It could well have been the best bassist in the world who gave a masterclass in a sold-out Paradiso on Friday evening and explored and dominated all corners of both the double bass (with or without a bow) and the electric bass guitar. However, most of the spectators did not realize that at all.
Until the person for whom the room was packed revealed who the real star of the evening was. “This is my teacher, Anna Butterss,” confessed Michael Peter Balzary (63) – better known as Flea, the boisterous punk/funk/rock monster and figurehead of the Red Hot Chili Peppers – when he introduced his band halfway through the evening. “A few years ago, when I wanted to get better and be able to play new things, I called Anna. She taught me.”
A rock legend who publicly bows so deeply to a band member who is as old as his own star status: that is unique. Butterss was born in 1991, the year the Red Hot Chili Peppers launched their memorable album Blood Sugar Sex Magic (and monster hit ‘Under The Bridge’) forever changed into iconic rock heroes who sold millions of records but also continued to indulge in excesses: from drug abuse to ribald lyrics (“I want to party on your pussy baby”) and underwear, recovery sock fun (because wearing only one sock was once the mandatory Peppers outfit).
The fact that Flea has exchanged all bravado for ultimate modesty after thirty-five years has everything to do with his first solo album, which was released last March. On Honora he steps far outside his comfort zone and ventures into jazz. Although he already played the trumpet as a teenager, as a humble newcomer he did not dare to honk too loudly from the rooftops, he stated in various interviews. Because even though he spent countless hours studying the trumpet in hotel rooms during Peppers tours, he continued to have doubts about his skills.
That is why he gathered a dream team around him for the record and the stage. He announces this Horona Band – rightly – with the utmost admiration: “The universe smiled at me when I met these people.” In addition to Butterss, guitarist Jeff Parker, drummer Deantoni Parks and saxophonist/keyboardist Josh Johnson are top talents. The latter also produced the album and has been promoted to band leader, Flea emphasizes. That we especially don’t think he’s in control.
That uncertainty returns more often. In ‘Goodnight Darius’ Flea starts playing the bass while sitting, stands up halfway and – with the bass still around his neck – reaches for his trumpet, as if he is only doing it a little on the side and does not yet dare to be a trumpeter completely. When he has successfully completed the twelve-minute song and Paradiso starts to cheer loudly, he raises his hands, folded into devil horns, proud and relieved. Also touching: two songs later, when he has completed the first verse of ‘Shred of Hope’ unscathed, he starts to cheer childishly.
As soon as he puts the trumpet away, the confident Flea reappears. In trippy and funky passages he jumps wildly across the stage, hunchbacked and picking strings. “Love is braver than anger,” he preaches like a fierce TV preacher in ‘A Plea’, but with bare chest. In the steamy Funkadelic cover ‘Maggot Brain’, funk godfather George Clinton gets the great tribute he deserves.
But more often you see and hear Flea’s nerves. Then his trumpet sputters, or he whispers flutters along shaky registers and scales, avoiding harsh and high notes. But hey: it’s jazz, right? Everything is allowed in there, right? Paradiso understands that too: that is a forgiving nightclub tonight, not a packed stadium with loyal fans demanding Peppers hits.
It is admirable to see how an established icon refuses to rest on his laurels but rather pushes boundaries and makes things difficult for himself in the process. Even though Flea is wearing a chic black suit instead of one white sports sock, he is still naked tonight.
