Andrew Bird invites John C. Reilly over for a living room jam session
One of the more distinctive chapters in the history of jazz music was the so-called “loft scene” of the ’70s in New York City, wherein avant-garde musicians would gather for concerts in the city’s many loft spaces. Four decades hence, folk musician and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird has come up with his own, downsized version of this: a series of unplugged bluegrass concerts held in his very own living room, a venue he refers to as the Great Room. Of late, Bird has been sharing this intimate, audience-free concerts on his Facebook page. The second installment features the talents of both musical storyteller Tom Brosseau and Dewey Cox himself, John C. Reilly, who brought along a cowboy hat just for the occasion. The half-hour set is an eminently laid-back affair. With no pesky audience members there to bother them, the musicians are free to stop in the middle of a song and start over when they’ve messed up.