Amy Kucharik and Tiger Moan, November 6, 2022

The Burren, 247 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somervllle, MA 02144

If this band was any tighter, it would implode.
Fronted by Amy Kucharik, they perform with the timing of a seasoned show band.

With a nod of the head by Amy, the trombone, keyboard, percussion, and stand-up base players reel off rich solos with the cadences of the blues, rock, shuffle or swing songs on the playlist…every so often punctuated by Amy’s wild card solos with harmonica, ukulele, and this thing she does by pursing her lips together, a labial kazoo, to pardon the expression, that simulates a muted trumpet and often stops dancers in their tracks trying to figure out where the horn is coming from.

This is a big-time dance crowd. It looks and feels like every blues dancer within driving distance is in the room. A 15-minute blues dance lesson given by a member of the Blues Union warms up newcomers in a low key and enticing way,,,it's fun watching them get their backfields in motion.

There’s nothing like blues dancing to call down the spirits in whatever shape, form or style dancers can imagine. Unlike waltz, foxtrot, salsa, or rumba, blues is free style and driven by this band that grasps layers of its gritty spirit. Their unique brand of musicianship beams dancers into a fourth dimension, channeling the music with the playful, passionate, fun-loving gusto and style that blues has always inspired…and Tiger Moan delivers.

Don’t come to passively listen to the music, as fine as it is. Come to have it be the oxygen that courses through your arteries, animates your spirits, connects us to each other, arm in arm, body to body, on a dance floor filled with couples of every orientation, expressing themselves in the slow syncopation of a righteous blues song, a kaleidoscope of jazz styles, blues styles on the floor during any given song. 

This is a collection of art forms in motion. If this were a museum, it would be a collection of modern art, American revival, and impressionist art forms. By the third song, the synergy meter pegs the needle.

With each song, the spontaneous energy of partners who have never danced before tests each other’s limits and possibilities.  The dynamic form, function, and synchronicity when they get it all together is a sight to behold. The dancers are mostly their 20s 30s and 40s. Men and women in their 50s, 60s and beyond break out their moves as easily as they breathe.

Sitting at the bar and observing this is like watching Pablo Picasso and Kara Walker pushing artistic boundaries to create an amalgam of the new and the old in 4/4 time.

Photo by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Ted]

this is so much fun....thanks for writing it!

[Carmela Catino]

Beautiful!
Thrilling read. I’m still there, the music never ending, as the heat on the dance floor builds up to a fire that keeps me warm until the next time.
You paint a picture that sparks a memory of excitement and makes me catch my breath!

[Paul A Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Carmela, you were there...and one of the sparks that heated the dance floor!