Tomas Doncker had his hand in two of the best albums of 2014, his own Big Apple Blues and Marla Mase’s epic poetic Half-Life and the two times I’ve seen them on stage has been pretty epic as well. With Marla centerstage, Doncker tends to tend to his guitar a little more thoroughly. Opening with James Chance, Doncker performed one of his greatest solos behind Marla in 2013.
But one performance was a truncated charity gig and the other an opening slot, so this promise of a long set (probably several shorter sets) has me salivating. Unfortunately, I am off to see Neil Diamond tonight at Barclay’s Center so I will miss, yet again, the True Groove residency at Duet Brasserie. This residency has been winding its way every Thursday since the beginning of the year, and who knows when it ends, so this is an absolute must see.
Marla is such an original figure on the pop music scene that people are still figuring out how to deal with her, though a listen to her upcoming cover of “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” suggests she just likes being where you don’t expect her to be. I remember watching her extreme acting out of her songs on stage a couple of years, changing music to poetry to acting and back.
The Duet Brasserie concert will allow the duo the time and space they need to expand songs that will live and breath through experimentation and improvisation. I asked Doncker to forward a recording from the soundboard (I am guessing he has the lot saved) and will take a closer listen when and if he can, but both Tomas and Marla especially are visual artists… so go see…
