All the Concerts Fit to Print

They were billed as a jazz and gypsy jazz combo. They didn't hit on the gypsy jazz much, which was disappointing. Maybe they did less of it due to all the Christmas standards they had to play.

Smoldering vocals laced among the jazzy mandolin and guitar; an infectious blend of continental jazz, swing, gypsy music and melodic vocals.

The band is husband and wife Sims and Maggie, plus current bass player Jeffo. Sims plays mandolin. Maggie does vocals and percussion, which include brushes on a cardboard box and metal lampshade. Jeffo is quite talented on the upright bass (did he play bass guitar too?). Maggie is "equally at home scatting over a bebop tune, soaring on a solo, or blending with the Wail’s tight vocal harmonies, she delivers both powerhouse tunes and ballads with confidence and ease." Sims is all about the gyspy jazz and Django Reinhardt, or so his bio says, but as I mentioned, they didn't play much of it this night.

Me, Cyn and my mom went to the Cedarburg Cultural Center to see the Nob Hill Boys. The Boys are a bluegrass quintet - madonlin, guitar, banjo, fiddle and bass. The two new members were the bassist and the guitarist. The guitarist was a young guy - Seth Foerster. Looked like he was in his twenties. He was good. His fingers really flew. Looked like he was working hard at it - he certainly didn't make it look easy. The bassist was Mark Hembree, who has played with Bill Monroe. He was the band's spokesman onstage. I liked his technique with slapping strings on the fretboard. It sounded like a rockabilly rhythm, tapped out on the rim of a snare drum. He was pretty funny, too. He'd say things like, "and that concludes the musical portion of our show," which would get a laugh, and then he'd continue, "I'm going to sing this next one." John Fabke was the mandolin player. I wasn't all that impressed with his playing. He's one of the founding members, along with Jon Peik, a great banjo picker. Paul Keinitz is the fiddler, and the only one who doesn't sing. Right after the break, the band invited Seth's wife onstage to sing a duet with him.

Cyn and I were just about the youngest people in the room (which was full). There were others in our general age group, but only about half a dozen who I was sure were younger than me (the sound guy, the guitarist and his wife were three of those). At one point, the bassist asked if anyone had heard of Hayseed Dixie, which is a bluegrass/country band that covers rock songs, like AC-DC. I had, but I didn't answer because I didn't want to blow my cover.

I'm pretty sure there was an opener for this show. A singer/songwriter acoustic guitar guy.

Solo show, I think.

Willy used to do a benefit concert ever year in Cedarburg for the Ozaukee Humane society. It always sold out. Here's what I wrote at the time:

I have long said that the best acoustic guitar solo I had ever heard was by Stephen Stills at a CSN concert.

But when I see someone like Willy Porter play, it kind of changes my point of view on the subject.

Not that you can really compare the two. Willy performed solo, but he didn't do many solos. He did songs. he filled in the highs, lows and even a little percussion.

He's just amazing.