It's been a while - Concerts

It's been a while since I posted; we have been really busy trying to cram a bunch of life in before the baby arrives!

We have been to several concerts the past couple of months. First of all, we went to see the Christian McBride Band on March 25, as part of the Cal Performances. All I can say is, "That's better!" after the horrible Hancock/Brecker concert. McBride is wonderful, energetic, and very talented. He makes playing upright bass as physically challenging as playing a much smaller instrument. I really like the fact that he embraces all kinds of music and incorporates it into his jazz. As an example, they played a cover of Steely Dan's Aja.

I had seen his piano player, Geoffrey Keezer, play with the late Ray Brown, a few years back, and at that time, he was young, full of flashy technique, and raw around the edges. This time, he was mature, very, very musical, and quite a lot of fun, still with that dazzling technique.

The drummer, Terreon Gully, was very good, although his drumming a this particular event did not stand out to me. Certainly, he is a better drummer than anybody I play with; however, I have seen others I like better (such as Billy Killson or Jeff "Tain" Watts).

The saxophonist, Ron Blake, was a very pleasant surprise. He had a wonderful sound, based largely on the Stan Getz-Joe Lavano mold, but slightly more forceful. He had wonderful technique, but did not put it in your face. The last number they performed, he composed (I wished I remembered the name), and his Caribbean influence was abundant. It was funky, with a Calypso influence. Truly wonderful. I hope to get more of his music as time goes on.

Certainly a wonderful concert to go to.

The very next night, we went back to Zellerbach, and saw Emanuel Ax and Yefim Bronfman play piano duos.

Wow. This concert should blow the myth away that classical music and/or musicians are stuffy. They opened with Schumann's Six Etudes in the Form of a Canon, op. 56. This piece evidentally was written for custom instrument, kind of a piano with organ pedals, or some such, and later rearranged by Debussy for two pianos. This was masterfully done, and quite pretty, but was my least favorite piece of the concert.

They followed with Claude Debussy's En Blanc et Noir. This piece was also masterfully done, and quite dazzling. It did not quite capture my imagination, however. I guess I found it a little rambling and dark.

The last two pieces made up for it. Ravel's La Valse, was out of this world. I am somewhat familiar with the orcehstral version; it's kind of a Sorcerer's Aprrentice does Viennese Waltz. The piece is quite macabre, and the imagined scene of this waltz spinning out of control is just stunning. I think the program notes put it the best: "One imagines the Viennese Society waltzing away while the world around them is falling apart due to the Great War". The artists were panting and grunting and animated; it was a joy to watch as well as to listen to.

They closed with Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Those of you who know me know that I have analyzed, memorized and been mesmerized by this work since I was a sophomore in high school. I was really looking forward to hearing the two-piano arrangement, as I had known it existed for a long time. With both the Ravel and this piece, it was almost distracting knowing the orchestral versions, as I kept hearing those in my mind while listening to the piano versions. However, this too was dazzling. Simply dazzling. And at the end, Bronfman, slammed his entire forearm down on the piano for the last "chord" as he stood up.

Was simply great. Simply great. And they did an encore of a Brahms work which I was not familiar. The electricity of their performance was simply breathtaking.

After this concert, I went to the restroom, and as I was standing there, doing my business, I realized that I was standing to the aforementioned Geoffrey Keezer. Cool! I finished up, and then stood outside with Jade, waited for him to come out, and then introduced myself and Jade. He was really nice; being a piano player and musician, he was definitely interested in Ax/Bronfman. A nice cap to a good night.

More as I have time. I have a lot to catch up on!