Reviewed by Laura Kennelly
Can’t fit jazz into a box and last night’s double-bill concert featuring the David Sanborn Trio and Trombone Shorty and his band just goes to prove it.
The evening went from swimmingly, especially from seats near the front where the vibrations literally shook the floor laid over the State Theatre orchestra pit. That was more than fine, who could sit still anyway?
Oh how easy it is to “know what it means to miss New Orleans” and Trombone Shorty (real name Troy Andrews) and his Orleans Avenue Band reminded us why. When it was time for Orleans Avenue Band and Andrews to start their half of the show, the band’s opening chords and Andrew’s bounding onstage plus his athletic good looks suggested Greek god Dionysus might still be alive and well. At the same time, drummer Joey Peebles, with hair flying almost as fast as his sticks brought up happy memories of Animal on The Muppets. The wide-ranging program that started off the second half mixed New Orleans jazz, rock, funk, and soul. Would that I had started my stop watch when Andrews put down the trombone and took up the trumpet to school us on what circular breathing is all about. Maybe it was five minutes, maybe ten–it’s hard to believe a sustained note can go on that long without visible evidence of breathing (except for the occasional puffy cheeks). Awesome.
The night’s final treat was an extended version of the New Orleans’ iconic classic (can’t be a real parade in Nola without it) version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” that closed the program. First good thing, the band switched off the amplification, moved to the front of the stage, and just played (club style). Then, getting even more into the spirit, the whole band jumped off the stage and wound parade-style around the first floor seats. All that could be seen at times was the golden trombone moving over the heads of the standees. Andrews even stopped to give a quick hug to his former primary school teacher (and maybe biggest fan) in the audience before they all bounded onstage again.
The more old-school (yet still hip, of course) Sanborn Trio opened the program with numbers such as “Comin Home Baby,” “You’re Gone,” “A Keeper,” “Let the Good Times Roll,” (we all helped him sing that one), and “Basin Street Blues.” Sanborn wrenched a lot of sound from his amplified saxophone. Last night it was a sound that went more toward an angry wailing or a shout than a mellow reflection, but that makes sense considering he’s played for films such as “Lethal Weapon.” Drummer Jeremy Thomas (good solo stint) and impressive keyboard player Joey deFrancesco (rockin’ and improving on his amazing jazz organ, a special instrument with pedals that “roll” as need be) added greatly to the mix. (Check out this YouTube clip to get an idea what the dexterous deFrancesco treated us to with his knockout performance that every now and then tossed in the odd fragment of music that must has just wandered in through his fingers, such as “It Might as Well Be Spring.”
Spotting Tommy LiPuma in the audience, Sanborn told about the first time he met the iconic Cleveland-born pop and jazz producer whose name now graces the new Tri-C Center for Creative Arts. As best could be heard, it involved Sanborn’s career starting out in the 1970s, New York City, a taxi cab, LiPuma getting tossed (or at least rolled) out of a club and LiPuma’s subsequent unflappable grace as he held out his hand and introduced himself while still lying on the pavement. Little asides like this suggested that Sanborn would be a fun person to hang out with and listen to him tell more stories about “back in the day.”
When it was over, and the evening ran late, everyone (in what someone observed was a diverse crowd, yay for Cleveland) seemed to be in a fine, fine mood.
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.
Cleveland, OH 44115