Re:Visit - Denver Blessed by Debut of Michal Menert Trio
Ad
Michal Menert is no stranger to the electronic music scene. He produced the debut album for Pretty Lights, Taking Up Your Precious Time, and was the first artist to be signed to the Pretty Lights Music label. This was back in 2006. Since then, he has flourished as a solo artist and formed offshoots like the Michal Menert Big Band as well as Michal Menert & the Pretty Fantastics. Now, he is unleashing his newest project unto the world: the Michal Menert Trio.
The Michal Menert Trio consists of Michal himself as well as Adam Deitch (of Lettuce) and Nicholas Gerlach. Adam Deitch is one of the best drummers in the game, and Nicholas Gerlach shreds the sax and keys for this project. Gerlach actually just performed his first solo set a couple weeks ago (read our recap here!), but he’s been in the scene for years.
It was Re:Search Wednesday, so resident host Jordan Polovina started the night off and brought out his friend Zach Simms (of Future Joy) to accompany him on the saxophone. Mikey Thunder, another Re:Search Wednesday staple, followed. “Do we have any PLF (Pretty Lights Family) in the building?” Looking around, at least one of every four people in attendance was repping some sort of PL gear.
Performing all originals, Mike Thunder started his set with a song he wrote on the Pretty Lights tour bus a decade prior. With lots of live scratching, the self-described “electro swing” artist got the crowd warmed up proper. Towards the end of the set, he brought out Benjamin Clark (of The Party People - catch them at Your Mom’s House on December 20, 2019 by purchasing tickets here) to provide vocals over his beats. Clark also debuted a bumping new song, “Cool Display”, that will be released by The Party People very soon. Later, Jordan Polovina came on stage to join Ben in what turned into a thorough hip-hop affair with the two lyricists bouncing back and forth off each other.
The Michal Menert Trio had only performed once before up until this point, making their soft debut at Colorado’s Central Jazz Fest this past June, so this particular Re:Search Wednesday marked their venue debut. Menert wasted no time, opening up with a fiery rendition of “The Same Disease”. When he performed “Summer Love”, a collab with Derek Vincent Smith (aka Pretty Lights), the PL-loving crowd went wild.
In the middle of the set, Menert took to the mic to bring awareness to a shirt he was wearing. Nick Bales, a Colorado native, started his own clothing line as a sophomore in high school. "It is beyond crazy to me how many good people there are in this world and how talented everyone can be but how it just seems like the world is getting worse and worse everyday. It seems like we can have 90% of the world be so positive but just that other 10% of negativity just shuts out every bit of positive energy there is." - Nick Bales
Nick made Brought To Reality with the intention to donate at least 10% of profits to mental health efforts, with a mission to raise awareness on mental health. But when he was merely 17, he tragically committed suicide. Michal dedicated the night’s performance of ‘Your Ghost” (which he originally made as a tribute to his late father) to Nick Bales.
The set quickly turned into something deeper and more meaningful than just a bunch of Menert hits. The trio ended their performance on a new song, “So Bright”, with soaring vocals provided by Menert himself. A soulful, hearty song, it brought a sense of hope that prevailed with the knowledge that darkness sometimes surrounds us but we have to push on.
Closing out the night was Since JulEYE, Denver-based electro-soul producer Lev Averbakh, and Brisco Jones. Slowed down and scratch heavy, the pair finished off the night with a blend of electro grass hop and bass. You can catch Since JulEYE at Mission Ballroom on February 8, 2020 opening up for The Floozies with SoDown and Anomalie!
Throughout the night, Boulder-based visual artist Laura McGowan live painted in the back of Cervantes’ Other Side. Since she frequently works with disabled people (including the blind), all of her original pieces are sensory. She uses recycled bits of material so you can not only see her art but also physically feel it.
When we met up with Menert before the show, he mentioned that his goal was “to get people to move” with the stripped-down, beat-driven approach of his new trio. That said, the night was a resounding success. “All of us could use a break from the insanity sometimes.” And music like Menert’s provides an avenue for exactly that.
