I can almost see the inner workings of guitarist Jimmy Tancill’s head as he goes through the opening and closing notes of every song in his band’s repertoire, trying to blend the special groove to fit this crowd tonight, all of whom came to see Garaj Mahal.

The place is jumping, the place is loud, it’s not as packed as it can be, but it’s a good crowd. As he’s working the songs together, he’s making a list… He began wit...