Of the Rome show that was kindly shared by others here in the Polylogue on this site a couple of months ago, the songs that I listen to the most are the ones with Severson's solos.

I used to long to see Meshell on tour with Prince playing bass in his band. Michael's cured me of that.

Rumor is Meshell didn't care for the Rome show either... just makes me wonder how good they are together, now... especially with Dana Hawkins, who I've heard may be the most talented drummer to ever join her band. (And that's saying a lot.)

I remember being upset when Gene, Allen and Federico left the band. Wondering if things would ever be the same.

Then I missed the Comfort Woman tour that featured Chris Dave and Jon Jon Webb (who plays bass on the new Beyonce single, btw).

If I miss seeing this current lineup, I'll be... sad...

For those that need a taste of what I'm talking about, go to http://www.myspace.com/officialmeshellndegeocello and click on "Come Smoke My Herb" on the music player.

Definitely. It's very cool to hear this new band grow and develop. My first time seeing Meshell's group live was last summer at Birdland w/ the Spirit Music jamia....those concerts were some of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. Later I realized that they had had the benefit of several tours (depending on which band member) to get their shit together, so watching the Paris and Montreaux videos are interesting to me because they're just starting to gel.

Severson is an interesting addition to Meshells band since it seems that he's not as deeply rooted in jazz harmony as Cato or Brandon Ross. More of a Doyle Bramhall vibe, to my ears. (Who Meshell obviously respects). Did you see Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD? Bramhall has a sickkkkkk solo on the first tune.

Thinking about this band is getting me pumped up. Think I might make it up to NY for the Annex show this Monday.

yes, i've ripped and uploaded the cut with sanborn and mary j. blige on youtube/myspace.

i'll have to go back and watch it again now thanks to your pointing this out...

p.s. the track with mary is amazing. i love how eric and nathan east are just looking at each other while she goes off on whoevr broke her heart...

yo.. i'm so agreeing with you right now. the rome recording was obviously just a taste of how amazing this guy is. i keep playing the second part of come smoke my herb and it excites me everytime.. without fail. i'm with you m.. the ones i listen to over and over again are the ones where he rips it. i hope i get to see him play one of these days and though meshell doesn't have any chi dates up yet, it's never stopped me before...

I just read this post and saw the part about the rome concert files being posted. Is it possible to get a copy of that still, or have I completely missed the boat on that one?

drhodes..i can't right now but i'll try to up it this weekend if no-one else beats me to it...

and hey ya'll i'm trying my best to get to this last Annex gig this Monday...trying to get a few days off and to convince my wife that i just GOTTA go to THIS show ...

if i do get to go i'll post a review here when i get back...

...crossing my fingers...

on behalf of everyone that knows you on this board Derek, we're all hoping you can go too

Hello site members, I made it to the 8/21 show at the Annex. I arrived late because of the several street closures in Manhattan, not to mention I haven't been to N.Y. since '77. Well when I finally arrived Meshell and crew were somewhere in between tunin' up there instruments(about 11:55pm) while a Anthony Hamilton song played for what seemed like ten minutes, so I thought maybe I was just at the beginning of the show, but .it turns out I was down to the last 15 minutes. Well anyway once the Hamilton song subsided, A different girl every night startted on this psychodelic rock tune that had the small crowd jumping(never did hear the name but it was something that I had never heard before),something great and wonderful to my ears.Then they started a differently arranged version of Headlines,which was the closer,lasted some 10 minutes and it was groovin'-well as they closed the show, Meshell introduced the band very quickly, I heard the names Mark Kelly,Mike Severson but couldn't make out the other names,and I noticed that dana wasn't on drums nor was there any percussionist.Maybe there were other things I didn't notice as well but I've got to tell you the band was tight and they seem like happy children smiling and laughing, jumping around and felling others notes bounce off it other,Meshell with a hooded sweater and the rest of the band in T-shirts and jeans. I may have driven for 5 hours each way for that 20 minutes, but I felt good seeing Meshell so happy and what seemed so complete.

thanks for sharing that Feenin...even though you may have missed the beginning of the show it sounds like what you did catch was pretty damn cool

unfortunately its not looking good for me right now in getting up to NYC to catch this last Annex gig (some unexpected stuff came up at work)...i haven't given up ALL hope yet though and i'm still trying to work something out that will allow me to get up there and back...especially after reading Feenin's impressions of what he caught of that last gig, sounds like it will be worth whatever extra worktime and money that i may have to dish out...fingers still crossed, we'll see what happens...

and thanks again for sharin that Feenin

I really can't get enough of his solos...

You go a couple of weeks without hearing his solos on the Rome show and hear them again, they motivate you to get out the air guitar and wah wah pedal and jam out.

Nothing against Oren, Cato, etc., but I really feel like I missed out not seeing Severson in a live setting with her.

Let me put it this way. There's no other guitarist I'd rather see play with her. Not Prince, not Clapton, not Eddie Van Halen. No one.

If this were a monkey boy jukebox, her band would be:
Mike Severson on guitar
Jon Jon Webb on 2nd bass
Chris Dave on drums
Federico Gonzalez Pena on keys
K'Alyn on guitar and backing vox
Sy Smith on backing vox

We'd hear:
Love Song #1, 2, and 3.
Middle Earth (aka Point Of No Return)
Come Smoke My Herb
Soul Spaceship
Article 3
Hummer (cover of Smashing Pumpkins song)
Waiting For You
Headline
Blacknuss
Virgo (aka Capricorn)
The Sloganeer

And all of them would include multiple solos a la the "Bitter" tour...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: matthew,