Event

Megatron, Direct Suppy

Of all the musical experiments that tumble down the broken staircase of the Bellingham music scene, Megatron is by far one of the most enjoyable, entertaining, and oddly accessible. Led by veteran trumpeter Paul Chandler and flanked by warhorse Julian MacDonough on drums, and newcomer Delvon Dumas on Hammond B-3 Organ, this little trio produces the sound equivalent of a bar fight between Duke Ellingtons Big Band, Twisted Sister, and Parliament Funkadelic.

Tucked back into a corner of the Nightlight Lounge on a Monday night, the trio effortlessly spanned across genres of music, focusing mainly on revamped groovy jazz tunes from the 60s and 70slike Herbie Hancock's "Chameleon"- mashed up with the melody from the Eddie Harris classic "Freedom Jazz Dance". In addition to more funk tunes from Freddie Hubbard and Nigerian Afrobeat from Fela Kuti, the trio slipped easily into the theme from Sesame Street, and even some original tunes by Paul and Delvon.

More than the vintage and quality of the music Megatron produces is the feeling of ease, comfort, and intensity each musician expresses with one another. Julian, a human octopus when he gets behind the drums, triggers the right brain of Delvon which tells his left hand to lay a thick B-3 bass line, triggering his right hand to comp some tasty chords on his old beat-up Clavinova, all the while, Paul squeezes from his horn a fat juicy long sustained note to rival that of any rock gods guitar solo.

People talk and people dance, but there are brief magical moments where everything stops and everyone holds their breath and watches and listens and waits for the releasethe musical punch line. When it arrives everybody knows it, and somewhere deep down inside we all feel lucky to be there and witness it, to be a part of it.

http://www.myspace.com/megatronmusic