996 in Las Vegas). Claypool then asked Copeland, who produced one of the tracks on the latest Primus release "Anti-Pop," to join.
Most recently, the Claypool-Anastasio-Copeland concoction -- now known as Oysterhead -- made a surprise appearance during a Primus gig in Burlington, Vermont last February.
A second temporary collaboration called Garage A Trois -- consisting of jazz guitar legend Charlie
Hunter, drummer Stanton Moore from hometown neofunk unit Galactic, and sax man Skerik from Critters Buggin' -- is scheduled to open on May 4 and also headlines its own gig on May 3 at the Maple Leaf Bar. Garage A Trois has performed together only once before, over a year ago.
According to the folks at Superfly, the May 4 performance sold out in approximately 13 minutes, and they expect many of the other shows they've planned during the festival to sell out as well, including The Jazz Mandolin Project on May 6, Bela Fleck And The Flecktones with the funky grassroots String Cheese Incident on May 5, and particularly a riverboat show by Galactic and alternative jazz heads Medeski, Martin & Wood on May 7.For more on the Superfly concert series, check out their official Web site at www.superflypresents.com; official New Orleans Jazz Fest can be uncovered at www.nojazzfest.com.
