Jesse Cook Rules!

Jesse brought a surprise addition to his regular 4 piece band. He introduced Chris Church after the second song tonight at Jack Singer Concert hall. I've never heard of Chris Church, and I suspect a lot of other people haven't either. That will change. Chris plays a violin that sounds remarkably Arabic, and does the vocal line in Fall at your Feet. The story goes that they started to jam together in Halifax. Jesse invited Chris to tour in that area, then brought him along out west. Yahoo! Calgary seemed to like him.

Calgary certainly liked Jesse. We were treated to extended versions of the songs, which particularly demonstrated Art's virtuosity, to say nothing of his endurance. That's Right got especially jazzy in the middle, and all the band members had their chance to shine. In previous performances Jesse and Etric took turns with the lead, but there was less of that this time, and more of the two of them playing opposite the violin.

This is the third live performance I've seen, and it keeps getting better. There's more of a mix of music, since there are now four albums of music to choose between. The most recent one, Free Fall, is a little bit of a departure from the earlier albums. In my mind, it's more Arabic, and fascinating listening. They played a mix of the old and new, and it all sounded wonderful together. The crowd was on its feet for the last half of the show, and half a dozen people from the audience hopped up on the stage and danced. This is a show not to be missed.

You can find more information about Jesse Cook at his web site, or Narada Records. His four albums are called Gravity, Vertigo, Tempest, and Free Fall. Go buy them.