Viva La Melt

Live Review

Nov 28

Written By Michael Gutierrez

The Melt sounds like a grilled sandwich at Lilypad on Sunday, 24 November 2024.

Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️

Hump Nights

Nov 30

Punk in broad daylight. Get there early for WORM, Presidential Disgrace, Screw Cart, and Neponset Monastary.

ONCE Presents: Ezra Furman Doing What She Wants

Dec 3

What does Ezra Furman want to do? Find out at ONCE at The Rockwell.

The Ladybug Transistor / Lightheaded / Mark Robinson (of Cotton Candy)

Dec 4

The Ladybug Transistors touring on the 25th anniversary of The Albemarle Sound.

Dec 7

A fourstack indie rock bill at JP’s favorite rock n roll joint.

Dec 13

The 4th Wall celebrates its 13-month anniversary at the Capitol Theater.

Dec 13

Funk reigns supreme at JP’s favorite rock n roll joint.

Dec 14

A romp through Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” album with Billy Hough (Scream Along) at EventThem Studios.

$Fat Togue Holiday Bash: Give Up!, Love City Dirt, BAD\\VERB$

Dec 16

Three bands, one holiday bash, and who knows how many hot dogs. Maybe none!

Dec 31

Bohemian Rhapsody Sing-Along. The movie like you've never seen it before: host, goody bags, glam ups encouraged!

Jan 29

Born Innocent makes the case for Redd Kross as the seminal West Coast band of the last half century.

Jan 30

Ani DiFranco on a wild road trip from her punk-folk past to her life today.

Feb 6

A tale of sex, LSD, and rock n roll with psych punk pioneers.

Hump Nights

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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix

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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️

The Melt

w/ Stan Strickland on woodwinds

Without further ado, I’ll defer to the writeup for my Cambridge Day gig, which may or may not be posted already.

“We traveled around the world to be here…”
So joked Josh Rosen from behind the piano, warming up the room before a recent gig at the Lilypad. The Berklee professor plays enough gigs around town that he must be a local. Maybe “right around the corner” local, right? The Inman Square jazz spot is a favorite haunt, and The Melt are regulars.
On Sunday the rotating cast of The Melt included Andrew Schiller on bass, Dave Fox on the drums, and, as always, Rosen on the keys. Add in special guest (and fellow Berklee teacher) Stan Strickland on woodwinds/vocals to make it four.
The band reflects Rosen’s love of improvisation. Each song in the set, a mix of standards and originals, left some breathing room for the individual musicians to maneuver. Space was reserved for solos and these moments were handled with care. No shouting of sonic soliloquies from the rooftops for “set ‘em up, knock ‘em down” applause breaks. Instead, even as one instrument inched into the spotlight, it remained in conversation with the rest of the group, and politely doffed its cap before returning to the fold.
Maybe too politely – the audience was itching at certain points to show its appreciation, but was not always sure where one solo ended and another began. Just as well, no one needs their socks set on fire on a sleepy afternoon. A little beauty and grace is enough.
After Strickland delivered a particularly stirring vocal performance on Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child,” he looked ready to linger in a moment, eyes half-closed in reverie. The room was ready too, swaddling itself in the dying reverberation of the final hit of the cymbal, pluck of the bass, and chord of the piano…
Ready or not, Rosen stormed into the next stanza, breaking the calm with playful, uptempo phrase-making. Strickland jolted awake, eyes wide like dinner plates, looking like he had just been stolen from a beautiful dream by God’s own hand and tossed into a tub of ice water. He surrendered himself to a bemused grin for about a half-second, before lifting his instrument to his lips and rejoining the fray.