David Kolker is an energetic, yet nuanced player who can reel off mind-blowing solos and deliver gutsy heart-felt vocals. He trades soul-bending licks with whirl-wind alto saxophonist Isamo Sato while Paul LeFebvre interlaces wiry melodic counterpoints with his Stratocaster or lays down thick rich chromatic carpets of chords with his leslie-drenched guitar and pedal steel. Driving it al is the inspired bass playing of Time Luntzell and the slippery/pliant/subtle/urbane drumming/drum stylings of Tony Mason.
Kolker has been playing to a full house of in-the-know musicians and music-lovers every Tuesday night from 10 to 2 at the Baggott Inn on East Third Street for the past two years. Like veteran drummer Bernard ¡°Pretty¡± Purdie who said ¡°Man, I an hooked on what is going on here and I¡¯m coming back for more,¡± after seeing Kolker¡¯s dynamic live performance for the first time, may of the people who hear them once come back week after week/ make Tuesday night 10 to 2 the centerpiece of their music-listening schedules.
DAVID KOLKER PRESS
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2001
David Kolker, Melvin Spark, Mike Errico,
Mercury Lounge, 217 Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, lower east side, (212) 260-4700. David Kolker is a hot young Blues striver who has been generating buzz ever Tuesday at the Baggott Inn in the East Village. One night he was lobbing solos, and in walked the esteemed soul-jazz pioneer Melvin Sparks. A friendly guitar duel ensued. Since then the two have combined forces (with their band in tow) on a few occasions, much to the excitement of lovers of a good jam. It is unclear why the energetic but urbane singer-songwriter Mike Errico is on this bill ©¤ he¡¯s not really a jamming guy ©¤but he¡¯ll certainly be high-energy for the occasion. Tonight at 8:30; tickets are $10 (Powers).
THE VILLAGE VOICE
REGULARS
By Irene Yadao
August 28 September 3, 2002
¡°You¡¯d never peg Dave Kolker as a blues guitarist. After all, the prototypical blues man¡¯s got a laid-back charisma that¡¯s at once unaffected and cocky fedora slightly tipped on the head, cigarette ensconced between loosely pursed lips, white long-sleeve shirt worn halfway unbuttoned to reveal a chest of sweat, and glass of Dewar¡¯s sitting obediently at stage¡¯s edge.
Kolker is, if anything, the anti-rock star. Bespectacled, short, and muscular, he initially strikes you as an uncanny cross between Rick Moranis and Rivers Cuomo, though he belies the clumsy persona of the former and the lankiness of the latter. He looks as if he works for an investment bank because he does.
But then he steps onstage, introduces himself with a couple of new songs he¡¯s been working on, and suddenly all of the superficial attributes that made him so endearingly normal are swept under the rug. He is transformed into something almost, well, godlike, and you can¡¯t help but wonder how he lives this other existence soaring thought numbers.
Kolker's been playing the guitar since he was five, and his fingers used to pushing his glasses in place©¤know every inch of the instrument, moving perternaturally over the late-¡®50s Stratocaster he often plays with. His mid-blowing solos©¤perhaps the definitive demonstration of his visrtuosity©¤find him possessed by something remarkable.
Lucky for him ©¤and for us he¡¯s got equally remarkable musicians by his side: saxophonist Isamu Sato, a slender, diminutive man who manages to take hurried drags of his cigarette before taking his turn in follow the jumping backbeats of his bass; relative newbie drummer Tony Mason; and Paul LeFebvre, undeniably, undeniably the most reserved of the group, who sets the imperative tone of each song with his pedal steel guitar.¡±
Check out the artist's website:
http://davidkolker.com
Track List:
1. Beautiful
2. Mean World
3. I Had a Dream
4. Penny Song
5. The Hurt
6. You Say
7. What's Yours Is Yours
8. Two Side of the Same Coin
9. Another Way to Fly
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
Kolker has been playing to a full house of in-the-know musicians and music-lovers every Tuesday night from 10 to 2 at the Baggott Inn on East Third Street for the past two years. Like veteran drummer Bernard ¡°Pretty¡± Purdie who said ¡°Man, I an hooked on what is going on here and I¡¯m coming back for more,¡± after seeing Kolker¡¯s dynamic live performance for the first time, may of the people who hear them once come back week after week/ make Tuesday night 10 to 2 the centerpiece of their music-listening schedules.
DAVID KOLKER PRESS
THE NEW YORK TIMES, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2001
David Kolker, Melvin Spark, Mike Errico,
Mercury Lounge, 217 Houston Street, at Ludlow Street, lower east side, (212) 260-4700. David Kolker is a hot young Blues striver who has been generating buzz ever Tuesday at the Baggott Inn in the East Village. One night he was lobbing solos, and in walked the esteemed soul-jazz pioneer Melvin Sparks. A friendly guitar duel ensued. Since then the two have combined forces (with their band in tow) on a few occasions, much to the excitement of lovers of a good jam. It is unclear why the energetic but urbane singer-songwriter Mike Errico is on this bill ©¤ he¡¯s not really a jamming guy ©¤but he¡¯ll certainly be high-energy for the occasion. Tonight at 8:30; tickets are $10 (Powers).
THE VILLAGE VOICE
REGULARS
By Irene Yadao
August 28 September 3, 2002
¡°You¡¯d never peg Dave Kolker as a blues guitarist. After all, the prototypical blues man¡¯s got a laid-back charisma that¡¯s at once unaffected and cocky fedora slightly tipped on the head, cigarette ensconced between loosely pursed lips, white long-sleeve shirt worn halfway unbuttoned to reveal a chest of sweat, and glass of Dewar¡¯s sitting obediently at stage¡¯s edge.
Kolker is, if anything, the anti-rock star. Bespectacled, short, and muscular, he initially strikes you as an uncanny cross between Rick Moranis and Rivers Cuomo, though he belies the clumsy persona of the former and the lankiness of the latter. He looks as if he works for an investment bank because he does.
But then he steps onstage, introduces himself with a couple of new songs he¡¯s been working on, and suddenly all of the superficial attributes that made him so endearingly normal are swept under the rug. He is transformed into something almost, well, godlike, and you can¡¯t help but wonder how he lives this other existence soaring thought numbers.
Kolker's been playing the guitar since he was five, and his fingers used to pushing his glasses in place©¤know every inch of the instrument, moving perternaturally over the late-¡®50s Stratocaster he often plays with. His mid-blowing solos©¤perhaps the definitive demonstration of his visrtuosity©¤find him possessed by something remarkable.
Lucky for him ©¤and for us he¡¯s got equally remarkable musicians by his side: saxophonist Isamu Sato, a slender, diminutive man who manages to take hurried drags of his cigarette before taking his turn in follow the jumping backbeats of his bass; relative newbie drummer Tony Mason; and Paul LeFebvre, undeniably, undeniably the most reserved of the group, who sets the imperative tone of each song with his pedal steel guitar.¡±
Check out the artist's website:
http://davidkolker.com
Track List:
1. Beautiful
2. Mean World
3. I Had a Dream
4. Penny Song
5. The Hurt
6. You Say
7. What's Yours Is Yours
8. Two Side of the Same Coin
9. Another Way to Fly
Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
- ROCK: Roots Rock
- BLUES: Funky Blues
- FEATURING GUITAR