Damn Skippy:
John Schott, Will Bernard,
Scott Amendola, w/ Zach Ostroff - Albany, CA
Thursday, Dec 14, 2017 - 8:00PM
A rare reunion of three members of the 1990's Bay Area acid-Jazz supergroup T. J. Kirk, joined by a virtuoso rising star on bass, makes for a special night of grooving musical mayhem at the Ivy Room. Drummer
Scott Amendola and guitarists Will Bernard and
John Schott are masterful instrumentalists who share a penchant for musical anarchy and comedy when they get together. Joined by bassist Zachary Ostroff, this will be a memorable evening of feverish East Bay-centric Jazz and Funk, dished up by old friends and mad scientists of groove. In 1993, four young Bay Area Jazz hotshots came together, purely for fun, to form a high-concept supergroup named James T. Kirk, so named because their repertoire consisted only of mashed-up versions of songs by James Brown, Thelonious Monk, and Rahasan Roland Kirk. Response was immediate and overwhelming, including from Paramount Studios who demanded that the group change their name, which they did, re-christening it T. J. Kirk. Soon the group was signed to Warner Bros., releasing acclaimed CDs and touring the States. That the band was comprised of three guitarists and a drummer only added to the quirky uniqueness their sound and conception. Eventually Will Bernard,
John Schott, ,
Scott Amendola, and Charlie Hunter, all focused on their own bands and careers, putting the group on indefinite hiatus since the late 90's. While this December evening at the Ivy Room is not quite the long-awaited alignment of the four planets, that three of them are re-uniting together still qualifies as an ultra-rare event (indeed, the first time three members have played together since 2003), sure to throw off sparks and reward long-time fans of the band. Revisiting staples of the Kirk repertoire as well as playing original music and unexpected covers, the debut of Damn Skippy is going to be a were-you-there? moment of 2017, Damn Skippy!