By SHAWN HAMMOND
I love surprises, especially real groovy ones. Wednesday night at Wrapsody, 117 N. University Ave. in Provo, I got a really nice one. I went there to hear local bands Sean Neves and the Millard County Commission, and Henry Topaz and the Regency Band.
Never having heard of either of these bands before, I’ll admit, I was scared. Scared? Yeah. It sucks spending three hours of your night listening to bands that, well, suck (go figure).
My lack of knowledge about Neves and his commissioners, combined with the mutated-looking guitar I saw him carrying up to the stage before the show, almost made my heart sink in dread anticipation of a long night. I held on to hope, though.
I’m ecstatic to report that my hope paid off with high dividends. In fact, I’m convinced I heard one of the most original and passionate musicians in this valley that night.
Sean Neves and the Millard County Commission is a three-piece instrumental outfit that plays all original electric jazz/blues/rock tunes and features Neves on electric guitar, Pat Hoyle on fretless electric bass, and Mike Fenning on drums. While these guys don’t play traditional jazz, their music is in the spirit of real jazz — meaning improvisation is a key element — and is nothing akin to the “smooth jazz” junk (a.k.a. Muzak) you’d hear on 97.9 FM.
Neves and the guys from Millard have a style rich in chromatic phrasing, dissonance, odd time signatures, and walking bass lines that they perform with a fresh inventiveness and energetic rock band vibe that many bands just can’t conjure. Neves’ arrangements sound like a cross between guitar greats John Scofield, Scott Henderson, Allan Holdsworth, various jazz cats and several Chicago bluesmen.
For those of you having a hard time following this description, suffice it to say that these guys kick in a unique and much needed way.
While Hoyle and Fenning are both excellent players, Neves is clearly in charge of this band. Sitting on a chair next to his small amp he leads the band through their intense-but-loose jams with calculated verbal and nonverbal cues.
Hoyle and Fenning should be credited for their willingness to spend most of their time out of the spotlight, laying down solid, funky grooves as backdrops for Neves’ diverse and intriguing impromptu solos. When they get the chance, however, both prove absolutely capable of tearing it up with the same varietous verve that Neves consistently draws from his seemingly bottomless well of talent.
Of particular note from these two “sidemen” were Hoyle’s slithering, Michael Manring-like solo and Fenning’s sense of rhythm and deep, distinctive drum sound.
By now, I’m sure it’s pretty apparent that I dig these guys. I do, I do. In fact, the only negative thing I noticed all night was one particular song’s unison section in which Hoyle and Neves were slightly out of tune with each other (probably because of the difficulty in precise fingering on a fretless instrument).
Because Neves and the Millard County Commissioners’ music is from the hip and truly inventive, it’ll probably never make them huge. That’s a shame, though. I think these guys rock more than many popular local bands.
After the Millard mavens left the stage I heard a conversation behind me in which a guy asked a woman he was with what she thought of Neves’ band. She replied with a somewhat embarrassed look that he already knew what she thought. Another woman in their party said, “I think it’s good, but its just different.”
To myself, I added to their conversation. “Yeah, that’s WHY it’s good.” It’s indeed sad that our generation of “Friends” and “Dawson Creek” robots can’t fathom this kind of invigorating art. Neves’ playing was so good I found myself reevaluating my own music and aching to go home and practice my guitar.
Moving right along, Thursday night’s final band was Henry Topaz and the Regency Band, a folk/country unit headed up by Kelly Ellcock, a witty Dylan-esque strummer, songwriter and harmonica player who has a knack for Happy Valley-bashing concoctions. Ellcock’s backup band, the Regency Band, consists of Moontubes frontman, Mark Smith, on lead guitar, Brad Christensen on bass and Matthew Costello on drums.
Simply put, Ellcock has the Bob Dylan voice thing nailed. As someone not very familiar with the legendary folk singer’s repertoire (because I don’t particularly care for his nasal voice) I actually thought Ellcock’s first couple of songs might be Dylan covers. After hearing a few LDS references, however, I realized Ellcock’s clever lyrics and basic strummer tunes were all his own.
While I’d love to quote some of Ellcock’s lyrics for you, I’m certain many eager offendees would blanch at them and start inking their pens. (Not to mention, I’m sure Big Brother would not be pleased). While I didn’t really care much for Ellcock’s eat-drink-and-be-merry themes, I can take a good ribbing without getting all uptight.
However, I regret to say that aside from Ellcock’s talent for funny lyrics and Smith’s able, country-flavored solos, I didn’t find much to like about the band’s whole schtick. Their straight ahead, predictable arrangements made me lose interest too fast. Costello and Christensen’s performances, while solid, were too lackluster for my taste.
Perhaps Ellcock’s whole aim is to make the music simple so you have to concentrate on his blunt confidings. Maybe it’s just because I’m not much of a folky. Whatever it is, it doesn’t work well enough for me. Sorry.
