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Elijah returns to Ashland By Jennifer Nitson Ashland Daily Tidings Once a staple of the Ashland music scene, the psychedelic jam band Elijah will return two nights of live music this weekend with performances Friday, January 17 at 10 p.m. at the Ashland Creek Bar and Grill and at 9 p.m., Saturday, January 18 at The Bulls-Eye Bistro. Those who have experienced the free flow of spontaneous, inspired noodling that occurs whenever guitarists Craig Wright and Daniel Fretto play together will not want to miss this chance to hear these skilled musical craftsmen as they recapture the groove. These shows are especially promising due to the addition of tenor sax player Martin Fierro, formerly of Zero and Legion of Mary with Jerry Garcia. "I want to point out what an honor it is to play with someone like that," Wright said. "He's a psychedelic forefather. He's a warrior." Bassist Pat Rhein-boldt and longtime Elijah drummer, Gary Keeney will round out the sound, described by Fretto as a mix of many different styles. "It's a complete musical mutt in every sense," he said. "It's a total menagerie." Fretto's musical influences include rap and hip hop from his youth in Chicago. He also has a "compulsion for jazz horn players" and confesses to a brief but influential Metallica phase. Wright recalls being influenced by his father's record collection, which included a diverse array of musicians such as Taj Mahal, Pink Floyd, Booker T. and the MGs, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. Both Wright and Fretto have studied guitar under the tutelage of Steve Kimock of Zero. "Learning from Kimock has been a great experience," Fretto said. "He's an amazing teacher and an amazing player." Wright and Fretto were also influenced heavily by the Grateful Dead, especially Garcia, but the frame-work of Wright's distinctive song writing and lyrics keeps them from sounding like another Dead nostalgia band. "It's fun to write for Elijah and leave a little room for extraneousness and improvisation," Wright said. Elijah was conceived in 1995. Wright had recently moved to Ashland to teach creative writing at Southern Oregon University. On August 9 of that year, the day Jerry Garcia died, Wright encountered Fretto outside the Ashland Community Foodstore. "When I got here I was just doing the acoustic thing and looking for something," Wright said. "When I heard Daniel playing outside the co-op I knew that was who I wanted to play with." They got a band together and started gigging as Medicine Hat, until they found out that name was already spoken for. Wright, Fretto, Keeney and bassist Everett Evansky drew crowds of hundreds to Elijah shows at the Mark Antony Hotel and the Buffalo, a venue at the Historical Ashland Armory. Over the years venues came and went, but Elijah played on. Though Fretto moved to Marin County, Calif. in 1997, for a few years he returned to Ashland frequently for Elijah shows. The Ashland Creek Bar and Grill often featured the band and the minuscule dancefloor would be packed as Fretto and Wright negotiated the musical electricity between them. "It's so much fun when Daniel and I get together and play," Wright said. "It takes on a whole thing of its own. We trust each other to go places we wouldn't go on our own. When I go with Daniel I expect magical things to happen." "It's definitely unique," Fretto said. "I've played with a lot of different people in a lot of different contexts. There's one thing that I've never experienced with anyone else. It's difficult to describe. There's a certain sort of timeless, weightless space we get into when we're improvising. It's really intoxicating. It's like a drug." Recently, Elijah honored its roots by playing the sixteenth birthday party of Jerry Garcia's daughter Keelin in Marin, California. "I'm excited to be doing Elijah again," said Wright. "I feel like each time Elijah plays we redefine ourselves. We don't get hung up on what we did last time or what it's supposed to sound like. We have ideas of what we want to happen, but when we really get clicking, ideas go out the window. It's all about the moment." Ashland music buffs will have two chances to share the moment this weekend - Friday at 10 p.m. at Ashland Creek Bar and Grill and Saturday at 9 p.m. ar the Bulls-Eye Bistro. LINKS: REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. DAILY TIDINGS: Main | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -