On November 11th, member venue The Chubby Pickle hosted my J v Archer Entertainment Jazz Café featuring a wildly different sextet called Jupiter X-9.
From the start, the full house knew they were in for something special. The stage was full of instruments and players. The lineup consisted of guitarist and group “musical director” Robert Hunkele, Vince McKeon on drums, Nick Foligno on tenor sax, GB Toro on a double organ set up, Ed Logudice on bass and the night’s stand out performer William Ruiz on hand drums consisting of a conga, a djembe, a wooden tongue drum and a metal hand pan.
Jupiter X-9 take an atypical approach to their performances and arrangements. They are a must-see live act expertly executing songs by taking their time to establish a strong rhythmic and melodic theme then straying from that theme with solos, style bending changed and percussion interludes until it often feels lost but then returning in the most wonderful of ways.
They played for three hours straight delivering the most diverse choices of songs I’ve ever heard in one night spanning many decades and all genres. Opening with the Disney theme “When You Wish Upon a Star” with an Eastern Indian vibe then working in the Beatles classic “Norwegian Wood,” they then slipped into “Black Napkins” by Frank Zappa. Next was “Chicken” by Pee Wee Ellis then the Thelonius Monk song “Well You Needn’t.”
Then they moved into the more well-known “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock which allowed us to really feel GB on keys. Followed that up with “All Blues” by Miles Davis that had Nick’s sax taking on the trumpet lead in his own bluesy style. Keeping the diversity going “Root Down” by Jimmy Smith was then heard. Blowing the minds of the crowd they then featured William on the hand pan drum on the 1980s one-hit winder “Pass the Dutchie” by Mighty Diamonds. They ended the first “set” with a mix of John Scofield themes and brought us full circle by slipping into “Norwegian Wood” once again. It turns out that that theme was just a set up for a drum interlude as the band slowly dropped out one by one and exited the stage leaving only William to have his way with his drums and us for a ten-minute-plus interlude! His precision and melodic rhythms were absolutely mesmerizing with much of the crowd approaching the stage to see how he was doing so much at once. The band then slowly started to return to the stage starting with drummer Vince who joined in on the percussion party building it to a crescendo then when all the players were back all of a sudden, we were back to Norwegian Wood but just for a tease because they started the second set with the Ray Charles classic “Georgia.” Ed got to shine on bass when they next jazzed up the Stone Temple Pilots rock classic “Plush.” Also in the set was “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield, “Chitlins Con Carne” by Kenny Burrell and the much covered “Mercy Mercy Mercy” by Jimmy Smith with a native Indian feel helped along by William’s percussion for sure. The stand out of the set was by far the Stevie Wonder song “Pastime Paradise” where the band all played in unison as they morphed the song into chorus of the Coolio rap banger “Ganster’s Paradise” that had the entire crowd singing and smiling. They ended the second set just like the first giving way to Williams percussion this time he spent much of it on the tongue drum countering his melodies with syncopated rhythms.
Set three was just as diverse starting with the gospel classic “Amazing Grace” which Robert quickly hijacked from the band and played an extended solo that the band followed along with straying really far then coming back for a solid ending. Next up was probably the coolest version of the country tune “Will the Circle be Unbroken” ever played then “Expressway” by Garcia/Saunders and the upbeat “Hip Hug Her” by Booker T and the MGs. Then we heard Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe” to keep the remind us of that country can swing. “Birdsong” by Grateful Dead let GB and Nick shine once again and the set ended with killer version of “Down by The River” by Neil Young and the Prince mega hit “Purple Rain”. The crowd would not let them leave without an encore so they hit us all with everyone’s fav song by The Meters “Cissy Strut.”
The entire night was a fun example of how jazz can bring songs of all kinds and all generations together in a really fun and accessible way for everyone to enjoy. Be sure to check in on the event section of JSJBF.org website to find these types of shows and much more and follow J v Archer Entertainment on social media for more jazz and blues as well.