Pete Siers Quartet at the Mothfire Brewery
Every Wednesday since last spring the Mothfire Brewery on Ellsworth Road near Ann Arbor’s municipal airport has had jazz from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
On September 16, it was a quartet led by Pete Siers on drums, with Chris Buzzelli on guitar, Doug Richeson on bass and Pete Kahn on alto and soprano sax.
The first set, which was one hour, included upbeat versions of many standards, such as “Body SEMJA Reviewand Soul,” “Witchcraft,” and “September in the Rain” (seeing as it was September and it was raining, the humor couldn’t be missed). There was also a bossa nova, “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” aka “Corcovado” by João Gilberto and Stan Getz. And a pop jazz standard, “Sunny,” which — as it had stopped raining by then — was hopeful, although a bit optimistic. So, a good mix.
Buzzelli was playing a 7-string Benedetto guitar. I’d never seen one of those (I have a Martin 00-18 guitar of my own) so I asked him what the seventh string was for. Answer: it’s a low A. Why you need one, I don’t know, but the guitar had a great sound. As did the bass, which was amped…and very mellow.
The audience was small, given the rain, but appreciative.