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Photos: Pogues at House of Blues

Live Reviews

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You have to give Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet an A for deportment. Not because they’re well behaved, but because they behave well. That is, they behave like a real band, not a backing group with star soloist but a group guided by collective will and the inner logic of its own little stage rituals. At the Regattabar a week ago Wednesday, the Seattle band walked on stage with Skerik already blowing the a cappella tenor introduction to their opening number while the rest of the horns gathered randomly behind him, spread out across the stage, and chimed in with bits of counterpoint. With a lift of his horn, Skerik cued the ensemble to join him on a climactic unison chord, and they gradually arranged themselves in a straight line in front of the microphones. They flirted with a minor key, shifted to major, organ and drums joined them in a vamp (there is no bass but for organist Joe Doria’s pedals), and a full-fledged unison theme emerged in a tune that suggested Zawinul-“Moanin’ ” soul jazz. Alto Hans Teuber took a solo while Skerik, clarinettist Craig Flory, and trumpeter Dave Carter convened in a little semicircle to play choral backing.

Tunes segued without pause. Trombonist Steve Moore occasionally sat down to play piano, and so did Teuber, who also doubled on flute. And Flory happens to be a dandy baritone player. After the 90-minute show, when I asked for a set list, Teuber told me they didn’t use one — that they’d tried using them and it just didn’t work. Neither, he told me, is there any “subbing” in the band. If one member can’t make the gig, they don’t do it. The Taints lived up to their most recent Hyena release, Husky, equal parts funk grooves, tricky horn parts, shapely melodies, and loose improvisations. The only thing lacking was a truly burning solo. Wild as a group, the Taints are understated soloists. That said, I’d go back to see them again in a minute.