Influenced — Burning of the Midnight LaMP

On a magical night at Nectar’s in Burlington, Vermont in December of 2018, three musical masters — Russ Lawton, Scott Metzger, and Ray Paczkowski came together with alchemical synthesis and created a fresh, so-tight-it’s-free sound, permeated with technical prowess and a deep-pocket punch. The packed house fortunate enough to be in attendance that night witnessed the birth of something very special.

Hosts Abi and Andy O’ had the opportunity to talk with LaMP’s brilliant guitarist Scott Metzger before their visit to Colorado. Scott spoke about the band and its formative recordings and some of his chief influences in the Jazz idiom. Check out the full conversation below!

During this Influenced episode, we played excerpts of the interview with Metzger, some music by LaMP, and a couple of his favorites: Charles Mingus’ “Better Git It In Your Soul” from “Mingus Ah Um”  and Wes Montgomery’s classic arrangement of “Bésame Mucho” from “Boss Guitar.” That’s some heavy artillery where influences are concerned!

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