Josh Lederman And The Cambridge-Somerville All-Stars at The Plough And Stars, 11-9-19 Concert Review

Josh Lederman is largely responsible for my meeting the Love of my life. He and The Cambridge-Somerville All-Stars have had a residency at The Plough And Stars in Cambridge for more than ten years, and at the very beginning of that residency, my brother and I went to see them. We had been big fans of Josh Lederman's previous band, Josh Lederman Y Los Diablos, and were excited to see what sort of joys the new configuration would bring us. Well, that show brought me more than a couple hours of great music. It introduced me to the woman who would change my world for the better. I had invited my friend Margot to that show, and she had invited her friend Nancy, and Nancy had invited her friend Theresa. When I saw Theresa, everything changed. If I hadn't fallen in love with the Josh Lederman Y Los Diablos album It's A Long And Lonely Time Until The Train Will Bring You Home, I wouldn't have been at The Plough And Stars that day to fall in love with Theresa. My brother reminded me of this when he and I went to see Josh Lederman And The Cambridge-Somerville All-Stars on November 9th. See, it was my brother that turned me onto Josh Lederman Y Los Diablos in the first place. He's the one who gave me It's A Long And Lonely Time Until The Train Will Bring You Home. So, you know, he's partly responsible too.

I try to see Josh Lederman And The Cambridge-Somerville All-Stars every time I visit Boston. It's one of my favorite things to do in that city, even more fun than having lunch at Life Alive or trying on old furs at Buzzy's Bazaar, which I also love to do. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but the band's lineup changes from show to show, depending on who is available. That keeps things fresh and interesting. For the show on the 9th the band featured acoustic guitar (that's Josh himself, of course), drums, harmonica, accordion, sousaphone and saxophone (and clarinet for certain songs). Because of Mark Earley's presence on harmonica, the group sprinkled in some bluesy numbers. Josh and Mark have their own duo, The Country Pleasures, where they cover a lot of great old blues tunes, and some of that material found its way into the set lists at this show. Songs like "You'd Better Mind," "Cornbread, Peas And Black Molasses," "Sugar Mama," and "Outside Woman Blues" were played during the two sets. Josh also included some songs from the band's two albums, Seven Years A-Roaming ("Pretty Babe") and Seven Shining Stars ("Summer Days," "Will I Miss The City?"). "Summer Days" featured a great lead on saxophone, and "Sugar Mama" featured some wonderful blues clarinet work.

I couldn't help but notice that Josh put his pint on the rail right next to the sign that reads "Please No Drinks On The Rail." Ah, that rebellious rapscallion! At this show he shared vocal duties with a couple other members of the band, including the accordion player, who sang lead on "Diggy Liggy Lo," a song I don't recall hearing the band perform before. And of course all the band members got plenty of opportunities to shine, particularly as they kept things loose, improvising and taking turns at leads like a jazz band. Josh Lederman And The Cambridge-Somerville All-Stars are at The Plough And Stars every other Saturday afternoon from around 4 p.m. to around 6 p.m.  If you live in the Boston area, and have not yet seen them, I highly recommend checking them out. What better way is there to spend a Saturday afternoon than drinking Guinness and enjoying some fun music in a friendly atmosphere? And, hey, you might meet the love of your life.

Here are a few photos from the show:

The Plough And Stars is located at 912 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, Massachusetts.