Ever So Klever power swings to Van Dyke Cafe

By: Yazmine Granthon/Colomnist

Let’s stray away from Miami’s local beatniks and bring it home for at least one series of Impromptu. Fellow University students, Taylor Vega and Sam Savage will perform with their band Ever So Klever, Friday, Feb. 4 at the Van Dyke Cafe on Lincoln Road.

Taylor Vega, Ever So Klever’s saxist, has been a friend of mine for quite some years now. I can remember the high school practice room rendezvous’ and the late night jam sessions. Now majoring in Jazz Performance at FIU alongside Savage, the band’s trombonist, the high school jazz soul that was creeping inside of him comes to life.

Named after a racehorse that never won a race, Ever So Klever combines 1930’s Big Band sounds with Ska, creating a genre of music they like to call “Power Swing.” Big Band is style of music that became popular during the Swing era, focusing on big brass sounds from horns like trumpets and saxophones. Ska on the other hand, emerges from a 1950’s Jamaica as a precursor to Reggae. Notable artists like Sublime and No Doubt really brought this calypso music to the limelight and so does Ever So Klever.

The band uses all aspects of instruments within their sound from guitars to keyboards and drums to bass, layered with two smooth female vocals. Sometimes I feel I repeat myself, documenting bands that use at least five instruments in their ensemble, but who doesn’t love a full sound blasting through their headphones?

ESK masters in musicality and technicality. Songs like “Here Comes Mama” allows each instrument to equally sing. You can hear that walking bass line just as much as the horn line, added with the provocative melody and harmony the girls carry. “Russian Mafia” carries that energy of perfectly executed guitar riffs and hard drums beats and clashes. ESK brings the diversity every band would like to have in their repertoire.

Miami.com says it all: “In the same way that people during the era of The Great Depression used swing music to dance their troubles away, Ever So Klever hopes to provide an outlet for joy.”

Friday, February 4, 9 p.m. – 1 a.m.

Van Dyke Café

846 Lincoln Road