So call this the resurrection of Late to Jazz.
Back in April, we drove up to Nashville to catch our third
Chris Botti show. Chris continues to try and build his reputation with an electric show of stunningly talented musicians playing an eclectic mix of jazz
standards and less often heard songs, calling upon a diverse group of singers
and soloists to add spark and interest and surprise. In Nashville, the biggest
surprise was the appearance of young pianist Taylor Eigsti, an up and coming
virtuoso who is recognized almost as much for his good looks as for his
stunning pianistic skills. Of course, Sy Smith made an appearance, and the ever
reliable Richie Goods, who I met a few years back, holds down the rhythm
section.
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| L-R: Taylor Eigsti, Chris Botti, Richie Goods (Nashville) |
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| Sy Smith, Lee Pearson, and drumsticks during pre-flight. |
Of course, he plays so fanatically, drumsticks occasionally
go flying. And being in the front row, they end up tantalizingly close. Chris
even picked one up and handed it to me. Then, with one laying on the stage as
they strode off after their encore, I yelled to Lee to toss me the stick that
was laying in front of his bass drum, and he did! We hung around just long
enough to still be stage side when Lee came out to clean up a bit, and he was
kind enough to sign the sticks. We almost got a photo of him doing so, but our
goofy Nikon picked the wrong mode to use for the shot. (It does that a lot.)
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| Provenance: Lee Pearson signing a drumstick. Blurred image and lack of focus courtesy of our point-and-shoot piece-of-shit Nikon. |
Then two weeks ago, we traveled to Atlanta to see Chris
again, this time with Joshua Bell doing a classical bit up front, followed by a
shortened version of Chris’s show with Joshua putting in a couple of
appearances. Lee again did his solo, also a little shorter, with two sticks
flying at the end. I was in the second row and this time, Chris just kicked the
sticks to the front edge of the stage, well removed from me. At the end of the
show, I casually wandered over there and asked the guy doing the breakdown if I
could have the sticks. He said, “I’m sorry. They aren’t mine to give away.”
Then he kind of looked away and said, “But I didn’t see anything.” I said, “I
heard that,” and picked up the sticks. Just then, I noticed an usher at the end
of the row heading toward me. I thought about hiding the sticks, but there was
no sense, since he’d already seen me grab them. He said, “Those will make a
really nice souvenir for someone.” I told him that I asked for them and that
anyway, it was my second set from Lee. He just said, “Oh really?” and left it
at that. I mean, I guess he figured that at that point, I wasn’t going to put
the sticks back, they didn’t need to be put back, and somebody had to pick them
up.
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| The mixed pair of drumsticks from the Nashville Chris Botti conccert, signed by Lee Pearson |
So I’ve got four of Lee Pearson’s drumsticks.
The Atlanta concert, by the way, was the debut concert of a
tour that Chris and Joshua are doing together. The classical bits that Joshua
did with the orchestra were sort of in a traditional vein, with a bit of
modernity thrown in with some lesser well-known pieces on the theme of the four
seasons. (The show started with Vivaldi’s “Spring” and “Summer”.) Joshua kept
it light, more or less setting the stage for Chris to rock out the place.
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| Joshua Bell and Chris Botti (Atlanta) |
Chris’s numbers are definitely getting repetitive for me,
but he continues to demonstrate incredible mastery of his instrument as his
musicians help him and each other to dazzle. Geoffrey Keezer, who I also met acouple of years back, was on piano, and he was sensational and bluesy as
always. He actually was another highlight of the jazz set, as he seemed to be
crafting some edginess and surprises to throw in at unexpected moments. I think
part of it was that he could see the orchestra, so he was helping his bandmates
stick with the orchestra with musical signals. I noticed Lee had to keep
turning around a lot and motioning with his eyes, head, and occasionally arms
and hands. I won’t say the orchestra was missing their cues, but I think the
conductor, Maxim Ashkenazy may have been a little out of his element.
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| L-R: Geoffrey Keezer, Chris Botti, Richie Goods (Atlanta) |
Still, it was a great privilege to attend the first ever
Chris Botti/Joshua Bell 2016-17 (?) tour concert, and we had a really great
time in Atlanta. And I got four bashed up drumsticks for good measure. Not a
bad deal all around.
