Classic, Poignant Rocksteady Sounds and More Uptown Saturday Night

Silvana up on 116th Street is not a place for listening. It’s a Columbia hangout, a place for those who can afford an Ivy League education without benefit of a scholarship. But with the precipitous decline of Manhattan nightlife, it’s become a magnet for a lot of good bands, especially from out of town, who don’t buy Facebook likes and “friends” to satisfy the bean counters who are booking more and more of what’s left of the borough’s music venues. Though the segues between bands uptown tomorrow, Dec 16 characteristically make no sense at all, it could be a fun night if you can get close enough to the stage to hear them. Entertaining, high-energy newgrass crew the River Bones Band kick off the evening at 8, followed eventually at 10 by the smoky roots vibes of Dubistry  and then at 11 by oldschool-style rocksteady/roots reggae singer Caz Gardiner and her excellent band.

Gardiner is a throwback to the glory days of the Skatalites and Darlene Shaffer, a singer with jazz chops and all kinds of subtle wiggles and blue notes. To get a sense of where Gardiner’s coming from, download her free single at Bandcamp. The A-side is a skanking, marvelously nuanced rocksteady cover of the Searchers’ classic 1964 hit Needles and Pins. it’s not as good as the Ramones’ version, but it’s awfully close.

The B-side, recorded live on tour in Argentina, is Cycles, a perfect evocation of late 60s Kingston, Gardiner’s voice equal part resolute calm and edgy unease in a situation where “things can’t get worse right now”. It’s a fair guess that a lot of people will be be dancing to this one Saturday night.

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