With songwriters from Bela Fleck to Richard Buckner using loops for bigger onstage sounds, it's no surprise that self-described "Afrograss folk-rock" impresario
Arthur Lee Land (one man's name, not a territory in
Lord of the Rings Risk) uses layers of loopage to lift and separate. Visually, Land's shows are like watching a mischievous soundman fiddling with the band's stuff onstage. The aural effect, though, is like hearing the ghosts of Fela Kuti and Jerry Garcia channel wry, groove-driven jams from beyond the grave. After three songs, you realize (1) it's Boulder, Colorado's (duh!) Land doing all that, and (2) all those bass and talking drum and guitar styles, from Jerry to Afro-pop to fluid Wes Montgomery runs, sound pretty damn good.
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