Gasfoot Jackson

A Perfect Union
Written by Dave Davis
Copyright 2005

At first, one might say their sound (think Outlaws with a little bit of the Allman Brothers, Kenny Wayne Shephard and Robert Cray mixed in), and even their song titles for that matter (Bourbon & Whiskey, Straight and Narrow), appear to hail from back roads south of the Mason – Dixon, but Black Moon Groove, a high-energy rock trio consisting of Craig St. Peter, Pete Lombardi and Joe Bogdan, is as removed from Dixie as a Northern Pike; for each member of the band calls Westchester County, New York his home.

Kicking back in my easy chair with cold beer in hand, listening to their self-titled CD with the headphones on, did little justice to the band’s true intensity and “bring it on” approach to rock-and-roll. As I found during a recent Friday night performance at Blaggard’s, a spacious Euro-pub in Midtown Manhattan that frequently showcases local talent, it’s easy to see why this threesome has come together to form “the perfect union.” With the affable St. Peter (a definite throwback to the good ‘ol days when front men donned the black shirt, black jeans, and cowboy boots), showing his tremendous range on lead guitar, Lombardi pounding out powerhouse beats behind his kit, and a steady Bogdan plucking away on bass, each musician comes to the table with his strongest suit and leaves little else behind.

Leading off the single set with back-to-back up-tempo tunes, Music Man and Carve it in Stone (a fast-paced gem, packed with more than one lively solo), the band was quickly out of the gate and never looked back. Rather than playing it safe with some easy-beat favorites or cover tunes, they transitioned into mid-set with the aforementioned Bourbon & Whiskey coupled with Straight and Narrow (one of several songs with real potential for air-time), followed by some super funk jamming on Savor My Ways. Intentionally or not, it brought many of the ladies in the audience out to the dance floor.

Though I’d hoped the trio would finish out the set with my personal favorite, A Perfect Union, I wasn’t disappointed with their choice of the airy Van Halen-esque Things Don’t Seem the Same, and the solid finale Gypsy Queen of Winter.

Wanting to capture more of the inner workings from this formidable threesome, I requested to sit in on one of their rehearsal sessions several weeks later, for which they readily obliged. Upon arrival, I quietly entered the make-shift studio, kicked off my shoes and took refuge on an oversized sofa, situated some 25 feet in front of the band; so far, so good. What unfolded from that point forward, was an experience I can only describe as transformational, and that’s a term I don’t throw around so easily.

One might think that it was my immersion at an upstate holistic center the week prior that had laid the groundwork for such an amazing ride that afternoon. Or possibly the euphoria from landing three new clients the day before had me still walking on the proverbial “cloud nine.” Maybe each of those experiences had a little something to do with my state of mind going in, but as one of my favorite “life” teachers, Ekhart Tolle, wrote in his book, The Power of Now, “As soon as you honor the present moment, all unhappiness and struggle dissolve, and life begins to flow with joy and ease.”

Observing the effort that each member put forward in nailing down his own “piece of the pie” was evident from the first five minutes to the last. No one could possibly mail it in with these three guys. The camaraderie, the trust in each other’s natural talent and abilities was so apparent, that it left little room for interpretation. Even when Lombardi lost complete use of his bass drum pedal with twenty minutes left in the five hour session, when many musicians might have called it a day, he improvised by leaning forward, sweat dripping profusely from his forehead, and began beating the oversized cylinder with one of his sticks, incredibly, never missing a beat. If that’s not the epitome of dedication, I don’t know what is.

As a writer, I felt particularly honored to witness the creation of what I thought was a brand new song. Though I was told later on that it was a re-hash of something thrown together years ago, to watch it re-surface rather serendipitously from the depths of the circular file with a new lease on life, was simply apropos for that magical afternoon.

Is BMG the next Coldplay or Train to hit the airwaves and sell millions of CD’s? I doubt it. But in a time when most bands are playing it safe by choosing a path with few diversions, Black Moon Groove is blazing their own trail of classic southern rock ramble with a metro-funk bounce, and like the band itself, it’s proving to be the perfect union.

- Dave Davis