RECAP / PHOTOS: Stanton Moore, Wil Blades & Leo Nocentelli @ The Mint LA 7/3/13

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Stanton Moore kicked off his 3rd summer residency at the The Mint (aka, “the best little club pound-for-pound” per Leo Nocentelli from deep in the second set) on Wednesday night alongside the aforementioned Meter Man and Bay Area-bred Wil Blades. Set One covered much of the groove-heavy-soul-jazz-funk of his un-Galaticfied releases (including 2010’s Groove Alchemy) in tandem with Blades, a keyboardist and frequent collaborator, even touching on MJ’s “The Way You Make Me Feel”.

The two players could easily have been four and Moore offered up an instructional segment with solos that played like a band. Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli joined for the second set. Blazing through a few Meters favorites including a rendition that turned “Cissy Strut” on its ear (in 11/8 time signature) and “Hey Pocky Way” into a prolonged blues jam. Drummers in the house were drooling and the perennial give back of pre-show clinics will no doubt have them returning for more Moore as this summer tradition continues the next four Wednesdays. Lucky for us Angelinos, it’s damn hot in NOLA in July and this drummer’s escape from the heat is a big gain for Mint, which “continues to step up in its weight class.”