Anders Osborne roared into Brooklyn ahead of the holidays and brought his loyal fans the gift of two nights of brilliant tunes at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City. And Anders wasn’t alone—on this “Santa Con” Saturday, he had elvish help in the form of the estimable Jackie Greene with his usual good vibes and great chops on keyboards, guitar, harmonica and vocals; Carl Dufresne on bass and vocals; and percussion master Brady Blade on drums.
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Swedish-born Osborne has for many years made New Orleans his home base, and the city’s cultural gumbo jumps out of his music. His Brooklyn set’s spicy originals and well-chosen covers were all stretched out with tasty jams and had the Bowl audience dancing from the get-go. The ingredients in Osborne’s delicious musical stew ranged from “Voodoo Chile” vamps to Crazy Horse two-chord ferocity, frequently plugged in with an “Iko Iko” vibe borrowed from Dr. John and The Meters. Vocally, Osborne delivers his excellent tunes with a smooth tenor drawn from Van Morrison and Lowell George.
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The band had the joint jumping all night, opening with “Had My Reasons” and “Ya Ya Nation” before moving into familiar jam band territory with a lively “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad.” Osborne originals included “Echoes of My Sins”, “Born to Die Together”, and “Life Don’t Last That Long”. However, it was on Lee Dorsey’s classic “Everything I Do Gohn Be Funky (From Now On)” when the great Brian Blade began to assert himself and, along with bassist Dufresne, took the set deep into Nawlins-style funk groove and did not look back. Jackie Greene and Blade joined forces for a bouncy cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Fire On The Mountain,” with opening act Jamie McLane joining in the fun. Closing out the set was Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” with the band collectively slam-dunking the jam.
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Anders Osborne has been writing tunes for more than three decades. At 51, his music is a gift that keeps on giving. Long may he run. You can check out photos from the holiday extravaganza below, courtesy of photographer Lou Montesano.
