Friday: Michael Kach Group at The 5 O' Clock Club

If an early Friday night is your preference after a long work week, head over to The 5 O'Clock Club on Hillview Street tonight to catch The Michael Kach Group from 5:30 - 7:30PM.



These virtuoso players have toured with The Allman Brothers and Dickey Betts & Great Southern, so you're getting a top-shelf performance for the cost of some bucks in the tip jar and a drink. Not a bad deal, eh?

Michael Kach plays keyboard, Burt Engelsman is on bass, Frankie Lombardi keeps the beat going on drums, and Bain Beakley steps up with lead guitar and back up vocals. Duane Betts sits in on lead guitar as well.

The Michael Kach Group plays a longer and later show every Tuesday night at The Irish Rover, so if you enjoy the jam tonight, you can invite some friends to join you on Tuesday for more musical surprises and impressive riffs.

Thursday: Last Night for The Instigators at The Irish Rover!!

Just as "Thursday night with The Instigators" was turning into a regular live music event on the Sarasota nightlife scene, it turns out their contract to play at The Irish Rover is over this week. So TONIGHT, APRIL 29, 2010, may be the last night we get to hear them until they find a new venue. . . OR, Let's show The Irish Rover that The Instigators have a BIG following, and maybe their contract will be renewed!!



The Instigators offer an intriguing blend of reggae, world, and subtle jam music that started back in the 1980s here in Sarasota, and only recently came back to life with their re-entry in January. Since then, they've made Thursdays a laid-back, groovy night for starting the weekend with some listening and dancing at the smoke-free, family-friendly Irish Rover pub on Gateway Avenue in Gulf Gate.

The show tonight starts at 7:30PM and runs until 10PM. "Be there or be square", as they used to say! Let's pack the house!

Profile: Frankie Lombardi

When you go out to hear The Michael Kach Group at the The Irish Rover on Tuesday night, take note of the percussive passion of drummer Frankie Lombardi. Watch him take off on one of his no-holds-barred journeys of sticks on skins. Whew! The energy just flows out of him and flies around the room.

Who is this guy, and where else has he played during his 25 year career behind the drum set? He studied at the drummer's collective in NYC, then moved to Boston to attend the Berklee School of Music. While in Boston, he was a member of the rock band, Sunshine Jive.

Lombardi's next stop was California, where he played with guitarist Blues Saraceno and opened for Steve Smith's Vital Information. On his return to Boston, he recorded on Sunshine Jive's eponymous debut release at Michael Bolton's Passion Studios in Westport, CT. The record was released in Japan and 14 countries in Europe by MTM music (a German company).

Frankie moved home to NYC to play with Furious Styles, described as a 'Tower of Power without horns.' During this time, he recorded his first solo release, entitled "Shank Songs". Frankie Lombardi also serves as a staff music writer (programmer) for Soundtrack Recording Studio's N.Y.C./Boston, and has played drums and percussion on numerous recording sessions including Fayva, Home Depot, AT&T, WWF, Sylvania, Casual Male, Baybank, Tupperware, SNET, Volkswagon, WCW, Norelco, etc.

Most recently, he toured with Dickey Betts & Great Southern. With Betts' decision to take a break from the concert circuit, Frankie Lombardi has been keeping The Michael Kach Group on track at The Irish Rover on Tuesday nights. The show starts at 7:30PM and keeps everyone on the edge of their seats until 10PM.

The Irish Rover, in Gulf Gate, Sarasota, is smoke-free and family-friendly. Unbelievably, The Michael Kach Group show is cover-free. Throw some green into the tip jar, though. These performers are world-class, and Lombardi is right up with them.

Sunday: Jazz Juvenocracy at The Irish Rover

You may have heard them play at the Downtown Sarasota Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, where the sounds of professional-quality horns and drums drew you to their "stage" on Lemon Avenue. Once there, you'd no doubt have looked twice to see if your eyes were playing tricks on you. How could those smooth sounds and flawless performances be coming from kids?

Jazz Juvenocracy is a band composed entirely of middle school and high school students from Sarasota, and they've been impressing audiences for three years. You can hear them tonight from 6PM to 10PM at The Irish Rover, in Gulf Gate.


The band consists of six teenagers, ranging from 13 years to 18 years old. The idea for the group was theirs, and as a result of their weekly Saturday performances in front of a local grocery store, Greg Nielsen, a jazz trombonist who's performed with Slide Hampton, Cab Calloway, Ron Carter, Bobby Shew, Nancy Wilson and many other jazz legends, offered to coach them.

Since then, Jazz Juvenocracy has played regularly at jazz clubs in Florida. Individual members of the group have performed at the Grammy Awards, The Berklee Jazz Festival and the Clearwater Jazz Festival. This summer, they'll tour Europe, with dates already booked at the Jazz a Vienne Festival in France, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and The Tuscany and Umbria Festivals in Italy. Jazz Juvenocracy musicians are Austin Parker Gill, guitar; Alex Hernandez, tenor and soprano sax;Brent Layman, upright and electric bass; Bit Risner, trumpet, flugel horn and vocals; Rodney Rocques, drums; and Tommy Silverman, alto sax, clarinet, flute and EWI.

The Irish Rover is smoke-free and family-friendly, with a full dinner menu, in addition to drinks. No cover for the Jazz Juvenocracy show there tonight.

Profile: Burt Engelsman

It's easy to do a double-take when you're going around Sarasota listening to live music. Seems like all the bands have the same bass player: Burt Engelsman. Well, maybe not all of them, but quite a few. For example, on Tuesday nights, he plays with the Michael Kach Group at The Irish Rover; on Wednesdays, he's up on the stage with Big T and the Tornadoes at Mattison's City Grille; on Thursdays, it's The Instigators at The Irish Rover; Fridays it's the Michael Kach Group for happy hour at the Five O'Clock Club; and Mondays it's the Al Fuller Blues Jam at the 5 O'Clock Club. Assuming he's like other musicians, there are probably some private parties and once-in-awhile gigs in his schedule.

Who is this guy, and how did he get so popular? Burt Engelsman started playing bass in 1971 when he was 18 and still plays the vintage 1965 Fender Jazz bass purchased when he was 20. At age 21, he moved to Macon, GA, and played in a band called the Underground Railroad, which included Bobby Womack's horn section, drummer John Morgan and guitar player Robert Coleman from James Brown's band. Managed by Zelma Redding (Otis Redding's widow) they toured as the back up band for Percy Sledge, Clarence Carter, Candi Staton, and King Floyd.

From 1982 to 1983, Burt toured with the Gregg Allman Band and in Sarasota played with Eclipse from 1983 to 1986, with the Instigators from 1986 to 1989, with Twinkle during the mid 1990's (was in her music video "Can't Get Love With Money" which aired on VH1 and MTV) and several other R&B bands.

Over the years Burt had opportunities to play with James Brown, Freddie King, Dickey Betts, John Lee Hooker, Mitch Ryder (and the Detroit Wheels), Elvin Bishop, Pinetop Perkins, Archie Bell (and the Drells) and other name R&B players.

For some reason, Sarasota has become a destination and settling-down place for musicians with really impressive careers, and Burt Engelsman is surely one of them. But don't take my word for it. Stop into The Irish Rover in Gulf Gate tonight from 7 - 10PM to hear his bass and back up vocals with one of Sarasota's favorite reggae/world music/jam bands, The Instigators.

Wednesday: Florida Mountain Boys at JR's Old Packinghouse Cafe

Put on your goggles and headband and get ready for speed. The Florida Mountain Boys will be whizzing through their lively bluegrass repertoire tonight at J.R.'s Old Packinghouse Cafe (on Old Packinghouse Road, one block east of Cattleman Road) in Sarasota.

While not all down-home Southern boys, these string-thing artists bend guitar, banjo, fiddle, and standup bass to their wild wills, regaling the crowd with bluegrass standards and originals that sound like you might have heard them all your life.

J.R.'s Old Packinghouse Cafe is smoke-free, family-friendly, and serves a full menu of comfort food in a funky Old Florida setting that used to be a celery packing warehouse (thus the name). You can hear live music here six nights a week. The show starts at 7PM, but get there earlier to snag a table and put in your food order. Then just let your feet do their stompy thing when the fiddlin' begins.

Profile: Michael Kach

Keyboardist and vocalist Michael Kach has been performing since he was 12 years old, when he began appearing with his band every Saturday at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT.

Over the years he's played with notable musicians including Chris Layton & Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), Dangerous Dan Toler & Frankie Toler (Toler Bros./Allman Bros./Gregg Allman Band/Marshall Tucker), Greg Poulos (Freddie King), Gregg Allman, Allen Woody & Warren Haynes (Allman Bros.), Floyd Miles, Rick Derringer, Charlie Daniels, and Johnny Neel.

He's also opened for Buddy Guy, Lonnie Brooks, Leon Russell and more. He toured nationally with Molly Hatchet and was recorded by Relativity Records with Chris Anderson (Outlaws/Blackhawk) on his “Old Friend” album, among many other privately mastered CDs.

Most recently, he's been a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. With Betts' decision to take a break from touring, Kach has now formed his own band in Sarasota, called The Michael Kach Group. With Frankie Lombardi on drums and vocals, Burt Engelsman on bass and vocals, Bain Beakley on guitar and vocals, and Duane Betts on guitar, The Michael Kach Group energizes Tuesday nights at The Irish Rover in Gulf Gate, Sarasota.

Kach's piano playing is astonishing, fast and fluid. His throaty, driving vocals carry the songs and give ample space for lead breaks by other band members. A memorable show each week.

Check out The Michael Kach Group tonight, Tuesday, from 7 - 10PM. Tips only, no cover. The Irish Rover is smoke-free, family-friendly, with a full menu.

Monday: Fogt's Jr All-Stars at The Irish Rover

Not all live music in Sarasota is performed by talented grownups. On Monday night, April 19, from 7 - 10PM, at The Irish Rover in Gulf Gate, Fogt's Jr All-Stars, directed by Jimi Gee, will wow you with some of the most accomplished middle school and high school musicians from the Sarasota and Bradenton area. The band includes a horn section, keyboards, guitars, drums, and more. The set list ranges from big band to blues to rock.

In Sarasota, a town that already brims over with musical talent, established musicians are generously offering a hand-up to younger generations coming onto the scene, from teens to college and post-college. You'll sometimes see underage talent sitting in on the drums or impressing with prodigious guitar leads at a gig. Live music is roaring back into Sarasota, and it's so very cool to see it percolating at all ages.



Jimi Gee, whose successful career as a guitarist with major acts left him with the desire to pass on his passion to kids, rehearses Fogt's Jr All-Stars in a warehouse building behind Fogt's Music in Sarasota. Several of the band members already play multiple instruments. It used to be that school band music irked and ached with lumbering rhythms and wrong notes. No longer. Fogt's Jr All-Stars and Jazz Juvenocracy, another local junior group, take their tune seriously and already have ambitions for visible careers in music.

The Irish Rover is smoke-free and family friendly. Try dinner and live music tonight, instead of another DVD on the couch. You'll be inspired by what you see and hear.

Sunday: Democracy at Marina Jack

Sometimes Sundays can be too quiet. If you're looking for a way to energize your "day of rest" with live music in Sarasota, the open-air bar at the back of Marina Jack offers a big room and deck full of smiling people of all ages and inclinations dancing to the soulful reggae, hip-hop and tropical sounds of Democracy. From 4 to 8PM every Sunday afternoon, you can shake and sway to the hypnotic beat while oohing and aahing at the sight of the sun setting over the Sarasota Bayfront.

You don't need a date. Just find a seat at one of the many tables or at the bar, and get out on the dance floor to do your thing. It's a big, friendly celebration.



Democracy band members Oswald "Ham" Caines, Reggie Knights, Richy Kicklighter, and John Walker blend instrumental and vocal harmonies with warm, danceable energy. Democracy also plays at the 5 O'Clock Club on Hillview Street on Thursday nights.



Marina Jack is smoke-free indoors, with tropical breezes wafting through the room from the adjacent Sarasota Bay. Ya mon! No more silent Sundays.

Saturday: TC & The Troublemakers at Mattison's City Grille

Set right in the heart of downtown Sarasota, Mattison's City Grille is an all-outdoor, covered dining restaurant with live music seven nights a week. While there are lots of tables and seats at the bar, when TC & The Troublemakers get going with their brand of Southern rock, classic rock and blues, it's hard to stay seated. IMHO (in my humble opinion), they are the most fun dance band in Sarasota on a Saturday night.

Let's start with TC's smooth growl of a singing voice. He just throws out those lyrics like a seasoned baseball pitcher, and he can adjust the mood and tone verse by verse, to set the crowd jumping or slow dancing. His lead guitar breaks are fluid and creative, oozing with soul. It continues to amaze me how many extraordinary guitar players we're gifted with here in Sarasota. And TC (Tim Chandler) is surely among the best of the best.



Backing him up energetically on bass and vocals is Doc Mambo. Rodney "Hot Rod" Johnson keeps the beat with kickin' drum work and both backup and lead vocals. When Rodney croons a Willie Nelson song, you'd swear Willie was up there doing the honors.

Besides impressing with facile musicianship, TC expertly reads the mood of the "room" on Saturday nights at Mattison's and delivers slow dances that crowd the floor with romantic couples, sweetly teases bachelorettes and birthday girls, and leaves few sitting when he launches into classics like Brown Sugar and Jumping Jack Flash, among other classics. TC & The Troublemakers plays some originals, too, which adds variety to their set list.

On his MySpace page, TC says, "Absolutely LOVE the blues, killer players like Albert King and BB and the like. Clapton has some fantastic songs and I'm REALLY into the sounds of Delbert McClinton. I grew up and started taking my music serious in the "Southern Rock" era, bands like Marshall Tucker and the Allman Bros. are what I began with and still somewhat emulate to this day." While I can hear the influences of those legends when TC & The Troublemakers play, they bring their own flavor to the music. Just can't keep from dancing when I hear it. Maybe you'll enjoy them, too.

If you want to hear an interesting contrast to TC & The Troublemakers' Saturday night party band sound, give a listen to some of Tim Chandler's original tunes on his individual MySpace page.