Sticky jam

Ah, the jam band. Almost…

Ah, the jam band. Almost everyone has at least one that they’re partial to – be it the prolific Phish or the local act at the bar every Friday night.

But to those who have failed to see the light of your favorite jazzy-funky-rock group (who “you have to see live”), the music often seems, well, boring. And while Schleigho and their fans are into their music enough not only to host a “Ho-Down” music festival every year, but to release a CD featuring its highlights (including a 25-minute jam session), the rest of us may find ourselves yawning at the results.

Live at Ho-Down 2000 opens with an 18-minute-plus jam of Schleigho’s song “Go Children Slow.” Because of each song’s length, only four songs are included on the album.

While “Go Children Slow” does feature several tempo changes from jazzy to funky to funkier, the bass, keyboard and drums seem determined to lull the listener into some kind of trance. Even when guest flutist Kofi Burbridge plays a solo, displaying the capable musicians associated with Schleigho, the backbeat continues, like an easy-listening version of world music.

“Continent” follows “Go Children Slow,” and the only reason the listener knows this is because the music stops for a minute, there’s some clapping and on inspection the CD player’s display reads “Track 2.”

Featuring an orgy of musical keys, guitar and that interminable drum, the band seems to drift through this song much as it did through the first, becoming fascinated with a pattern of chords for a few minutes, then tossing it aside for something equally soporific. The bass line starts out interestingly enough but soon becomes as repetitive as the rest.

That said, “Continent” receives my enthusiastic approval, because at 12:01, it clocks in as Ho-Down’s shortest song.

The third track, “Matrices,” seems like the diamond in the rough at first, thanks to some able guitar work by Suke Cerulo. But soon enough we find ourselves back in all-too-familiar territory, the stereo at this point practically spewing patchouli oil as Birkenstock goes up three points on the Dow.

Optimistic listeners pray that “Witch Hunt,” the album’s final track, will reward them for their patience, which has so far lasted 57 minutes.

But don’t be fooled by the drumming innovation at the beginning of the song. There is no light at the end of Schleigho’s monotonous musical tunnel – even the surprising appearance of a saxophone played by another guest artist, Joshua Smith, seems like nothing but a mean-spirited tease.

Perhaps the members of Schleigho have been playing their instruments for so long, they have hypnotized themselves into thinking their music is interesting.

Unless you are susceptible to mind control, chances are you will find the exact opposite to be true. Yet Live at Ho-Down 2000 does teach several valuable lessons: The world is not fair, one bad hippie spoils the barrel and sometimes you can tell an album’s quality from the first three minutes of music.