Harry Manx and Michael Kaeshammer are on tour together. One is the “essential link” between Indian classical music and Mississippi blues (and a big favorite of mine), the other is a boy-wonder jazz pianist. It seemed like an unlikely pairing but it worked very well.
Each played a short set of on their own, and then after intermission they played a set together.
I can’t say enough good things about Harry Manx. His CDs are great but they are nothing compared to hearing him live. I had goosebumps through his whole set, and the crowd response to his songs was huge. You can hear some samples at his website.
I hadn’t heard Michale Kaeshammer before. He’s quite an energetic piano player, and he did a lot of baning on / reaching inside the piano in the course of his set. He also played “with one hand behind his back” a bit – reaching behind him to play some notes on an electric keyboard set up behind his grand piano.
The first thing you realize when these two are on stage together is that they both have the same sense of humor: lame jokes mixed with the absurd.
Michael: “We traced my great-grandfather all the way back to Marie Antoinette. In fact, my great-grandmother traced him there several times.”
Harry: “I think I’m getting a call” *removes shoe, places it to his ear*.
And on and on in that vein.
Their combined set was very good, with a lot of interplay between them. They mostly did Harry’s blues songs with Michael accompanying, but he took the lead on a couple as well. Wonderful show, my only complaint was that it seemed a little short.