This show will go down as one of the most surprising, great shows of the year! Having seen Jimmy only a few times with Widespread Panic, KDTU and Colonel Bruce Hampton, I was expected a full on jam band vibe. I certainly know Kevin Scott and Matt Slocum from the ATL scene and have seen them play multiple styles from jazz improv to soul to exceptional funk to straight up rock and roll.
But Jimmy Herring and the Invisible Whip — well, they tore the Terminal West house down. The sound blended the best of new space age trance and funk (a la Snarky Puppy) with some old school fusion like Weather Report, Return to Forever and even Spyro Gyra. The last one actually had me somewhat baffled since Spyro Gyra is primarily a sax driven sound and the night’s lineup included Jimmy on guitar, Kevin Scott on bass, Jeff Sipe on drums, Matt Slocum on B3 organ and clavinet, multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby on Fender Rhodes, piano and violin. Matt solved the mystery for me after the show and said “Jimmy always tells us to make the keys solo sound like a sax to stand out” and having two keyboard players made for a very special sound
It was a testament to the skill of these guys who have been playing together for years but are only at the beginning of this incarnation and starting a nine week tour that they had a capacity crowd at Terminal West. Catch them when you can and you won’t be disappointed.