Puttanesca

PUTTANESCA Founded by singer and songwriter Weba Garretson of The Eastside Sinfonietta (with Joe Berardi and Tracy Wannanomae) and the guitarist, none Joe Baiza of Saccharine Trust and Universal Congress Of (who toured with Mike Watt) and with The Mecolodiacs rhythm section: Ralph Gorodetsky on Bass and Wayne Griffin on Drums. Weba’s alto voice, which she utilizes as a totally cool, unpretentious jazzdiva in Firecracker Girl, Red Haired Woman and Spider, doesn't need any pompous stilts or studio gimmicks. And certainly, neither does Baiza. His gruff (rough) twing-twang on the Fender Jazzmaster - so uniquely brief, dry and without the aide of a snorkel - with which he shaped the SST sound in the 80s side by side with Greg Ginn and D. Boon, comes out raw at its best. Most of the time he slices just splinters with a machete, or carves a zigzag pattern with a knife. His riffs are like the misleading tracks a running hare would make, simply to play with the dog that's chasing him (Watch Out). There is not one stroke too many, each tone casual and emphatic. In Shiny Red Box or Action Hero Baiza doesn't need more than 10-15 seconds to make his point. As an encore there is Lick My Decals Off, Baby of Captain Beefheart, a (telling, or meaningful, or expressive) choice for Puttanesca's spicy mix of feminine vocals, No Wave-Jazz and 3-Minute-concision. Right now may be just the time for such songs. Baiza's guitar, though, is timeless.
Bad Alchemy, Rigobert Dittmann