Jen Kearney And The Lost Onion continued their Toad residency with wild funk abandon last night
By Bill Copeland
BillCopelandMusicPress
Jen Kearney and the Lost Onion slammed the funky, jazzy, Latin rhythms home at the Toad in Cambridge, Massachusetts last night. Toad is a small room, but it is long from front to its stage in back, and this lets the sound travel well, and Kearney needs space to unpack the involved, throbbing, funky sound.
This four-piece band is a solid group of mega-talented individuals who play extremely well as an ensemble unit. Even when the lead guitar is screaming and the keyboards are wild and the rhythm section is locked into a tight thumping groove, they are in control. They stay together.
Kearney went into a mellow R&B number at the start. It was a new tune she called “Waiting For It.” Her keys created a sweet vibe while the rhythm section played heartily behind her. Bassist Claire Finley controlled the momentum with her smooth flow of bass notes. Drummer Peter Maclean, with a lot of focus on his tom, kept the beat heavily funky and danceable, and he and Finley opened the space for the keyboards and guitar.
Kearney’s voice throughout the night was a soulful belt, and her keyboard playing is a quick, talented mix of styles. She played in a way that makes the keyboard look easy. The music just kept getting better. The second song, “Abandoned” was already a notch better than the first, and the first was powerhouse. Guitarist Carl Johnson, who also operates Carl’s Custom Guitars in Lowell, created funk atmospheres more than soloed in this song. Kearney wrote all of her original material, and she should be a noted composer for keeping all of this funk from becoming a chaotic mess.
Kearney’s voice is an alto register, more husky than raspy, and she likes twisting her voice around challenging melodies. Finley and Johnson were able backing vocalists for Kearney on a bopping piece with stop-start rhythms. Finley started making funny faces and jerky movements to the beat, and, it should be noted, she’s something of a clownish presence, on stage and off, like a female version of Jim Carrey. Add her to your Facebook friend page. She’s a trip.
Kearney is also an able guitarist, stepping down from her keyboard to strap on a six-string while guest Keith Russell played keys on the Lenny Kravitz song “Let Love Rule.” Maclean was a force of nature when JKLO began their second set with Kearney‘s “Bossa Nova Stereo.” He made it happen on his tom with a meaningful thump. Guitarist Johnson ripped into some Latin jazz style melody, his solo exquisite, wringing out lots notes with fierce, fiery precision.
A slow song allowed Kearney to call up a sensual organ vibe from her keys, pausing to let Finley take a bass solo, mellow, smooth, with a lot of control, a lot of low end atmosphere. Kearney played more guitar later on, backed by more low end throb from Finley and tom work from Maclean. It’s the way Kearney plays her melodies in and around what the rhythm section is doing that makes her music come alive. She seems to want to have Finley and Maclean continually raise or lower the bar. From there, she can jump over a high one or limbo under a low one, musically speaking. Kearney started out easy then suddenly began belting out the words to the title track of her latest CD, “Year Of The Ox.” This piece also gave Johnson a chance to play another fine, soulful guitar solo.
A rumba song found Kearney’s organ tuned to a carnival like pitch, and she gave her keys a good workout while the band ratcheted up the chunky rhythms, an ensemble of wild, flight of fancy. Jen Kearney And The Lost Onion are definitely one of the hippest, most happening bands on our greater-Boston music scene. They come in the category of having to be seen to be believed how well they perform.
www.myspace.com/jenkearneythelostonionwww.jenkearney.com
