Marching lively through the crowd, the Jeff Coffin Mu’tet’s 16-minute opening number, “Move Your Rug…Processional,” filled the venue with fluttery saxophone melody and 1920s swank. Coffin, only four minutes into the show, had already begun playing two saxophones at once. An audience of widow’s peaks, pony tails, crew cuts and dreadlocks stared gratefully as the convulsive virtuoso erupted into the night’s first fit of saxophone epilepsy.
Fifteen minutes later, crimson house lights fell as Futureman’s
deliberate snare transformed the club into a noir lounge for an
unhurried “Al’s Greens.” Coffin’s first saxophone solo came aptly
processed through a Q-Tron Envelope Filter, while Coffin, eyes closed
and threshing wildly, appeared to recoil from invisible blows on his
left hip. Coffin expressed this anguish in brass heroics; pained
squeals like an elephant in labor.
Highlights from the night included “The Mad Hatter Rides Again,” a song reminiscent of Coffin’s work on The Flecktones’ album Little Worlds,
and “Espoo You,” where a cabaret vibe indulged the bootlegger air
inside the Redstone Room. “Tag,” built around a bouncy bass hook from
Felix Pastorius and Futureman at his most flawless, staged an anxious
climb of spacey keys and saxophone flurry only to evaporate at the
climax.
Closing the night with a second encore, the Mu’tet performed “Hikky
Burr,” a song featuring keys player Chris Walters on bow and handsaw.
Despite this eerie introduction, the Mu’tet ended the night
lightheartedly on a few levels, remaining afterward to greet fans and
autograph T-shirts.
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