Les Claypool Breaks Out the Whamola in New York

The spirit of Frank Zappa appeared to hover in the room during Les Claypool's Tuesday night show at New York's Brooklyn Bowl. Various t-shirts with the experimental music icon's likeness on them would appear among the crowd and then promptly yet quietly disappear as if the ghostly specter of great jams past were in attendance.

Fans of Claypool's various and prodigious musical outlets -- Primus, the Frog Brigade, Holy Mackerel and Oysterhead -- know that it's all about "the jam," those precious few minutes when time seems to stop, the band hits a groove and "the moment" takes over. It can reach heights of absurdity, brilliance, beauty, harshness and levity or -- more often than not with Claypool -- all of the above at the same time. Last night's gig was no exception.

The show got off to a bit of a fitful start early in the set when Claypool stopped mid-song to chastise someone he deemed "Mr. Bald-Headed Guy" for "dancing too close to the lovely ladies behind you" and ruining their enjoyment of the show. After repeated attempts at gaining the man's attention and pointedly calling him out, Claypool admonished him mercilessly and then proceeded to jam away as if nothing had happened. It was an amusing reminder that not much goes unnoticed by the bassist, and he takes his music very seriously. And, it's that professionalism, tenacity and love of music that shines through in the end.

Claypool and the band -- Mike Dillon on percussion and vibraphone and drummer Paulo Baldi -- hit their stride during an amazing extended dual drum solo which segued nicely into a full-out blissful jam session and a fun version of 'Bonneville Stomp.' After Baldi and Dillon set the upbeat rhythmic tone, Claypool walked back onstage wearing his ubiquitous monkey mask and carrying a whamola -- a homemade standup bass with whammy bar -- and promptly began to set the room on fire. Claypool's mastery of the whamola is a sight to behold -- he reaches into the cornucopia of sounds and pulls out all kinds of things. One moment it sounded like a Jimi Hendrix solo, the next a Yo Yo Ma cello, then a Moog synthesizer. It was an extraordinary trip into the depths of musical experimentation at its best.

Frank Zappa would be proud.