The short-lived trio Wino was something special. Pairing Scott “Wino” Weinrich with Clutch drummer Jean-Paul Gaster, the band wound up with a feel unlike any of Weinrich‘s other trios — The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand — lighter somehow, but without any sacrifice in tonal thickness. With Jon Blank, formerly of Rezin and Wretched, on bass, their lone album, Punctuated Equilibrium (2009), hit on a balance of laid-back, sun-soaked atmospheres and driving heavy rock. Elements of Weinrich‘s past works showed up, whether it was Spirit Caravan‘s stoner bounce or The Hidden Hand‘s straight-ahead pummel, but as regards the manner in which those elements were combined, the Wino trio stands alone.

Their end came when, shortly after their performance at the 2009 Roadburn festival, Blank lost his life to a drug overdose. Over the summer that followed, Weinrich toured with Clutch, Gaster pulling double duty on drums, with fill-in bassist Brian White (live review here), but that was effectively the end of the band. I know I’ve recounted this story before, but it bears repeating, because later that year, Wino issued Live at Roadburn 2009 (review here) in homage to Blank for his last live performance, and it’s from that release that this week’s Wino Wednesday clip comes. Somehow — and this one really blew my mind — we’ve never had a song from Live at Roadburn 2009 before.

While you reel from shock at that, dig into the massive jam that is “Release Me/Wild Blue Yonder,” which excellently emphasizes the varied sides of the band. Given how Weinrich went on to form the jam-heavy Premonition 13 following the de facto dissolution of the Wino band, one can’t help but wonder if maybe moments like this weren’t part of the inspiration for what followed.

If you dig this, the whole album is available from Burning World Records on Bandcamp.

Happy Wino Wednesday:

Tags: Roadburn 2009, Scott "Wino" Weinrich, The Netherlands, Tilburg, Wino, Wino band, Wino Live at Roadburn 2009, Wino Roadburn, Wino Wednesday

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 at 10:44 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.