Garage a Trois

Musical gumbo with a hint of funk

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By Morgan Mitchener

"Jazz Magic" is what Garage a Trois conjures up together when performing. The band has just released its newest album, Power Patriot, so it's hot off the press and ready to entrance you in its musical brilliance.

Powerful and funky, these groovers' hail from New Orleans and mix smooth jazz sounds with upbeat drum playing that simultaneously master harmony and technique.

Garage a Trois will grace Chealsea's, Fri. Nov. 20 at 10 p.m. and this is one concert that you should definitely not miss.

Band members include: Mike Dillon (percussion and vibraphone), Stanton Moore (drums and polyrhythm's), Skerik (saxophonist) and Marco Benevento (keys and organ).

In an interview with Tiger Weekly, Dillon said, "We all collaborate when writing songs and that's why our sound is so distinctive; because we are all so different."

Elaborating on that statement, Dillon further described the band's members and said a little something about each person that most followers don't know about them.

For instance, Skerik is crazy. He apparently had a phase where he - like a caveman - only grunted. He's into heavy metal and non-fiction books. Moore is a gangsta drummer and some mistake him for Buddy Holly. Benevento is now the happiest guy on the planet thanks to the birth of his second child. And Dillon added about himself, that his nickname is "D-dawg" because he loves dogs so much and makes it a point to mention and name after a dog a song on every album.

As for the "jazz magic" that happens before each performance, and that is carried onto the stage, Dillon said that the band must activate its "third eye," which some people may think has to do with astrological signs, but he revealed that its all about the mind; it's a spiritual place and when you activate it, you can make great music.

Dillon said that it's Benevento's job to access this tedious task. He said Benevento, "Gets in a trance. It's like he is on another planet." Dillon continued saying that Benevento stays in that trance throughout the performance and lures in the rest of the members to join in his diabolic mind state.

Dillon said that Moore and Benevento on stage have, "swordfights similar to a Jedi mind trick, where they use their guitars as instruments to fight."

Fighting instruments seem to create a quality and talented sound that can't be beat for the band. Garage a Trois will fill your ears with a mystical sound that will get you hooked.

To hear more about the band, go to the band's Web site at www.garageatrois.net. There, you can hear tracks from this prog rock and instrumental wonder of a band before checking them out at Chelsea's on Friday night.

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

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