Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub, live at Otto’s Shrunken Head, June 29, 2025

Review by David Belmont

I was looking forward to catching Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub at Otto’s for a couple of reasons. One, I have a perverse liking for the East Village dive bar that has been the scene of lots of independently produced entertainment and artistry over the decades, including a monthly poetry reading that I have participated in for the past several years. Two, I was interested in checking out the band in person after having gotten heavily into their Live at Green Kill Sessions CD when I was reviewing it for DooBeeDooBeeDoo NY. I wanted to see/hear what made this highly eclectic band tick, and, in my experience, there’s no better way to do that than check them out in an intimate setting.

They played one long set, which ran about 75 minutes, playing versions of a few of the compositions on the CD as well as several spontaneously composed pieces. Led by bassist Tom “Spontaneous” Semioli, they explored thematic material from everyone from John Coltrane to Pink Floyd, with musical nods to Sting, The Ohio Players, Alphonse Mouzon, Sade, The Pretenders, Grace Jones, and Jimi Hendrix. Quite a smorgasbord! One tune was built around an infectious extemporaneous groove provided by drummer Dirk Drazen. The rest of the band fell into it, and the piece Boogie Jungle – named after the fact – was created.

I was fascinated by the interplay between the band’s two “guitarists,” Sal Cataldi and Dawoud “The Renegade Sufi” Kringle, who are both members of MFM. Cataldi is not your typical guitarist, blending lead playing with accompaniment and EFX, often in the same “solo.” Kringle does his guitaring on his self-created Dautar these days/daze. His leads can sound like everything from an amplified sitar to an electric cello or violin. At the same time, he does occasionally play chords – the Dataur is a fretted instrument – he mainly relies on arco (bowed) playing with EFX for his accompanying parts, sounding more like a synth on a spacey keyboard setting. Both Cataldi and Kringle pay a lot of attention to the interplay of their sounds and textures, creating a swirling sonic soup.

If you like electric group improvisation, check out these guys. You’ll be glad you did.

CD Review: Spaghetti Eastern Electro Dub “Live at Green Kill Sessions”