The Royal Potato Family

Video Premiere: Polyrhythmic pop and abstract beauty in Allison Miller’s “Early Bird”

Allison Miller's Boom Tic Boom: No Morphine, No LiliesAllison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom: No Morphine, No Lilies (The Royal Potato Family, 4/16/13)

She might be best known as the drummer for Natalie Merchant and Ani DiFranco, but Allison Miller is an accomplished artist in her own right, standing out in a crowded NYC jazz scene with her compositions and skills behind the kit. Her sophomore album with Boom Tic Boom — a group that includes pianist Myra Melford, violinist Jenny Scheinman (Bill Frisell), and bassist Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco) — is another such testament.

Marco Benevento

Video Premiere: Marco Benevento’s harpsichord-driven “This Is How It Goes”

Marco Benevento: TigerFaceMarco Benevento: TigerFace (The Royal Potato Family, 9/11/12)

Though still within his melodic, keyboard-driven wheelhouse, the first two tracks on Marco Benevento’s TigerFace might have thrown fans for a loop last year. Featuring warm, poppy vocals from Rubblebucket’s Kalmia Traver, “Limbs of a Pine” and “This Is How It Goes” added a new wrinkle to Benevento’s catalog, showing what he can do with a strong front-woman.

Marco Benevento

Review: Marco Benevento’s TigerFace

Though much of keyboardist Marco Benevento’s new album traverses familiar territory, the opening two tracks will take listeners by surprise, offering playful pop with guest vocalist Kalmia Traver from Rubblebucket.

Garage a Trois

The Groove Seeker: Garage a Trois’ Power Patriot

On a weekly basis, The Groove Seeker goes in search of killer grooves across rock, funk, hip hop, soul, electronic music, jazz, fusion, and more.

Garage a Trois: Power Patriot

Garage a Trois: Power Patriot (The Royal Potato Family, 10/26/09)

Garage a Trois: “Rescue Spreaders”
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Garage a Trois is the improvised groove child of saxophonist Skerik, drummer Stanton Moore, and 8-string guitarist Charlie Hunter.  The trio made a grand debut in 1999 with Mysteryfunk, a raw EP of completely improvised recordings, foregoing interest in post-production effects and multi-tracking.  In 2002, percussionist and vibraphonist Mike Dillon was added to the mix, giving the group a new tonal texture, and the band began rooting its music in powerful repetitions à la Critters Buggin, Skerik and Dillon’s former band. The departure of Hunter in 2007 led to a temporary void that was filled by rotating musicians, most notably John Medeski.  Soon after, jam keyboardist Marco Benevento was chosen to permanently fill Hunter’s place.