Ever since it first opened in 1970, The Baked Potato has been the after hours haven for studio musicians, giving them a chance to get creative with their chops. That baton has been past to the latest generation of musicians like guitarist Graham Dechter, bassist Alex Frank and drummer Ryan Shaw, all in their early 20s but playing on sessions for the likes of Michael Buble’, Jeff Goldblum and even Miley Cyrus. Taking their inspiration from the studio studs of previous times like Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne’s own group The Poll Winners, these young squires have formed their own Lineage Trio, creating a legacy of sound, style and swing that harkens back to the days of vinyl, but keeping the tunes timeless.
While Dechter served as the MC, he would pass the mic over to Frank, aka “Frankopedia”, as he’d give encyclopedic information about each song, and even reciting the lyrics before hand to such standards, ranging from the obscure love song “I’ll String Along With You” (which had the gents in a patient and calming mood around the bass aria) or the guitar chimed “Tangerine”.
The trio was adept at being about to create fresh wineskins for the vintage wine, changing tempos cleverly on “Baubles, Bangles and Beads” with Shaw’s brushes assuaging the pulse, here and on his feature of “I’ve Got A Crush On You” where he sounded like Fred Astaire dancing across the dance floor with Ginger Rogers.
Frank and Shaw ran like members of a three legged race, locking into an irresistible groove on an interactive take of Jobim’s samba “Meditation” that by the time Dechter started digging in, the pulse got so deep that even the bartender was shaking his drinks to the bossa’d beat. While mixing rich lyricism, melody and conversation throughout the whole evening, Dechter ended the evening by going off to the race track at Ascot and galloping like a stallion on the hard bopping and torrid take of My Fair Lady’s “Get Me To The Church On Time” that ended with a photo finish.
The Lineage trio holds a residency the first Monday of every month. Got to put this on my calendar!
Upcoming gigs at The Baked Potato include Danny Janklow 07/13, Bob Reynolds 07/14m, Bunny Brunel CAB 07/15, Ernie Watts 07/16 and Ruggeiro Plays Monk 07/20