Jesse Malin
Jesse Malin and his New York City band shared their musical prowess for an excited and attentive crowd on a rainy Monday night at the Casbah.
If you don’t know Jesse Malin, it’s hard to find a place to start describing him because of his notable and eclectic career, not to mention the long resume behind each one of his band members. Let’s just say, Jesse knows everyone and he’s played with everyone. He’s an artist YOU should know and listen to. Jesse’s records are fucking good. He has really good songs. His songs make you want to fuck, fight or cry. Ain’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
To be as brief as I can while mainly noting some of my favorites: Jesse has collaborated with such musicians as Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett and Green Day. Jesse’s first record, The Fine Art of Self Destruction, was produced by Ryan Adams. He had a personal relationship with Joey Ramone and is still to this day good friends with the E Street Band. He sometimes moonlight’s on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius Satellite Radio and owns a record label called Velvet Elk records with recording artist Don DiLego.
Before his solo career even started, he was know for his band D Generation. According to Wikipedia, “D Generation (also known as DGen) are an American glam punk band formed in 1991 in New York City. They released three albums and several EPs, to much critical acclaim, before breaking up in 1999. In 2011 the band reunited for a series of shows in Europe and the United States. In 2016, the band reunited again and, on July 29, 2016, they released their fourth album, Nothing Is Anywhere.[1]The group’s sound blurred the lines between punk rock, glam rock and garage rock.”
Jesse and band smashed through their set with that New York snarl we all deeply love.
Jesse’s always been there. He still remains. Continually putting out great music.
Do your research. He matters.
Now let’s get to his band, which is ridiculously stacked:
Derek Cruz is Jesse’s lead guitar player and collaborator. He’s been touring and writing with Jesse for years. He plays with Fox & The Bandit, Don DiLego, and Anthony D’Amato. Cat Popper is Jesse’s bass player. Her resume includes Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Jack White, Puss N Boots, and Norah Jones. Randy Schrager plays drums in the band. He is the beat behind Scissor Sisters. Danny Ray on sax currently plays in a band called Mad Juana and used to play with one of my all time favorites Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats. Danny is a cool cat with tons of stories about the New York City 70’s punk days and has played with quite a few notable artists. Last but not least there is Indofunk Satish who plays trumpet with Jesse as well as Danny’s band Mad Juana. All exceptional human beings. All exceptional players.
The band is on a short west coast tour and will be celebrating Jesse’s birthday in Los Angeles Thursday January 26th with a charity event featuring:
The Schizophonics opened up for Jesse finishing up their residency at The Casbah that night with another blistering performance. Honestly, if you don’t know about these guys, look them up and get to a show. They are my favorite live act in San Diego. If you do know, guess what? They brought it AGAIN! They have a new record on the way so watch out!
