A couple days after Christmas, Rocco DeLuca played a set at Zebulon. It was to celebrate his birthday. He was joined on stage by Liberate Elemental Forces, which is an Indian raga collective. Zebulon had what I call their "Hotel Cafe" setup going. Seats and round tables were setup near the stage with standing room behind. The night initially started with an instrumental opening with DeLuca playing his steel guitar and two friends on stage with one playing guitar and the other playing an upright bass.
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| Rocco DeLuca at Zebulon |
Liberate Elemental Forces (L.E.F.) then came on stage to add South Asian music instruments such as the sitar and tabla. That increased the number of musicians on stage to nine. The set had a meditative feel with music played softly and when the four vocalists did sing, the vocals blended in subtly where one might confuse the vocals for being additional music instruments. The band onstage eventually expanded to 10 when a trumpeter came up.
The set lasted around an hour with the signal that the set was nearing a close being when the tabla drum was struck extra hard for a few moments. Those hard strikes were no doubt to nudge those in the audience who were in deep meditation to re-enter the real world. The night was an interesting blend of South Asian and Americana-folk music.
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| Rocco DeLuca at Zebulon |
I've seen three DeLuca sets over the years, with long gaps between sets.
I first came across him way back in January 2009 when he was doing a residency at a once favorite music venue called Spaceland (later went through a name change to The Satellite). I went to that specific residency night for a singular reason. HoneyHoney was playing. It was the first time I saw HoneyHoney play. The band got mentioned in the LA Weekly. The write-up got my attention and off I went to Spaceland that night. If my notes are accurate, the band closed out the night and the venue had partially emptied out after DeLuca's set. Just a year or so later, crowds would be lining up outside venues to catch HoneyHoney. HoneyHoney has since ended its run (or is on a long term hiatus), but lead singer Suzanne Santo still puts out music. Opening the night was Ida Maria from Norway. She's also still putting out new music. Considering that was 16 years ago, it is rather impressive (considering how bands / musicians come and go in the Los Angeles music scene) that the people I saw on that night are still putting out music.
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| Rocco DeLuca at Zebulon |
Here's what I wrote about Rocco DeLuca at the time:
"He’s doing the residency at Spaceland this month of January. This guy can rock it. The first half of his set was a thrill of rock and roll. He uses a resonator guitar, which in my mind gave the music a Southern rock feel. He had folks bouncing with the music. He slowed it down during the second half of his set."
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| Liberate Elemental Forces at Zebulon |
Apparently, more than a few years passed before I saw him again, as my band / artist record keeping indicate that I next saw him in 2018. He was kind enough to respond to one of my Q&As at the time. Here's a portion of it, which I think is a good way to end this post:
"I believe the first time I saw you was in 2009 at Spaceland. How has your music changed over the years? It seems to me that this music that I play is always sifting for a more direct and simple approach. As I get older, I am more able to quickly articulate my sentiments through music. I've been enjoying playing my baritone lap steel guitar that my friend Pavel Maslowiec built for me. The instrument allows for me to be dynamic with very little, and I'm enjoying the experimentation that I've been afforded in recent years. An example of this experimentation can be found on 'Goodbye To Language' with Lanois. I am always searching for the pure tone, and that is ever-changing."
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| Liberate Elemental Forces at Zebulon |
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