Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Les is more
by Alan Sculley
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Les Claypool doesn't need anyone to show him the money. When it comes to his career, he already knows where it's at.
"The smartest thing for me to do from a business standpoint is to do Primus all the time and nothing else," Claypool says. "That's the smartest thing. I would have a lot more money in my bank account if I did that. But I can't do that. Then it becomes a job for me not that I dislike Primus."
So Claypool continues to branch out, adding to his list of side bands (such as Frog Brigade, Oysterhead and Bucket of Bernie Brains) a collective commonly called the Fancy Band.
It features two alumni from the Frog Brigade, sax player Skerik and vibes player Mike Dillon, along with drummer Paolo Baldi and sitar player/multi-instrumentalist Gabby La La. The band is featured on a new concert DVD, Fancy, that features some quite entertaining music.
The quintet may well be Claypool's most unusual group yet no small accomplishment, considering that none of Claypool's bands has exactly been conventional. But at least those groups featured one hallmark of the rock 'n roll band: guitar.
"That's a pretty substantial difference," Claypool says. "There's not as much of a contrast between bass and guitar as there is between bass and sitar or bass and ukulele or bass and theremin or saxophone or marimba and whatnot. So, really, it diversifies the sound in many ways."
Les Claypool and His Fancy Band
Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver
Friday, June 22, 9 p.m.
Tickets: $30;
visit ticketmaster.com.
