A Very Happy 15th: DJ Logic and Friends Jam at the Knit
by Tom Ceraulo

One week into the month-long 15th anniversary-celebration of lower Manhattan's Knitting Factory, Bronx-born turntablist extraordinaire DJ Logic held court at the venue to commemorate its milestone. Being a visionary talent, Logic wasn't content to simply play a set with his fine band, Project Logic; he also wanted to do something special for the Knit's birthday. So he invited some friends for a completely improvised set of trio performances. The result was stunning: a series of organic, funky jams, featuring some of modern improvisational music's finest talents, built around the host's masterful work at the console.

In the first trio lineup of the night, Logic was joined by some formidable Philadelphia musicians including Christian McBride on standup acoustic bass and Karriem Riggins on the drums. McBride, a preeminent jazz bassist since his days in Joshua Redman's quartet, was a pleasure to watch onstage; he seemed to constantly smile as he played, and his joy was infectious. He and the solid Riggins formed an ideal opening rhythm section for Logic, allowing the show's host to step to the forefront at the start of the set without having to worry so much about having to sustain the groove.

And it only got better. At the midpoint of the McBride-Riggins set, Logic added DJ Scratch - the human beatbox in Philly's legendary Roots crew - to the mix. It went against the "trios" concept, perhaps, but every soul in the Knit forgave Logic for the momentary quartet. Scratch was JAW-DROPPINGLY good, repeatedly taking the crowd's collective breath away with a dazzling array of vocal pyrotechnics: channeling Ad-Rock in a mimicked "sample" of the Beasties' "Paul Revere"; summoning thunderous, complex drum beats, scratch sounds and other effects, armed only with a microphone; and - most thrilling to witness - squaring off with Logic, matching him scratch for scratch, sample for sample. Scratch worked well with McBride and Riggins, too, enthusiastically communicating with both musicians to set foundations that he and Logic could work over. In a night of standout playing, no one threatened to steal the show from Logic more than Scratch; in a limited time onstage, he made like Hendrix at Monterey, leaving the Knitting Factory amazed.

The second trio segment found Logic joined by guitarist Charlie Hunter and the great Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin and Wood fame) on drums and percussion. Their low-key, heavily percussive jamming was a nice follow up to the intense DJ Scratch performance. Hunter played what seemed like a multitude of instruments, eliciting tasty licks from each. And Martin, like McBride in the first set, is a musician who very visibly loves being on stage. Listening to him play is enthralling enough; watching only makes you admire him more.

Next, Logic was joined by MMW keyboard wizard John Medeski and Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Medeski was his usual mad-scientist self, producing a parade of eerie sounds (think Bitches Brew) and molesting various keyboards with his hands, elbows and forearms. Even outside of Phish, Gordon remains a fantastic listener onstage, really keying into the nuances of what his bandmates are playing, and instinctually reacting to them. Phish was unfairly termed the "next Grateful Dead", but it might not be unfair to think of Gordon as a new generation's Phil Lesh - in large part due to his impeccable ear.

With Gordon and Medeski behind him, Logic found himself as the stage's sole beat-supplier, and again he adapted beautifully. By the end of the night, one got the sense that there isn't ANY conglomeration of players that he couldn't fit his way into. And his solo turntable interludes between trios saw to it that from start to finish, the beats never ceased.

The night's final collaboration saw the headlining DJ jam with bassist Rob Wasserman and String Cheese Incident guitarist/violinist Michael Kang. It was refreshing to see Wasserman add his signature standup bass sound to a completely improvised live set, unfettered by the constraints of a Bob Weir, Lou Reed or Bruce Cockburn song. While playing his guitar, Kang conjured up the ghost of Jerry Garcia - as he so frequently does - and added to it a dose of the groove-oriented sound that Trey Anastasio has focused on lately. While he played fiddle, Kang and a bow-wielding Wasserman furiously played off of each other as Logic's beats and scratches gave the proceedings a space-age bluegrass vibe.

What a show: 90 consecutive minutes of the purest music you can hear in a live setting these days. Stellar musicians. An intimate, one-of-a-kind performance. Shades of jazz, hip-hop, bluegrass, rock and funk. It could only have happened at the Knitting Factory.

(Note: If you missed this show, don't fret: it will soon be streaming at www.djlogic.com. Hmm, I wonder if they'd consider releasing it on CD...)


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