The ongoing collaboration between Jerry Harrison, Adrian Belew, and seven members of the now-defunct band Turkuaz entered its next chapter on Thursday with the opening of the Remain In Light tour featuring Cool Cool Cool. The lengthy tour set to run through late June kicked off last night at The Ogden Theatre in Denver.
The artistic relationship began back in 2021 when then-active Turkuaz began a run of Remain In Light 40th anniversary shows with the former Talking Heads. After playing lauded tribute sets at The Peach Music Festival, FloydFest, and more, things hit a rough patch when seven of nine members of Turkuaz announced their departure in the fall of 2021.
Fast forward some 15 months later, and guitarist/keyboardist Craig Brodhead, trumpeter/keyboardist Chris Brouwers, drummer Mikey Carubba, vocalist Shira Elias, vocalist Sammi Garett, saxophonist Greg Sanderson, and saxophonist/vocalist Josh Schwartz have a new band, Cool Cool Cool. Armed with some choice covers and a growing cache of original material from its individual members—particularly vocalists Shira and Sammi—the musicians have since reconnected with Jerry and Adrian, picking up where they left off in celebration of Talking Heads’ landmark 1980 LP.
Cool Cool Cool opened the show with what is becoming its solidified setlist, seen at previous outings including Brooklyn Comes Alive (the band’s debut) and North Beach Music Festival. Featuring a mix of contemporary covers from artists like Swatkins and Xavier Lynn alongside originals by Sammi and Shira, the concise setlist showcases the band members’ new, “aggressively democratic,” direction.
Related: Turkuaz Is Dead, Long Live Turkuaz [Interview]
Following Cool Cool Cool’s set, the band joined Jerry, Adrian, bassist Julie Slick (who also performed with Cool Cool Cool), and percussionist Yahuba Garcia-Torres. The set is ostensibly a Remain In Light tribute, bouncing around the new wave classic, but also touches on other seminal Taking Heads albums More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Speaking in Tongues.
The showcase also allowed for diversions into Jerry and Adrian’s other works, with Harrison’s solo track “Rev It Up” and a song from Belew’s other band, King Crimson, “Thela Hun Ginjeet”. The latter track off 1981’s Discipline was, perhaps not uncoincidentally, a cover favorite of Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade who will co-headline a number of shows with the Remain In Light tour this summer.
Check out a gallery of images from Cool Cool Cool and Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew’s tribute to Remain In Light at the Ogden Theatre courtesy of photographer David Tracer. Tickets and a full list of tour dates are available here.
Jerry Harrison & Adrian Belew Remain In Light – The Ogden Theatre – Denver, CO – 2/16/23 – Full Audio
[Audio: zeegrizzle]
