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Ron Wallace
38 days ago |
[Concert Review By Dick Marsho] The Central Illinois Jazz Society House Band kicked off the March program with an upbeat tune by Cannonball Adderley - “Unit 7”. Larry Harms led the way on tenor sax, while Billy Cook followed on guitar with his interesting chords. The next song was a new one for the House Band – “April Mist”. This tune by Tom Harrell, the acclaimed jazz trumpeter, has a touch of Latin and a very light feel, with a very syncopated rhythm throughout. It was done nicely and at a quick pace – an interesting piece, that featured Larry. They followed with “A Child is Born”, as Larry let some soft and flowing sounds from his tenor tax. There is much feeling to this song. The pace picked up with “Comin’ Home”, as Jeremy Clark (on drums) contributed a rhythmic solo to this one. It was good to have Jeremy back with us.
It was time for Sam Hartley to join us again with some vocal treats. He started with an oldie – “All of Me”. Jeremy provided a soft touch with his brush work on the drums. Sam followed with “L-O-V-E” from back in the 1960s. This one was written for Nat King Cole’s last album just before he passed away in 1965. Sam presented it in the upbeat manner that it was composed, while the House Band was active with their support and solos. Another very good job by Sam – please come back.
It was time for a little Charlie “Bird” Parker music. Per Bird, it is titled “Au Privavc”. However, Larry’s preference is “Au Privabably”. This is a tricky tune with the lively sound of zydeco and other rhythms. Billy handled the rhythms well, while Aaron Miller ran the bass line well. Jeremy kept the beat together and touched it off with his solo. They closed out the night with Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”. This is a pretty song with a straight-forward structure that brought so much meaning with the way that “Satchmo” was able to deliver it. This was a nice way to wind down the set. Thanks to the House Band for another fine job of delivering a varied mix of music. Thanks to Bill Duncan for providing another night of high quality sound.
David Hoffman and Friends opened their set with an original piece by David, titled “Locker Drama”. Like most of David’s tunes, this one also has a story behind it, but he didn’t get into the story. It was a lively and upbeat tune. “Soft Winds”, a jazz standard that sounds just like its title, followed. Derel Monteith really put a bit of swing to his keyboard solo, sounding a lot like Oscar Peterson. David (on flugelhorn) and Andy Crawford (on bass) built a creative little segment within this piece. Chip McNeil provided a high-energy tenor sax solo, while David shifted to his trumpet to close out this swinging tune. An original tune by Zack Lawrence – “Phridgid Mode” – followed. Zack is a student of David’s, who we saw develop his trombone chops over the years, with the guidance of David, during the Friday gigs at Panache. This tune has a mystical opening with an open chord sound. It featured Tim Pitchford on trombone. David added a high-energy solo, while Tom Marko drove the strong rhythms to this tune and provided an easy flowing tom-tom sound along the way.
“Two-Lane to Toulon”, everyone’s favorite, was our next treat. This original by David is his recognized “Hit”. It is a hit with all of us. Derel swung his solo nicely, while David’s flugelhorn turned this mellow piece even more mellow. Tim kicked up the power a bit with his trombone solo, before they all softly wound it down. “Bleu Balsa”, a take-off on “Blue Bossa”, followed. Sam Crain, who is from Springfield and is a friend of David, wrote “Bleu Balsa”. It has a catchy rhythm, which has traces of Blue Bossa buried within it. It moves softly with that Latin beat. David used his flugelhorn and trumpet at different times to express the different moods within the tune. “Hazel’s House”, an original by David, is about a former elderly neighbor. The bebop style was used because it was just appropriate, per David. This piece moves. Tim kicked his solo along and David knew the feeling that he wanted to create, so he was in the full flow. Derel followed with a lot of style on his keys. We all got our money’s worth on this one.
“Rosa” followed, in honor of the Brazilian singer, Rosa Passos. Derel built a very pretty intro to set the pace and environment for this song. David followed with the mellow flugelhorn sounds. Derel was featured very nicely on this piece, while Andy and Tom provided the very subtle rhythm support to this soft Brazilian beat. David just recently wrote this and I do hope to hear a lot more of it. This was the World Premiere of this very pretty tune. If you want to hear some beautiful Brazilian music, go to the Internet and listen to some of Rosa’s music. She was influenced by Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and other great ones. It will be well worth your time. Remember the severe blizzard of a few years ago? David has a song for that – “The Blizz”. It has all of the sounds that you would expect, but is much more musical. Tom provided a Latin touch to this one as they closed out the night. This really was an All-Star lineup that David Hoffman pulled together for the lucky jazz fans of Central Illinois. Thank you David and David’s Friends for a great night of Live Jazz at the Landmark.
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