Tal Wilkenfeld

What a great show! The band rocked! The sound was good, loud and could feel the vibes. Tal and her band are rockers!

It was a great show .love her music and the band she has with her right now ,New sound and great singing , But the most inportant thing was that she is a awesome person . Met with the fans ,talk to them and with that awesome smile lit up the room . great time at a great price . love her .She raely is a great person .

Tal and her band were over the top fantastic! Loved the song lyrics and Tal's voice. All the musicians were fantastic. The show went by so quickly...I wanted it to last forever.

I looked forward to this show with a lot of enthusiasm. I had been watching videos of Tal play with Jeff Beck and it was obvious she is a phenom with the bass. The venue was great, I had a seat just to the left of where Tal was playing. Once she started, it became obvious that she was playing material that was completely unfamiliar to me. She played nothing from her one CD and nothing that I recognized except one Smith's song "How soon is now?". She also sang which I have never seen or heard of her doing. All in all it was an OK show, all the musicians were good and looked like they were enjoying themselves. But for anyone wanting to hear jazz fusion, this is not the show to go to.

Let me start by saying that we all have expectations before we attend a show - that's why we buy tickets. And also we WANT to like, even love, the performance. But this performance disappointed in so many ways. I really hate to give a negative review, but this one deserves it for so many reasons. Tal is known as one of the best bass players performing today. However, you'd never know it after this show. The show consisted of predominantly showcasing her singer-songwriter abilities at the total expense of her bass playing. Her new vocal album is not yet released due to funding issues. So that means she's not signed to a label... that may tell you something about her songwriting and vocals. And touring on an album before it's released is not exactly fan-friendly. We're essentially sitting through an entire show of material we've never heard before. Now back to expectations. I expected to see a tour de force of bass playing; I was sadly disappointed. She chose not to exploit her real talent with only one very minor exception, a bass and drum jam on only one song, and it wasn't anything greater than I've heard before. And to further disappoint, she plays a mediocre guitar on a few songs. Now on to other things. Tal had many instances of technical problems (I suppose). She seemed to be constantly trying to get the sound person to change or fix something. This became extremely distracting. Even to the point where she stopped a song after about a minute in, then started from the beginning again. That was very unprofessional and unacceptable to me at this level. Please work out your sound problems at the sound check! What could have been done to salvage this show? At least if we were treated to four or five instrumental bass-centric jams, I may have been okay. I literally only stayed because I expected that to happen, and for a really big finish. The band seemed to have the chops, but we'll never know. In fact, the show closer was another singer-songwriter tune which totally fell flat. Instead of a big finish seen at most shows, I just felt grateful that it was over. Even Tal just kind of said... "that's it." Tal and the band have a lot to learn about showmanship and pleasing an audience, especially one that came out expecting and WANTING to love her.

A gritty performance by Tal with her supporting cast. Her drummer set the tone with primal beats and with Tal on bass both lead the band with ample performances on keys and guitar. The keyboardist had some progressive ideas and his alternate use of a guitar added cool textures. It was great to see the guitarist who could consistently play with restraint during heavy duty music and at some point it would have been nice to hear him let loose a little more.. As a whole it looked like the band was having fun. While Tal showed her hand on guitar it was her bass which stood out. It was great to see her playing original tunes beyond her performances with Jeff Beck and all the rest and to hear her sing which was a first for me. 4 Stars because I need see the overall chemistry of the band gel. It seemed almost like a bass and drums duo with guitar and keyboards added.

Wow this was horrible. Bad as it gets. Sound was bad. You could here a pin drop at the end of most songs that were mediocre at best. Musicians in this band were not set . I'm sorry I wasted my time and money.

For most of the show Tal seemed visibly frustrated with the volume levels of her microphone, her bass and the guitarist's instrument. It detracted from an otherwise very good show. Her voice is amazing. Her bass playing is amazing. And, despite her annoyance with the technical issues, she was very pleasant and charming with the audience and her band members. Mostly new material was played, but there were some great covers of Jeff Healey and the Smiths (How soon is now).

I've only seen Tal on Jeff Beck videos. Very impressive. So, decided to check her band out locally. Not really impressed. The bass playing was good. The vocals were bad. Still had a good time though... I try to analyze what is going on here....Tal gets well know playing bass with Jeff Beck and tries to figure out what's next. Solo album, solo career? Not sure who is advising her. My advice? Stick with the bass and instrumental music. Rock it out. Play your kind of music which appears to be a cross between heavy metal, punk, darkness...That can work....Focus on bass playing not singing.

The show was amazing ! Great to see her in a small intimate venue.

Tal has a very tight band, and her playing is superb. Her voice and songs are OK, not my style. her work in the past with Jeff Beck was much better. Still, it was a fun night, nice crowd.

The sound was set loud enough for an outdoor stadium yet we were in a small indoor venue. Tal is a fabulous bass player but with the sound too loud you couldn't hear the music. It was all just noise. Her vocals are not on par with her bass skills. We left after a few songs. I can't remember having to do that in a very long time. Quite disappointing for sure!

let me start by saying i think tal is a great young talent.. she was billed as jeff beck's bass player. which she was. and now as the opening act for the who.. great accomplishments outright. this show was not at all what i expected. she spent her entire time singing . very little bass solo's . changing guitars every song. i understand she's trying to make it on her own . but this was like a cheap imatation of joni mitchell on a bad day.

Tal Wilkenfeld is a tremendously gifted bassist and has a beautiful voice. However, major sound issues at the Birchmere detracted from her brilliance. The sound was too loud, her bass sounded muddy and undefined, and I felt the drummer was a bit over the top. The repeated tweaking of the sound system was irritating and why Tal needed help plugging in her different basses I did not quite understand - it appeared amateurish. Having said, I do not blame this somewhat disappointing performance on Tal (assuming her band did a sound tested prior). I love the gal. I blame it on the Birchmere. I can take the Birchmere's mediocre and high priced food but I can't accept poor sound quality. Bass can be a hard one to dial-in particularly when it is played as lead instrument (in Tal's case) vs. as a traditional rhythm instrument but that is still no excuse. And I am not the only one who complained. The folks sitting in our immediate area were also not happy with the sound. At times it was almost painful.

Tal and band were quite good if you like her "new" sound. She's now singing and plays acoustic guitar on several songs. I think that will appeal to many but the problem is that I think she is identified with "incredible" bass playing and this is a switch. Her bass playing was, as you'd expect, quite strong, but not the focus of the show. That was a bit of a let down for me. (Yeah I never get bored of bass solos). Another problem with this particular show was the sound mix. Tal was obviously quite unhappy with the stage mix and you could even see that the band members weren't thrilled with it. The house mix wasn't done very well either, so the overall sound suffered. I've always been happy with the sound at the Birchmere, but I don't know if other shows I've been to were mixed by house personnel or the band's own mix people.

I went because I love Tal's Jazz cd and work with Jeff Beck. She now seems to have reinvented herself as an atonal singer songwriter. Very unexpected and a poor career choice. Her voice isn't worth it and neither are her songs.

I was very much looking forward to this show, but have to admit I was somewhat disappointed. There were too many technical issues (at least it seemed like Tal was having to adjust sound levels a few times every song, to the point of stopping mid-song at one point to talk to the guy at the soundboard. Not good. Music-wise, there were bits of incredible musical sublimiity -- but a lot of middle-of-the-road songs. Tal is at her best when she is jamming with the drummer -- she needs to embrace her jazz self much more. The drummer was fantastic also. I could have sent the entire evening listening to the two of them jam. THAT would've been a great show.

Her singing voice is the type that some people may not like; sort of the way some people do not like Janis Joplin's voice. I like her voice. She and her band are very good. They are definitely trying hard and are into what they are doing. Good and fun show.

I thought she was amazing as Jeff Beck's bassist and I have really enjoyed listening to her album Transformation several times and I was looking forward to an evening of excellent instrumental Jazz/Rock/Blues fusion at BB King's. Unfortunately I was not aware that she has decided she needs to sing as well as play bass and guitar. It is not a bad voice and is probably better than most bass players but it is not a lead voice by any means. I assume she is working on new material for an album and did not play anything I could recognize in the first 75 minutes. That is the point that I and several others decided to avoid the rush and leave then. The fact that they started 45 minutes late also didn't help people that work in the morning. What was most telling is that the biggest applause of the night was when she first came on stage and then basically just quiet polite clapping after that.. For a band with that much raw talent the results were very disappointing.

Tal's music is excellent, but her lyrics to her songs didn't pop! The songs meant nothing. They were full of cliches & metaphors.She needs to stick to instrumental music only, she would do much better if she jammed with the band.

Tall and her band were incredible - a great aggregation of talent - but Tal seemed to be struggling with her monitor mix all evening, which detracted from the ease and spontaneity that might otherwise have occurred. The new material is very interesting stuff - complex chord changes and improvisation, but with an almost punk edge to it. She is a compelling artist.

Just an amazing display of talent! I can't wait for the new CD!