Yesterday (Friday afternoon) I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across this amazing picture of a desert. It was Green Tea Ice cream with blueberries and I love Blueberries. Your probably thinking "ok what does this have to do with this music article?" well hold on okay, this is how I got there. The instagram post was from the Uxlocale. The day before that, a freind that plays there often was there with her family. So latter in the day when it was time for supper, I surprised a friend of mine to go out for dinner. I was thinking of a place but then I thought about the Uxlocal because of the instagrams I've seen (I've been there before) and I was in the mood for live music. My phone was dead so I could not look up to see who was playing, I just went on a prayer.
So we arrived, there was a sign at the entrance $5.00 tip suggested for live music. Great! I asked the hostess at the entrance who it was. She only knew that is was jazz. That is a bit of a pet peeve of mine when the staff is not informed but lets not go there, I am just happy that this place is one of the first to open back up with live music and the Uxlocale has been supporting live music since they've opened the doors.
So the band starts to arrive and I was sitting about 100' away and I'm like "Is that Carlos Oderia? He has a band now?" I was excited to hear them play from that point forward I knew we were in for a treat. I've covered Carlos before in an article but now he also performs in this band. WOW! You know being a guitar player myself, when you hear someone at this level of playing (an I'm no slouch on the guitar myslef) you really aprreciate it. My ears perk up like coyote and I sit up straight, sometimes a tear beacuase I am so happy for them (did I say that?) and I know other's appreciate it to because of the cheers they receive at the end of the song. They are all great players and give each other space in the songs, the drummer did not overplay and the bass player was in the pocket. The horn player contributed with nice melodic fill ins during breaks and he also did not over play. Carlos though being the guitar virtuoso that he is really shined on various songs and both rythm wise and in his solos. He has incredible chord comping and muting skills and of course his solos are always a meldic treat to the ears. The bass payer surprised me to as he broke out several times with solo work. I always love to hear a band where the talented members get their own time to share the spotlight. It makes it incredibly easy for a live music fan to appreciate the band as a whole.
Find Carlos Odria on Instagram here: