Tue 4/24 7PM The Hermit Club
Did you hear the rumbles? The atmosphere was changing and something different was in the air, but it did not have too travel far. The storm was spawned in the plains, gained momentum in the Midwest and let loose its surge on the Southern shore of Lake Erie Tuesday night, cooling the atmosphere in Cleveland considerably. Ernie Krivda, Cleveland’s gentleman of swing, summoned his Midwestern musical cohorts-in-cool to form Thunder from the Heartland, a concert of jazz standards and some saucy new selections performed by Midwestern jazz gentry.
Local legend and tenor sax man Ernie Krivda, donning a black fedora, was the dapper director of this collection of jazz masters. Piano man Bobby Floyd came from Columbus. Trumpet virtuoso Brad Goode and guitarist Bobby Broom traveled from Chicago. Jeff Grubbs, from the days of Krivda’s Fat Tuesday Band, brought his bass from Pittsburgh, and drummer Renell Gonsalves drove from Detroit.
Krivda affectionately referred to the jazz standards they played, like the theme from the movie Laura, as “old chestnuts” and the crew got right to the kernel of each piece, then they took turns improvising the heart and soul out of it, one by one. New work performed included a piece with a tongue-in-cheek name of Great Lakes Gumbo. Krivda joked that unlike the New Orleans’ gumbo, this local version contained carp. Whether it was comfortable oldies-but-goodies or newer compositions, the appreciative audience was clearly digging it.
Speaking of old chestnuts, The Hermit Club was the perfect spot for this gig. The tudor architecture, period fixtures, but mostly the original artwork and quirky memorabilia from a by-gone era that covers the walls of the three floors of public space in the club was mostly from the same generation, like the older music the band played. Also, the intimate size of the room made for a truly special exchange of music and energy.
Tri-C JazzFest has something for everyone, depending on which slice of jazz you prefer, and Ernie Krivda’s Thunder from the Heartland for the most part depicted a unique era and genre of jazz not often celebrated. This is the second year Thunder from the Heartland is featured as part of Tri-C JazzFest, so be sure to check back in future years to see if Ernie Krivda will once more gather the gang for another swinging storm of jazz.
There are still more concerts in this year’s Tri-C JazzFest line-up, with acts like David Sanborn and Trombone Shorty and Diana Krall, but act fast to get tickets. The countdown to the end of the festival is approaching. You can find the Tri-C JazzFest events listed here.
http://TriCPresents.com/jazzfest/jazz-fest-schedule/
Cleveland, OH 44115