11/6 The Mouse That Roared

The mighty squeak of Eek A Mouse

I heard a little while back that Yoshi’s was expanding their musical programing beyond traditional jazz and in the last few months I’ve seen an increase in R&B, blues and soul acts.  Making a living in the jazz world is tough enough and with 2 jazz clubs and a looming recession, it looks like the owners had to get business minded and diversify that musical portfolio.

And they’re actually doing a good job with the lineup-Amel Larrieux, Vieux Farka Toure and Bilal in the last few weeks with D’wayne Wiggins and Eric Benet in the next few.  Change is good, change is inevitable, but sometimes change just leaves you scratching your head.

Like tonight’s show.  Eek A Mouse? At a jazz club?

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a fan of Mouse since I was a senior in high school and he was the only authentic reggae musician that would bother to make a stop in Riddim starved Virginia.  I’ve loved his strangeness from the beginning-his nasal voice, mixture of singjay/chatting, and slightly off kilter style won me over from the start, so much that it was easy to overlook dude’s penchant for tight mesh tank tops and cowboy hats.

They’re clearing out the tables tonight so fans can come out and skank and wine ’til their hearts content. Personally I hope this show goes over well, it’d be great to have a venue in the area to see top tier reggae and roots acts along with some of the newer soul artists.  But I have to draw the line somewhere.  Once they start booking country and western acts, it’s over.-kwan