Opening the second show of the Moore and
More mini-tour were the New Orleans Klezmer
All-Stars which used to include Stanton
on drums. Stanton sat in with the Klezmers
for a tune before he hit the stage with
Charlie and Skerik.
The first gig with Skerik on saxophone
was a good one. Producer, engineer and
Fog City Records founder Dan Prothero
lugged in a Wurlitzer for Skerik to play
in addition to his baritone and tenor
saxophones (which he occassonally plays
through various effects, coined 'saxophonics').
Skerik had a keyboard for the last show
of the tour in his hometown of Seattle.
Moore and More opened up with a few
tunes from 'All Kooked Out!' starting
with a rollicking version of "Common
Ground" and continued on with Monk's
"Green Chimneys". The band stretched
out on a tight version of "Tchfunkta"
which was over 12 minutes long. During
"Angel Nemali", Skerik dedicates
the song to Dudu Pukwana, the South African
saxophonist who wrote the song and died
in exile before seeing the 'end' of apartheid
in his native country.
Other highlights included "French
Lick" (not on the album) into an
extended "Witch Doctor". This
was followed by "Power House",
a tune written by drummer, Chester Thompson
(also not on the album). "Magnolia
Triangle" is an outtake from the
'All Kooked Out' recording sessions
and was originally written by James Black,
a legendary New Orleans artist. The set
wrapped up with "Blues for Ben"
when the trio was joined by the Klezmers
for an good old fashioned New Orleans
brass blowout.
The encore was John Patton's "Boogaloo
Boogie", a tune Charlie used to play
with his own quartet. Just as the house
lights were coming up above the applause
Stanton scrambled back to his drum kit
and kicked into a funky version of "Nobody's
Blues" which turned into a free form
funk jam and had the place moving! Skerik
turned it around when he began chanting
Kool and the Gang's "Let the Music
Take Your Mind". At the end of the
night, Moore and More played for close
to two hours.
