Townhall - Live at the Point

Name: Townhall
Album: Live at the Point
Year: 2001
Style: Jam Band, Jazzy Blue Grass
Similar Bands: Rusted Root, Phish, The Band, String Cheese Incident, Jamiroquai
"One-Word" Review: New Orleans Grifting Band
Based Out Of: Philadelphia
Label: Townhall Music, self-released

Cover, Back, Liner Notes

CDS, CD trays, Inner Fold Out Notes

Live at the Point (2001)

1. In The Morning 4:57
2. Simple Boy 5:15
3. Miss Saturday Night 4:02
4. Don't You Just 11:06
5. Chevy 3:41
6. So Far 7:12
7. Kudzu Killer 3:54
8. Supposed to Be 4:52
9. Bullet Proof 7:03
10. (1) Confusion 5:17
11. (2) These Days 6:23 
12. (3) Devil Girl 3:15
13. (4) Mamma 4:27
14. (5) No Reason 6:12
15. (6) Losin' My Mind 8:21
16. (7) Half Past Gone 13:32
17. (8) Looking Up 5:21
18. (9) Should Have Known 5:04

Album Rating (1-10): 5.5

Members & Other Bands:

• George Stanford - Vox, Trombone, Guitar, Bass, Percussion (Kalan Porter, Scrappy Hamilton, Josh Komorowski, East Hundred, Jonas Brothers, Parachute, Andy Clockwise, Kara Grainger)
• Mark Smidt - Trumpet, Percussion, Bass, Flute, Guitar, Vox, Chromatic, Harmonica (Scrappy Hamilton, Josh Komorowski, Holly Conlan, Jessie James, Mike Posner, Beardo)
• Tim Sonnefeld - Bass, Guitar, Vox, Percussion, Dobro, Banjo, Melodica (Gang, The Big Kids, Amos Lee, Josh Komorowski, Seth Kallen & the Reaction, Fat Daddy Has Been, Up the Chain, The Prisoner, Ben Smith) 
• Kevin Pride - Drums (Up the Chain)
• Nate Skiles - Vox, Bass, Guitar, Bass, Percussion, Trumpet, Clarinet (Amos Lee)
• Gordon Rice - Recording, Mixing
• Stuart Nelson - Live Sound
• Paul Elliot - Mastering
• Michael Comstock - Mastering
• Derek Dorsey - Mgmt
• Carolyn Ballen - Marketing, Operations
• Artist Group Int'l - Booking

Unknown-ness: Never heard of this band, and this recording was done at the Point, which is a now defunct small club in the Philly suburbs. The album is a 2 disc set, consisting of two different sets performed on 6/30/01. From the name, and the blurry picture on the back, i'm leaning toward Jam Band or alt-country as their style, but there is a flautist involved, so maybe more toward jammy.

Album Review: And yes, while this band tends to have some elongated jazzy sections with 11-13 minute songs, and a nasally grating jam band voice for most of the songs, there is enough jazzy brass to often feel like a New Orleans street band. Their style is not restrained to funk, jam, jazz or pop. they blend the styles into a jammy roots style of song, and the University of Arts students feel like musicians' musicians. The sound is big for the Point, a venue I've been to & the audience seems to be quite into them.

This was their first album in their five year stint, followed by two studio albums. Their second album was an unwelcome departure, as Skiles left the band, and a keyboard player came in, which pushed the band away from brass to synth elements in their music. But they reverted back to brass and jazz for their final live shows.

Stand Out Track: Miss Saturday Night 

Links:
Wiki - Stanford

Discogs

Allmusic

The Studio Philly

The Band

Jambands

George Stanford site