(updated on 10/20/11 for Chicago additions)

Longtime readers already know that I’ve got a sweet spot in my heart (er, ears) for Steve Kimock. That’s especially true when Steve — in one of his many and varied musical projects — links up with funky-ass bassman, Bobby Vega. I documented one of my favorite Kimock & Vega projects a while back with a podcast called KVHW ‘Down in the Wetlands’, touting some of my favorite cuts from KVHW (Kimock, Vega, Hurtz, and White) shows from the late 90s (which I highly recommend checking out if you’re at all interested in Kimock’s sound). Unfortunately, after that project disbanded around 2000-2001, catching Steve with Bobby on bass duties became a bit of a rarity…especially out here on the East Coast.

So you can imagine how stoked I was to hear the news that Steve will be reuniting with Bobby and a few other interesting friends for some shows this fall in Denver, Cali, Chicago and Brooklyn. Here are all the deets…

Steve Kimock & Friends
w/ Melvin Seals, Bobby Vega and Wally Ingram
& with special guests Imagine, featuring Ray White
Fri. Oct 21, Sat. Oct 22, & Sun. Oct 23
Quixote’s True Blue
Denver, CO

Steve Kimock & Friends
featuring Bobby Vega, Wally Ingram and Eric levy
Sun. Oct 30
Humboldt Brews
Arcata, CA

Steve Kimock & Friends
w/ Bobby Vega, Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram & special guests
Fri. Nov 04 & Sat Nov 5
Brooklyn Bowl
Brooklyn, NY

JUST ADDED:
Steve Kimock & Friends
w/ Bobby Vega, Bernie Worrell, Wally Ingram
Fri. Dec 16 & Sat Dec 17
Martyr’s
Chicago, IL

It’ll be interesting to see who those “special guests” are out here in Brooklyn. This past March, I caught Steve’s last “SK & Friends” show where he played with Marco Benevento, Marc Friedman, and Adam Deitch at Sullivan Hall, and they hit on some killer exploration and improv. So, here’s hoping a few of those guys can make it out for a sit-in at Brooklyn Bowl to keep that musical conversation going — just thinking about a drum & bass duo of Adam Deitch and Bobby Vega makes me want to bust out some James Brown moves! Whether or not any of those guys make it out, this line-up is bound to put on an interesting improv display, especially with Bernie Worrell on keys, who I’d consider the “wild card” in the lineup.

But the true bottom line is that Kimock and Vega are back in NYC playing at another Pete Shapiro-owned music venue…so this is bound to get a bit reminiscent of the good old days “Down in the Wetlands.”