photo by dan savage
The Steve Kimock Band with its leader posed second from the left.
Meet Steve Kimock
It’s difficult to pin down what makes a guitar player great. Is it technical expertise, genetic endowment or interminable dedication to the instrument? Clearly one can have all of the above in abundance—yet without that ineffable soul, the “unteachable” feeling that almost magically materializes as an artist’s fingers manipulate the strings, the listener is left with highly accomplished, but dull music.
Steve Kimock of Bethlehem possesses that ineffable soul and combines virtuosity with an affecting touch, unique melodies, poignant phrasing and alert instrumentation that take hungry ears on a unique musical journey. His music soars. So much so, that when Jerry Garcia left this terrestrial plane in 1995, The Grateful Dead recruited Kimock to replace him for the Furthur tour. His relationship with band members remains strong and he still works occasionally with Bob Weir.
Kimock also performed with Bruce Hornsby and a full orchestra at the National Building Museum for the opening of the President’s Cup for President Bill Clinton. Playfully, Hornsby asked Kimock if he wanted to join him and a symphony to perform for the President. Kimock agreed. Then Hornsby told him he wanted him to play cold—with absolutely no rehearsal! He agreed. It is a testament to his poise and improvisational skills that he pulled off this daunting gig triumphantly.
...when Jerry Garcia left this terrestrial plane in 1995, The Grateful Dead recruited Kimock to replace him...
Like many burgeoning musicians in the ’60s, Kimock encountered the songs of The Beatles and that kicked it all off for him. However, it was the deep electric and acoustic roots that run through his family that provided sonic nutrients for his growing interest in the pleasures of sound. His aunt, Dorothy Siftar, was a regular fixture on the Philadelphia folk scene and played with the legendary Pete Seeger and Andy Haas. Family visits to her house were rich musical adventures. Her place was filled with pianos, dulcimers, banjos and gut string guitars. Aunt Dottie would sing international protest songs for the kids amidst this diverse arsenal of instruments. His cousin, Kenny Siftar, was also an accomplished blues guitarist and singer who influenced his development as a musician.
Kimock keenly recalls laying eyes on his Les Paul guitar and falling in love.
At 19, he hooked up with formidable local players Billy and Frank Goodman. They immediately gelled and formed a band. After playing local gigs for a while they moved to California. Over the years, Kimock has traveled the world with his guitar and played with the Rhythm Devils, Rat Dog, Phil Lesh and Friends, and many other bands before returning to the Lehigh Valley with his family in 2002. He continues to create his own soulful genre-defying music and still collaborates with some of the hottest players on the planet.
Kimock is presently making a record with the incredible lineup of Bernie Worell, Andy Haas, Wally Ingram and his son, John Kimock. This release is due to drop in the fall. He continues to play locally and tour internationally.
Go to kimock.com to sample his music and check his current tour schedule. Kimock also recommends his fans check out ATLAS of Plucked Instruments.
Meet Brian Bortz
Brian Bortz is one of the busiest and most versatile jazz musicians in the greater Lehigh Valley area. This inventive bassist has his nimble fingers in an astonishing variety of concurrent musical configurations.
Presently, his primary group is the exceptional 10-piece Philadelphia-based wedding band called The James Gerard Orchestra (they shared the stage with Maroon 5 for Joe Biden’s home state Inaugural Ball at the Washington, DC Convention Center in 2009).
His primary jazz project is the Last Thursday Band (whom you can catch the last Thursday of every month at Historic Hotel Bethlehem). Bortz describes the band as “a fresh take on classic and contemporary jazz, pop and blues.” He also plays in an eight-piece rhythm and blues dance band called The Lehigh Valley Soul Project. Additionally, he is in a Caribbean theme project known as Key Largo...The Band. Somehow, he finds time to play gigs as The Brian Bortz Jazz Group as well, with a shifting lineup of local jazz heads. Weekends, his bass is bouncing as part of the Praise Team at New Covenant Christian Community Church of Bethlehem, providing joyful sounds for a lively congregation.
Bortz’s broad musical sensibility was seeded by the eclectic record collections of his large family in Emmaus. He recalls enjoying his father’s Glenn Miller records as much as his siblings’ Beatles and Uriah Heep recordings. However, Bortz became the sole musician among eight brothers and sisters when he picked up the trumpet at the age of ten.
His sonic life took an unexpected turn while playing his horn in the Emmaus Concert Band. One day, the high school band director, Al Neumeyer, asked if anyone could replace their graduating bass player. Bortz quickly replied, “Yeah, I can!” A week later he purchased his first bass and taught himself how to play over the course of the summer.
...they shared the stage with Maroon 5 for Joe Biden’s home state Inaugural Ball...
After high school he participated in several local bands. Valley concert-goers from the ’80s will remember him as a part of the popular Scott Hot Band. Then he hit the road with a heavily booked Vegas-style group called The Delegation Band, before hooking up with Group du Jour. Over the busy music-saturated years, his gift for playing the bass continues to grow and energize his diverse gigs, as well as his recordings.
Euphonious sparks fly when Bortz jams with other gifted jazz musicians. When navigating the shifting currents of live improvisation, he is never plagued by the shoe-gazing noodling that limits lesser players. He is a patient, generous and intuitive participant in this most unforgiving of sound environments. With alert ears he waits, actively searching the emerging music for the perfect moment to punctuate a percussive blizzard with a quick chunk of funk or dive back in full throttle, advancing the piece in a fresh direction.
Bortz buoyantly says, “Any improvisational music, particularly jazz, is an active conversation. You have the framework, which is the tune, but one person can make a statement that changes the direction of the whole piece—and that’s where the beauty comes in.”
Learn more about Bortz at bortzbass.com and sample his latest work on the CD “Vicki Doney and The Last Thursday Band, Live at the Deer Head.” It features Bortz on six-string fretless bass, Lou Czechowski on keyboards, Paul Wells on drums and Vicki Doney providing her inspired vocal stylings.
