Music Review:
Flamscheram man, Flamscheram

Andrew Olson
Reader Weekly

What do you get when you let some jazz students from UWS loose at Fitger's Brewhouse on a Tuesday night (Dec. 21)? An electric jazzy jam on a wave of music that flows through styles and eras of time. Something that can be described in one word, Flamscheram.

Nick Szumowki (Guitar) describes the band's name, and the word, as a "shear expression of jubilance." This new language was developed while listening to groups like Phish and The String Cheese Incident. One night at a concert Chuck Maki (Keyboards) looked at Nick and yelled out, "Flamscheram." The word stuck and the closest explanation of it would be when jazz players first uttered, "cool."

Tuesday night had a crowd of mostly college-aged boys and girls, filing in and discussing finals they had in the morning. Flamscheram was the background of the evening beginning the ride with Ryan Jazdzewski on drums. From there the organ entered and the guitar quickly followed. Soon the band was moving freely from player to player, giving a look, and musically interacting with each other. When the song slowed down there was some superb bass playing by Mark Glenn. He was striking, playing a spaced out effect with a pedal; a feat not often done by bass players today. It brought the Brewhouse eight miles high and the band into a different mood. The music changed form jazzy to more experimental sounds made famous by Pink Floyd or the Grateful Dead playing all night shows at the Fillmore Auditorium in the 1960s.

When the song returned to jazz there was flawless technique performed by Ryan on drums. He tossed in quick rolls and accents to many of the pieces. Chuck Maki looked like Joe Cocker singing when he played his organ. He felt the mood of what was happening in the song and his whole body moved to the music. Living for the moment and being steeped in music education gives Flamscheram the opportunity to take the music wherever they want.