On Saturday, October 3rd, members of fan-favorite funk outfits Lettuce and The Motet teamed up for a special collaboration at Democracy Comes Alive, a one-day, nonpartisan virtual music festival aimed at channeling the power of music to make a critical impact on civic engagement in this November’s elections and beyond. Lettuce’s Adam “Shmeeans” Smirnoff (guitar) and Adam Deitch (drums) linked up with The Motet’s Garrett Sayers (bass) and Joey Porter (keys) in Colorado for a take on Weather Report‘s jazz fusion classic, “Teen Town”.
The mere mention of “Teen Town” evokes images of the late, great bassist Jaco Pastorius, who wrote the song for Weather Report’s 1977 LP, Heavy Weather, and played both bass and drums on the track. Despite the challenge of covering one of the greatest players in history, Sayers and Deitch rose to the occasion, providing continuous opportunities for Joe Zawinul-style interplay from Porter. Though Wayne Shorter‘s soprano sax parts were not represented in this quartet formation, Smirnoff expertly filled the space with his rhythmic guitar shuffle and mirrored lead melodies.
Watch members of Lettuce and The Motet take on “Teen Town” at Democracy Comes Alive below, recorded by Colin McKinley/Alpine Music Photo. If you enjoyed the performance and have the means, consider making a donation to HeadCount and the Democracy Comes Alive artists via DemocracyComesAlive.com.
Lettuce x The Motet Members – “Teen Town” (Weather Report) – Democracy Comes Alive
These players have all been staples of Live For Live Music’s virtual music festivals throughout the year, contributing performances to Quarantine Comes Alive and Justice Comes Alive as well as Democracy Comes Alive.
This Lettuce/Motet crossover joined 50+ performers and 10+ other speakers as part of Democracy Comes Alive, presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with voter registration nonprofit HeadCount. The 10-hour streaming event, powered by Nugs.TV and Plus 1, generated $40,000 and counting in funds for HeadCount as well as the participating artists, who remain out of work as the pandemic continues. In addition to the funds generated, Democracy Comes Alive led thousands of people to HeadCount’s tools to check your voter registration status and register to vote. For more information, head here.
The post Lettuce & The Motet Members Interpret Jaco Pastorius With “Teen Town” At Democracy Comes Alive [Watch] appeared first on L4LM.
