Strolled down Gibbs to Urban Transit's funky thunder rolling outta the big tent. These cats lean heavy on the Steely Dan (anybody know where they got that name?), or smooth and funky jams in that vein. I could go for a bit more grit and guitarist Adam Bradley looks like the guy to deliver it as the band gets more and more dialed in.

I don't know what it is with the Kilbourn shows so far, but everyone I've seen there seems inclined to peel back the layers real slow. I mean, I ain't complaining, I'm just saying... The Fred Hersch Trio did just that, with Hersch's piano revealing the melody even as it seemingly buried it in improve. The trio's escalating complication proved to be a beautiful simplification, if that makes any sense. Kinda like doing a Rubik's Cube in reverse.

Lalo vibed Max with a cool noir air despite the burning daylight. The vibraphone has always been the slink of villains, the strut of harlots, the pachuco's swagger, and the derelict's stagger. However, guitarist Jack West worked his eight-string guitar percussively with thumps and chops, along with cool accents that slid off with a slide just shy of being blue. This again may have taken from the black and white cinemascape I wallow in, but it was beautiful nonetheless.