along with my son the DJ (COI) with the addition of Rob Gray and a couple of
keyboard interventions by John Farah - a brilliant musician...and I think he
knows it. I don't know enough keyboard to say but I think this guy is the
next Keith Jarrett or Chick Corea - with an nuclear arsenal of modern sounds
to satisfy the dub-step demographic. Overheard at an electronica venue -
"Play us some sounds that we've never heard" - They're more interested in
sounds than music. But at least they're interested in something! More
audiences should be like that.
Mose Allison fulfilled every expectation - he played a non-stop selection of
tunes that he'd written interspersed with some blues, which he always
credited. The drummer was not familiar to me - I bet he came with Mose (oops, I got corrected on this when I posted this in one of the Jazz Festival updates. This is what I heard from a knowledgeable jazz fann: "Codswallop, BrianB! John Sumner is as local as you can get – unless you want to invoke his Irish ancestry – living on Isabella St. and plays regularly with Mark Eisenman and Steve Wallace. Sheesh." Apparently Mose doesn't like to be hearing a back-beat, and sure enough Sumner kept his brushes going and shuffled us along.
Meanwhile I at least knew who the bass player was - Neil Swainson...a most highly regarded player who could play anything I'm sure, but was that a bead of sweat forming on that brow? Mose had some great tunes I'd never heard - "Certified Senior Citizen" was one of them and there were several others just as funny and insightful as his well-known material. He certainly has his own approach to the blues - something I strive for myself.