Who knew smooth jazzers could start such a wild party? Friday night the State Theatre in Playhouse Square was like a giant celebration where some long-time friends got together for some joyful jamming.
Brian Simpson acted as the host of the party. He was first out, taking up his position behind his keyboards, and staying there on stage for the entire show, which ran straight through without an intermission. For a few duos he took his portable keyboard with him to the center stage, but he could not stand still all night. He was in constant motion, bopping and head bobbing. As each of his friends joined him on stage, his face and gestures indicated pure joy as he accompanied them from behind his keyboard, wincing in delight at peak notes and riffs.
Gerald Albright, like a confident old master stood back and blew his heart out on his sax. He cojoled the audience and was so engaged with them that at one point he stopped playing and said that the people in the front row made him forget where he was in the song he was playing. Clearly he was having a very good time. His rendition of Georgian on My Mind had the audience standing and belting out the lyrics. Georgia was on everyone’s mind last night.
Walter Beasley was the younger, gentler sax man in the room. His romantic renditions charmed the audience who were yelping with bliss at at each climactic moment. He is the founder of Affable Records and this good-natured musician reflects that agreeable attitude well. When he was done playing, we all felt like we were his best friends.
Norman Brown’s guitar playing seemed to bring as much sheer happiness to him as it did to the audience. This younger musician could not hold back his unabashed smile at the end of each number, which the audience responded to with pleasure.
Maysa, that soulful voice from her days with Incognito, poured her heart into each song which depicted her various man troubles – the one that got away, the one she should have stayed away from, the one she couldn’t have, and the one that never came. Her sincere effusive vocal stylings spilled out from the boundaries of words, and showed up often in the form of scatting sounds. At one point she stepped away from the mic to sing, as if to bypass the barrier of the electronic device and connect directly with audience using thin air.
And of course, that musical comedian, Peter White entertained the audience without the benefit of words. His smooth rendition of Whose That Lady rambled on into a heavy rockin’ version of Pappa Was a Rollin Stone. Without a word his physical pranks had the audience laughing and anticipating his next tease. He went so far as playing his guitar with his teeth, stopping just short of smashing it on stage.
Tri-C JazzFest is just winding up, there is still time take advantage of some of the other stellar performers in this years line up like Earnie Krivda, David Sanborn and Diana Krall. Act fast, there is only a little more than a week of this year’s Tri-C JazzFest left. Find out more and get your tickets here.
http://TriCPresents.com/JazzFest
Catch CoolCleveland’s complete JazzFest coverage, photos & video here.