Scott's Benefit Show

I received a play-by-play of the benefit show for Scott last night at the Highline Ballroom via text from Smitty (THANK YOU!). Sold out, with most people playing 2-3 songs, and a recorded message from Scott was played to the crowd. Very cool that people turned out in full force and raised some cash to help a brother out.

From jambands.com (may I never reference that site again):
Antibalas, Scofield, Medeski, Martin, Krasno, Evans, Laswell, The Duo and Friends Salute Scotty Hard

Last night, a number of musicians with ties to New York’s downtown music scene participated in a benefit for veteran producer Scott Harding, who was partially paralyzed after being sideswiped in a hit and run accident in February. Throughout the night, DJs Olive and Logic entertained the sold out crowd between performances, the latter DJ sporting one of Ropeadope’s new charitable “Hard Ware” t-shirts. Vernon Reid opened the evening’s festivities with a few words about his longtime friend, before joining Logic for a performance that drew in John Medeski and John Scofield for their final number. Their set segued into a short, spirited set reminiscent of MSMW tour that featured Scofield, Medeski, Club d’elf bassist Mike Rivard and Bill Martin. Immediately after, legendary dub producer/bassist Bill Laswell took the stage with a band that featured his Praxis collaborator Bernie Worrell, with whom he recently completed a series of new studio recordings.

Perhaps the evening’s most emotional moment followed, as Brian Harding led Medeski, Michael Blake and others through his brothers arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Utopia” and offered some words on behalf of his family. Soon after, jazz keyboardist Vijay Iyer won over more than a few new ears, while Sex Mob invited out a number of musicians for its segment, including Blake, Medeski and Logic.

For many, the evening’s highlight was a powerful set featuring members of the extended Soulive and Duo families. First up, Soulive’s Eric Krasno and Neil Evans played a trio set with Krasno’s longtime musical partner Adam Deitch, before handing things over to Joe Russo, Tom Hamilton and Marco Benevento for a take on The Duo’s new song, “Hey Hey Hey.” All six musicians then took the stage together for energetic instrumental Led Zeppelin medley highlighted by “The Ocean.” Finally, an ad hoc version of Antibalas closed things out with the evening’s longest set, with omnipresent saxophonist Cochemea "Cheme" Gastelum, Medeski, Casey Benjamin, John Ellis and others sitting in before the benefit came to a close around 2 AM with a charged version of “Incitement.”

The night also featured some short interludes from the more rock-centric realm: two songs from Kevin Kendrick’s “A Big Yes…and a small no,” which features Kendrick’s former Fat Mama bandmates Joe Russo, Jonathan Goldberger and Jonti Siman and a horn section featuring Gastelum, and a stripped down version of American Babies that found both Russo and Hamilton playing acoustic guitar and Goldberger played pedal steel. Though unable to attend in person, Harding was there in spirit, offering both video and audio messages that confidently declared, “I’m going to beat this thing, so don’t be surprised if you find me standing by the way at a show in the next few months.” In total, the evening raised over $30,000. Please visit www.scottyhardtrust.com for more information on how to donate.

Donations can still be sent to:
The Scotty Hard Trust
c/o Heesok Chang
970 Kent Ave #401
Brooklyn NY 11205

Nice link here to a blog by a guy named hyphen, who put together his own downloadable mix of Scott's work as a tribute.

Unable to attend the benefit show for Scott Harding a.k.a. Scotty Hard in New York tonight, I decided to run a tribute show here myself. I admire the Crooklyn man a lot and love his contributions – as a musician and a producer - to dub, hip hop, drum & bass and New York Jazz. Here is a collection of music and productions he did, compiled in a fast, uncritical way. All the best Scotty. (Read the post below.)

1 Scotty Hard: Holy Dub
2 Scotty Hard: Pockets Fat (ft. Sensational)
3 Leon Lamont: Humanoid
4 Medeski, Martin & Wood : Shacklyn Knights
5 Scotty Hard: Lurking In The Shadows
6 Medeski, Martin & Wood: Start/Stop
7 Scotty Hard: Bubble In The Haze (ft. High Priest & Sayyid)
8 Scotty Hard: Scarab Medley Remix
9 Scotty Hard: Dark Blocks (ft. Sayyid)
10 Leon Lamont: Mockery
11 Medeski, Martin & Wood: In Case The World Changes Its Mind
12 Medeski, Martin & Wood: No Ke Ano Ahiahi
13 Scotty Hard: Who Said What (ft. King Cobra, Watah Mokk, Horus)
14 Scotty Hard: Sensi For Sale (interlude)
15 Scotty Hard: Raw Nerves