John Conte talks about the Early Elton Trio coming to Vogel on Saturday – New Jersey Stage

(RED BANK, NJ) — The Vogel presents Elton’s first trio on Saturday May 4, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. Early Elton Trio is a tribute to the tours of the trio Elton John, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson from 1970 to 1972 with Jeff Kazee (piano, vocals) and John Conte (bass and vocals) of Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes (piano, vocals) , featuring Rich Pagano (drums and vocals) of The Fab Faux.

As the story goes, Elton’s label didn’t have the funds to send him on tour in the United States with a full band, but Elton needed to promote his impending releases. Having chosen Dee and Nigel, Elton then rearranged the songs and vocals to fit the limitations of his new line-up. Suddenly, a new sound appeared, both raw and poignant.

While Jeff, John and Rich have painstakingly scoured the net for rare videos, bootleg recordings and even Elton’s own demos to shape their collective vision of Elton’s trio period, they blur the line slightly between replication and innovation – while capturing and using the mind. , the mood and the energy of these first tours.

The Gospel/Funk of “Take Me To The Pilot”, the moving storytelling of “Levon” and “Amoreena”, the epic “Indian Sunset” and “Burn Down The Mission”, the country “Country Comfort” and the great L’ scale of “Madman Across The Water” are just some of the fantastic chapters that make up Early Elton’s songbook. The band is also known for performing Tumbleweed Connection, Madman Across The Water and the 11 – 17 – 70 live concert in their entirety. The first Elton Trio is dedicated to carrying on the spirit of this period, arguably its finest in terms of materials, production and performance. Just two years after its premiere, the Early Elton Show is playing to capacity in the tri-state area of ​​New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

New Jersey stop contacted John Conte to learn more about the project.

How did the idea of ​​creating a group centered around Elton’s early years come about?

From what I remember, the three of us were at the soundcheck for another gig we were doing and Jeff (Kazee) started playing “Take me to the Pilot.” Rich Pagano and I joined in on the chorus, channeling the approach of Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray on the live version of the 11-17-70 album. We all raved about how much we loved this live album and the looser energy of the Jam band. Elton and his band were young, hungry and fierce. We also agreed that Elton’s early songs were the strongest and most inspiring for us.

We realized that during the entire 1970-72 period, Elton only toured as a trio – no guitar. It was a “power trio with piano”. We thought it would be great to put together a 10 song set, book a gig at a club in New York for one night and see what we thought.

Our first concert was at the Bitter End in Greenwich Village. It’s a relatively small venue but the place was packed. We obviously felt we had something – because here we are 15 years later.

What was the biggest challenge of this project? Was it searching for bootlegs, home videos and demos? Creating a sound between the three of you that you think represents the music well? Something else?

As you know, it is not too difficult to find everything you want since the advent of Youtube.

So we found a lot of things to reference there. There are some songs that we couldn’t find any trio performances for, so for those songs I would say it was a combination of relying on everything we had gleaned from the other videos and bootlegs and just use our imagination.

It was difficult to get used to what was happening on stage because we were working with a real grand piano, all the way to the right of the stage, the drums all the way to the left of the stage and the bass directly in the middle . It’s a less typical stage plot for a pop/rock n’ roll band. And perhaps even more for me, it was about getting used to being front and center on stage. It was quite a novelty for me.

Also, since there is no guitar in the band, I use more effects pedals than I would usually use as a bassist playing pop music. These are effects more typically used by guitarists: distortion, reverb, delay, wah-wah. I use them sparingly, but it helps keep things sonically interesting and hopefully adds a few surprises for the listener.

Is there a particular song that you think represents what the band is trying to do the most? If so, is it because the song is a forgotten or lost classic? Or does it show Elton’s writing in a different way than traditionally seen?

It’s hard to choose one, but Burn the mission is a good example. There is a huge difference between the sound of the studio version of this song and the live version that was broadcast. 11/17/70. We use this live arrangement as a template and put our own twist on it in terms of all the jamming that can take it to unexpected places. Improvisation is a huge part of what this band is. Another example is Indian sunset. Elton only performed this piece solo during those years as a trio, but we adapted it for the full group.

Elton John isn’t someone I really remember hearing many bands cover in concert. Before this trio, had you ever played Elton John songs in one of your groups?

I had never played any Elton songs in a band before. Although I’m sure I played “Your Song” at some lounge shows with my mom’s band when I was a teenager and in my twenties.

Finally, what do you hope audience members will take away from the series?

Don’t expect it to be like a typical “tribute band”. No two shows are ever the same. We’re not trying to recreate the sounds of Elton’s discography in the studio, nor are we trying to sing like him or imitate him. But we’re trying to channel the spirit of his trio tours between 1970 and 1972. As Jeff Kazee likes to say: “It’s Elton before the duck suit, the shot and the shopping binge!” »