Turns out that the night we saw them was the second last
date on their Hot House tour, which has been going on for something like a year
and a half. More amazingly, Chick and Gary were celebrating 42 years of playing
together. Let me say that again: these two guys have been playing together for
42 years. I've only been alive for 49 years, so, there is basically nothing
that I've been doing for 10 or 20 years, much less 42. That told me right away
(what I already knew as well), we were in for a special night of music.
 |
| None of the pictures of our awesome food came out awesome. This - the stage set-up - is about all we have to offer. |
Among the songs they played: Strange Meadow Lark (by their
late friend, Dave Brubeck), Eleanor Rigby (some English guy), and my favorite,
Waltz for Debby (everything’s better with Bill Evans). Songs I wanted to hear
and they did not play: Senor Mouse and Windows (both Corea compositions). The
duet portion took up the first hour of the show. Although I have nothing
against the guests during the second hour, the Harlem String Quartet (who were
very good), I would just as soon have listened to Chick and Gary play together
for another hour. (Then maybe they would have gotten to Senor Mouse.)
I could expound longer and longer about Chick’s fantastic
playing, Gary’s inimitable solos, the difficulty of playing with sheet music,
and the sound of a Steinway concert grand with a Musser vibraphone, but it
would be like describing the color red to a blind person. Truly, you just had
to be there, and Mrs. S and I were.
No comments:
Post a Comment