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Mammoth Festival produces delicious summer weekend |
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Thursday, 21 August 2008 |
I sank down onto the soft blanket of wood chips, leaned against two trees positioned pillow-like with a perfect view of the stage, and listened to the music.
The Damon Castillo Band was cooking up energetic music under a darkening sky, serenading the white cotton clouds into gray storm cover.
Castillo’s voice is versatile, his songs personal. I’ve never heard the name intimate rock before, but that’s how I would characterize his music. He moved with lyrical ease from funk and a hard driving, electric rock to acoustic ballads.
Crowds still light at 2 p.m., people sat in their chairs and listened. One fellow sat behind me grooving to the music, eyes closed, puffing on a cigar, a wineglass in the well of his canvas chair. Ahhhh, life is good. (His reverie was interrupted by those around him who didn’t like the smell of his cigar, and reminded him this was a no smoking zone.)
Doing a brilliant job with Devo’s “Working in a Coal Mine,” the band segued into a ballad, “One Last Stand,” from their upcoming CD. Castillo is a poetic songwriter, starting one song with “Sorry I left the toilet seat down, I’m not used to having girls around.” The song unrolled naturally about feelings of a new love.
“Claim to Fame,” another cut from their new CD, tells how Castillo feels about making music. “Making music really means something, that’s my claim to fame,” he sang.
Each member of his band was brilliant…keyboards, saxophone, drummer, bass, and together they rolled out layers of musical sound that were pure pleasure to hear. It was exciting to hear a new band – here's hoping we'll see them back here again.
The break between Castillo and Poncho Sanchez was long, and a great time to wander the Mammoth Festival. Vintners, food court, art fair.
This festival attracted a mellow crowd. Part of the reason might have been the price: $72 for music and wine for Saturday. I heard people at the gate say that at that price they could just go home and drink their own wine. Not the best attitude, because the food was delicious and the wines diverse. There was enough room to talk to friends, meet strangers…all to the beat of the jazz.
The tents were arranged, it seemed, with a nod toward Feng Shui. Wine, art and food kiosks were mixed so that the flow was natural. It wasn't just a bank of vintners, boulevard of art boutiques or food court.
For weeks I’d been looking forward to Poncho Sanchez; Latin Jazz is such a get-up-and-dance genre. When his band finally took the stage, there was the great brass section (trumpet, trombone, tenor sax) among the eight-member band, with Poncho front and center on the conga drums. Somehow, it wasn’t working; the music didn’t get under my skin and propel me to dance. But it was still good, great in fact to hear the great congero and his musicians, at one of Mammoth’s superb summer music festivals.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent policies and opinions of the staff or owners of the Mammoth Times.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 August 2008 )
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