Show Review - Selcouth Quartet 6/2/24 Denver, CO
After two hugely successful JRAD shows on Friday and Saturday, Joe Russo closed out an amazing Colorado weekend with a performance by his Selcouth Quartet at Denver’s Bluebird Theater. Comprised of Russo, guitarist Jonathan Goldberger, bassist Jon Shaw, and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie, the musicianship on display was nothing short of outstanding and had me hanging on every note of the 90-minute performance.
Before the Quartet took the stage, JRAD bandmate Tom Hamilton performed a mesmerizing solo acoustic set to kick off the night. Bringing along his full effects rig, the guitarist layered his signature ambient washes of synths with more delay effects, creating soundscapes and cool pockets of improvisation, moving between several of his original songs.
The small-venue crowd was pretty much 100% attentive to the music last night, a drastic change from the chatty Red Rocks crowd on Saturday – and Hamilton thanked everyone for being so quiet while he was playing. Some funny banter ensued as a member of the audience shouted out a question about his forthcoming album, which is nearing completion. Hamilton noted that he doesn’t relish being billed as “Tom Hamilton” – “I love being in bands.”
During an emotional performance of “Joeline,” the guitarist joked at his own songwriting style – “I need to write some happier shit,” he joked, before concluding the song. Hamilton’s musical work is incredibly underrated – both his compositional abilities and improvisational instincts are top-notch and I would highly recommend seeing him in any formation, be it solo or in a full-band setting.
A quick changeover of the stage saw the Selcouth Quartet begin their set right on the minute of the planned time.
This being just their ninth gig as a band, their set consisted largely of material from their debut EP Selcouth Quartet, recorded in Iceland and released last fall. Sitting somewhere in an avant-garde acid jazz kind of sound, the four incredible musicians just destroyed their set – and each of them continuously smiled at each other the whole time.
Russo especially blew me away with his ability to multitask between drums and keyboards – he had a small electric piano and synthesizer set up to his left and would frequently utilize his left hand to add layers while the right kept up a flurry of drumming most people could only hope to play with two hands.
The opening track “Smaller Horses,” featured Russo’s keyboard playing as a support for Goldberger and Bogie to harmonize some lead melodies as the song stretched into a darker and jazzy space. It was hard to tell at times when one track ended and the next began, such was the fluidity of the improv. Bogie utilized a small synthesizer in addition to his woodwind instruments when he wanted to play a more textural role, which also accentuated his sharp and aggressive saxophone playing whenever he switched back to that.
Throughout the entire set, Shaw sat stoically on a stool, acting as the anchor to reality while the other three musicians took trip after trip into unknown zones, blowing my mind with how rock-steady his bass continued to be.
Goldberger worked his pedalboard like a master, triggering various delays, tremolo, and wah effects as his jazzy guitar style unleashed some serious shred on nearly every song – but he also utilized more mellow dynamics and heavy layers of reverb to hang back when it was appropriate.
“Before We’re Sunken,” which came toward the end of the set, featured some vocal samples triggered by Russo overtop his electric piano chordal work, ended up being one of my favourite moments of the night – the hypnotic and ethereal tone contrasted beautifully with some of the more tension-filled songs.
At the conclusion of the show, Russo expressed his heartfelt thanks to those who attended the show, noting once again how incredibly attentive the Bluebird Theater crowd was.
After last night, Selcouth Quartet is absolutely on my can’t-miss list of bands – I will be eagerly watching for more tour dates and musical releases, and you should too.