Opening for Hanuman, was Danny Barnes & Thee Old Codgers, a four-piece bluegrass band that has it going on from every angle. Judging from the reception of the crowd, the excellent guitar and banjo picking by Barnes and fiddle-work by veteran Jon Parry (formerly with Hank Williams, Jr.) seemed to fit perfectly with the growing popularity of bluegrass since 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?'.

By 11:00, there was a line waiting to get in to see the headlining show. Hanuman is a quasi-acoustic trio, quartet and quintet (depending on when you see them) that pushes the boundaries of 'folk' and what you can do with acoustic instruments. Last night's performance featured Paul Benoit on acoustic guitar, Tige DeCoster on acoustic bass, Damien Aitken on sax, and Jarrod Kaplan on drums and various ethnic percussion.

Their own blend of acoustic rock pulls from several different genres of music including Celtic, African, blues, and jazz with their sound ranging from folk to acid-jazz funk, to experimental free-form jazz. Kaplan's solo use of an 'ethnic drum-set' (a hand-played drum-set featuring Djembe, anklets, and various other non-standard percussion) was, in itself, a performance that was worth paying a cover to see. Add DeCoster's electric/acoustic 'stick-upright' bass, Benoit's slide guitar and Aitken's electrified sax, and you have a folk-blend of music that creates a genre of it's own.

Hanuman is the today's generation of acoustic folk-rock, picking up where Grisman and Garcia started and forging a sound for the '0t's'

For more information on Hanuman, CLICK HERE

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