Mark Lettieri - Out by Midnight- Live at the Iridium (2023) [Official Digital Download]

In guitar lingo, a dazzling sequence of notes is often referred to as a “lick.” While for most musicians weaving their lives across a six-string loom, that term might feel idiomatic at best, one can’t help but take it literally in the hands of Mark Lettieri. This isn’t to say the instrument becomes something else entirely by force of sonic transubstantiation—rather, that his music is, quite simply, all about flavor. And in this massive 14-track collection, recorded live over the first two nights of March 2023 at the legendary Iridium, Lettieri and his eponymous band activate a tongue’s worth of taste buds in the very space graced by so many of his heroes. Joined by longtime cohorts Jason “JT” Thomas (drums) and Wes Stephenson (bass), alongside fresher recruit Daniel Porter (keyboards), he associates a chain of original tunes. Featuring nods to six of his seven albums as leader, he labors for these moments shared with his bandmates—and us, by fortunate extension.

While there’s plenty to sink one’s teeth into, few tracks are as meaty as Catboy. This groovy morsel is a masterclass in atmosphere, of which we get a substantial variety that is airy enough to let us pass through unscratched. If anything, this is Lettieri’s modus operandi: surrounding us with hooks to hold on to without so much as a burr in our socks to show for it by journey’s end. Like Big Duck and Little Minx, both newly revived for his live repertoire, this tune gives Lettieri plenty of room to roam the ever-expanding landscape of his fretboard with superior textural authority, at once extroverted and controlled.

TRACKLIST

1. Mark Lettieri - Extraspecial (Live at the Iridium)
2. Mark Lettieri - Big Duck (Live at the Iridium)
3. Mark Lettieri - Futurefun (Live at the Iridium)
4. Mark Lettieri - Lotus (Live at the Iridium)
5. Mark Lettieri - Catboy (Live at the Iridium)
6. Mark Lettieri - Summer Salt (Live at the Iridium)
7. Mark Lettieri - Point Iz (Live at the Iridium)
8. Mark Lettieri - Little Minx (Live at the Iridium)
9. Mark Lettieri - Seuss Pants (Live at the Iridium)
10. Mark Lettieri - Voyager One (Live at the Iridium)
11. Mark Lettieri - Gigantactis (Live at the Iridium)
12. Mark Lettieri - Supernova (Live at the Iridium)
13. Mark Lettieri - Spark and Echo (Live at the Iridium)
14. Mark Lettieri - Naptime (Live at the Iridium)



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