© -Steven
Cerra , copyright protected; all rights reserved.
The four-day Groovin’
Hard: Celebrating the Big Band Renaissance event continued into it’s
second day yesterday, Friday, October 10, 2012 under the auspices of the Los Angeles Jazz
Institute and its Director, Ken Poston.
For more
information on the Los Angeles Jazz Institute including ticket ordering for Groovin’
Hard, please visit www.lajazzinstitute.org
© -Gordon
Sapsed . Used with the author’s permission; copyright
protected; all rights reserved.
“Continuing the
overall theme of 'The Big Band Renaissance in the 1970s' the day opened with
film clips - mostly from TV shows. Represented were Buddy Rich - including a
somewhat jokey interview in a very 1970's studio setting laid out as a club -
lots of long hair, beards and moustaches, flares, tight dresses and such and
the body-swaying dancing of the day.
Also 'of the day' were the sitar in Don Ellis' Orchestra, very odd time signatures and Kenton in a concert from the Dorchester in London playing ‘Space Odyssey Revisited’ ( a.k.a. 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'), in fancy uniforms.
LAJI events, for me, always turn up unlikely 'hit' sessions which almost justify the weekend ticket price for that single event ! One such was the hour-long 'Discussion' between Patrick Williams and Kirk Silsbee. This proved revealing and fascinating. I had not known of Patrick Williams early life as a child in
Kirk Silsbee,
through diligent preparation, nudged the discussion in interesting directions.
The CSU Long Beach Jazz Concert Orchestra had been
scheduled to play by the pool, but Californian terror on sighting a cloud drove
the whole thing indoors, where they delivered a tremendously talented big band
hour playing charts by Bob Mintzer, Alf Clausen (whose credits include 20 years
of the Simpsons) and many others. John Fedchock, a long-standing (and
tall-standing) friend of the band joined them to play some of his arrangements.
Then it was time for another flashback to the 70's - with the appearance, from
At the piano Lou Forestiere, bass Jim de Julio and
They played Bop
standards as well as Richie Cole originals. Dave Tull was effective with the Western-styled
'Cowboy Story' and was rewarded by being allowed to sing his own ' I just Wanna
Get Paid' - which may be the only vocal this whole weekend
(if you exclude
the Kenton musicians in chorus for ‘MacArthur Park
Eddie Jefferson's 'Last Time I Saw Janine' was offered without the lyric and the audience were awarded a unique premiere 'The LA Jazz Festival Blues'. Altogether a thoroughly enjoyable set which will surely deserves Richie an invitation back for a future event.
It is noticeable, by the way, that some of the biggest applause has been for the smaller bands in this big band event.
Then followed a panel discussion ' Remembering Louie Bellson', moderated again by Kirk Silsbee.
The panelists were Jeff Hamilton - who is taking Louie's role in a concert tomorrow and former members of the band or associates Bobby Shew, Ted Nash, Andy Mackintosh and Bill Yeager.
The universal view echoed an old adage ' the nicest guy in show business' - although several panelists cited exceptions that proved the rule! Interesting points were Louie's dislike of cymbals that didn't 'shimmer' - with Bobby inviting offers for a large collection of Louie's 'reject' cymbals, Bill revealing that, as Louie changed from sticks to brushes he always whispered 'Jo Jones' as the brushes hit the snare drum (only the trombonist sitting alongside ever heard that).
Somebody observed
that Louie , like Buddy Rich and many other top drummers had a history as a tap
dancer, and there was an observation that Louie always took breaths at the end
of natural phrases in the music. Discussion could have gone on all night on
Bobby's proposition that any music that can be completely described on a
written chart is a polka (e.g.: ‘Beethoven's 4th) - whereas music
that cannot be totally described on a chart is jazz..... These panel
discussions are a lot of fun and VERY educational.
Last up for the afternoon was Bill Watrous, with his big band 'Manhattan Wildlife Refuge Revisited'.
This band, which Bill presents in a unique style alternating the music with totally unrelated jokes, serves principally, in my view, as a vehicle for Bill's own solos - although there are solos by other band members in every number. The charts are by current composer/arrangers, including Phil Kelly, Gordon Goodwin and others. Numbers played included Phil's ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’, ‘Limehouse Blues’ and ‘Zipcode 2008,’ mostly played at breakneck pace, although alternated with ballads such as 'Gentle Rain'. For my personal taste this was an exercise in perfect musicianship, with little lasting memory.
The evening event however will, for me, be long remembered and, I am sure, the same will apply to many of the nearly-full house. Ken Poston, afterwards, was not arguing with those who said 'That was the best concert you have EVER organized'.
Billed as "
An Evening with Patrick Williams "Threshold Revisited and Aurora", it
comprised a single set just a few minutes short of 2 hours.
The link with the
1970's theme of the Festival was the big band album "Threshold",
released by Capitol in 1973, but put together on a shoestring budget using
techniques like Buddy Childers as a multi-tracked trumpet section. Williams
was, at that time, beginning to make his name in TV and films and the jazz
album was an indulgence, but proved influential. It was, for many years, a
'collectors item' until it reappeared as Threshold Revisited on CD a few years
ago when interest was building in Williams' new project for big band "Aurora
For this concert the set-list consisted of eight songs from the 2008 album "
It must suffice in this short review to say that the concert was absolutely magical - an all-star big band playing original compositions with brilliant ensemble work and creative solos. The band's lineup had 4 trumpets ( led by Wayne Bergeron), with Bob Summers taking most of the solos, four trombones, particularly featuring Alex Iles and Bob McChesney, four French horns, five saxes - with most of the solos from Sal Lozano, Terry Harrington and Jeff Driskill. At the piano was
Between songs, Patrick Williams talked about the music and also about his big band philosophy and where it fits in the history of big bands - from Fletcher Henderson and the 1930's through to today. After a standing ovation and continuous applause the band played an encore which was described as ' a medley of my hit' - the theme from 'The Streets of San Francisco'.
Many of those present then waited in line to buy CDs and have them autographed to memorialize the occasion.”
- Gordon Sapsed
