Every second hump day of the month the Fully Celebrated Orchestra takes flight on stage at Midway Cafe.

On Wednesday, 14 December 2022, acoustic bandoleros Sage King and Alex Rohan joined the fray.

Veteran jazz ensemble The Fully Celebrated Orchestra has been kicking around Boston at least as far back as their 1996 release Live At The Latch String Inn. What began as a trio of Jim Hobbs (saxophone), Timo Shanko (bass), and Django Carranza (drums) has evolved into a larger lineup that currently includes a cornet and electric guitar. 

FCO’s once-a-month residency at Midway Cafe gives the group license to do what jazz does: improvise and explore. The Fully Celebrated Orchestra deals out a fin-de-siecle Lower East side kind of flavor. They’ve digested the late periods of all the mid-20th century jazz greats, grokked their essence, and synthesized the highlights into a reconstituted post-cool jazz.

The sound can be dissonant, boundary pushing, though the structure of the compositions (originals and Frankenstein-dards) are fairly classic, giving each instrument a chance to unwind solo and earn a little round of applause. 

The lines of the music are driving, powerful, direct, but never hectoring. And there’s always a wry grin lingering just beneath the surface – a Mingus-esque love of the ludicrous – that takes the piss out of the prim jazz connoisseur in favor of the red-blooded jazz fan.

On Wednesday night the Midway Cafe was not overcrowded, but The Fully Celebrated Orchestra draws its regular admirers. An elderly millennial walked in with a skateboard beneath one arm and Thai takeout in the other. He said his name was Josh, though he looked like a dead ringer for another Midway Cafe regular, Andrew Stern. 

Josh set himself up at a high table, stage right, and tucked into his dinner, confiding in the patron next to him (friend? stranger?): “Every time I come here it’s like a religious experience.” Improvisational music can have that sort of elevating effect. Jazz especially. For Josh, The Fully Celebrated Orchestra most of all.

The group took the stage. There were five members of the Orchestra tonight. A saxophone, bass, cornet, electric guitar, and drums. All of them warmed up at their stations, ran through scales, except Jim Hobbs who made small talk from the pit as he nursed a pint. The cornet player flipped through the stack of sheet music on the music stand, looked up at Jim, and asked: “Jumping around or all in order?” 

“Jumping around.”

The Fully Celebrated Orchestra jumped around a solid set of deconstructed cool jazz before closing with an art-damaged version of Musical Youth’s “Pass the Dutchie.” Shout out to the guitarist, who also plays in The Blues Dream Box, rocking a downwards upstroke.

Alex Rohan

Alex Rohan opened the night as a solo act. The Springfield musician sported a beautiful Gibson acoustic and dug around the rootsy, folky end of the garden. There was a little bluesy undertow as well in some of the originals, and a country flavor in covers like Travis Meadows’ “Sideways.” Shades of Caleb Caudle, Zachary Cale, or Other Brother Daryl.

The audience’s ears perked up when Rohan dedicated his first song to his grandfather. The song recounted some beautiful memories of time well spent with his father’s father. It’s the time of year, when families are coming together for the holidays, that makes you reflect about what you’re thankful for.

Sage King

Sage King closed out the bill. The outfit performed as a dual monarchy on Wednesday night, with King adding a fellow acoustic strummer into the mix. Speaking of sweet sounding acoustics, the new arrival’s Martin six-string purred. The pair played a mix of originals and covers, including Live’s “I Alone,” slathered on top with meaty vocal harmonies. Shades of an acoustic version of The Endorphins.

Extra points for the random comedian who took the stage between the sets of The Fully Celebrated Orchestra and Sage King. It sounds like he’s been working really hard on his tight 60 seconds!

You can catch The Fully Celebrated Orchestra and company next month on Wednesday, 11 January 2023. New year, fresh sounds, same Midway Cafe.