After many years of being a revered musician's musician, Will Bernard is finally getting some of the attention and kudos he richly deserves. A ceaselessly tasty guitarist, Bernard's playing is a friendlier but no less brilliant cousin to the endlessly (and justly) lauded Nels Cline, who happens to be his peer and friend in the Bay Area jazz/experimental scene that Bernard inhabited for years before moving to NYC. Thursday in the Vaudeville Tent, Bernard and his ridiculously tight band chomped on grooves with grinning tenacity. Their knack for hold-and-release explosions kept the energy high and ears tuned in as Bernard cruised with the mercurial flow of Steve Cropper (Booker T & The MG's) and obvious ancestor Grant Green. But, there's more razor sharp teeth inside his bite – in the whole band really – than these touchstones. More simply, these guys were kinda mean in a really cool way. - By Dennis Cook