Guitars & Saxes 2008 concert recap October 26, 2008

Click here for my recap of the Guitars and Saxes Smooth Cruise in August 2010.

On a very windy, very rainy Saturday night, I attended the 9:30 concert for Guitars & Saxes at the IMAC in Huntington.  This was the very last stop for their 2008 tour.  And since it was the second of two shows that night, it was the very last concert.

The headliners were:

Peter White on guitar #1…

Jeff Golub on guitar #2…

Gerald Albright on saxophone #1…

…and Jeff Lorber on a pair of keyboards.

Though not a headliner, the woman on saxophone #2, a rapidly rising star in contemporary jazz, is a headliner to me: Jessy J!

Rounding out the band, Nate Phillips on bass…

…and Rayford Griffin on drums.

Here was the set list:
(Nate and Rayford performed on all songs.)

Introductory medley:
1a. Tune 88 (Jeff Lorber)
Original heard on: “Water Sign,” 1979 (with The Jeff Lorber Fusion); “Flipside,” 2005
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

1b. Promenade (Peter White)
Original heard on: “Promenade,” 1993
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

1c. Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got) (Jeff Golub; Four Tops cover)
Original heard on: “Grand Central,” 2007
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

1d. To the Max (Gerald Albright)
Original heard on: “Kickin’ It Up,” 2004
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jessy J

2. Rehab (Jeff Lorber; Amy Winehouse cover)
Originally heard on: “Heard That,” 2008
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jessy J

Jeff’s version is much, much better than the original (which I would never listen to since I’m not an Amy Winehouse fan).  The song featured a lively call and response section, as all featured musicians called (musically, of course) to Jeff and he responded.

3. Who’s That Lady (Peter White; Isley Brothers cover)
Originally heard on: “Glow,” 2001
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J; Jeff Golub joined in later

This song initially featured Jessy J on bongos:

Then, we segued into “Oye Como Va,” a Tito Puente cover (notably covered by Santana), and Jessy moved to flute:

As stated above, Jeff Golub joined in for this part:

4. Dangerous Curves (Jeff Golub)
Originally heard on: “Dangerous Curves,” 2000
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

5. My, My, My (Gerald Albright; Johnny Gill cover)
Originally heard on: “Dream Come True,” 1990
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Jeff Golub, Peter White, Jessy J

The picture of Gerald when introducing the players was taken during “My, My, My.”  This song featured background vocals from Rayford Griffin (not pictured), Peter White, Jessy J (both below)…

…and Jeff Lorber.

It also featured two big solos by Gerald.  The latter solo mellowed to the point where he merely blew air into his saxophone’s reed.  It was very close to beatboxing.  A few players prompted the audience to snap their fingers to the beat.  Then, Gerald resumed generating notes from the sax and the song was completed.

Next, the lone song by Jessy J, seen here addressing the audience:

6. Tequila Moon (Jessy J)
Originally heard on: “Tequila Moon,” 2008
Featured musicians: Jessy J, Peter White, Jeff Lorber

7. Naked City (Avenue Blue, Jeff Golub’s former group)
Originally heard on: “Naked City,” 1996
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber

The picture off Jeff Golub from the player introduction was taken during this song.

8. Bueno Funk (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Glow,” 2001
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

Initially, Jessy went back to the bongos, as you see in the upper-right portion of this picture:

Then, Jessy brought out the sunglasses…

…as Peter played the opening riff from the “James Bond Theme”…

…before switching back to “Bueno Funk,” featuring an organ solo from Jeff Lorber (or “J-Lo,” as Gerald refers to him) and a return to the sax for Jessy.

The picture of Rayford Griffin from the player introduction was taken during a drum solo for this song, which ended on the opening melody from Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.”

9. Surreptitious (Jeff Lorber)
Originally heard on: “He Had a Hat,” 2007
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Jessy J

10. Georgia On My Mind (Gerald Albright; Hoagy Carmichael cover; Ray Charles, best known cover of it)
Originally heard on: “Live At Birdland West,” 1991; “New Beginnings,” 2006
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber, Peter White, Jessy J

After a few minutes, the tempo and energy picked up with solos from all featured musicians.

That was the last song of the set, but shows like this rarely end without an encore.

After a 20-to-30-second standing ovation under darkness, the band returned to the stage:

And this was the encore song:
11. Cut The Cake (Jeff Golub; Average White Band cover)
Originally heard on: “Do It Again,” 2002
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J

This featured a Nate Phillips bass solo, which is where his player introduction picture came from.

Rayford Griffin, Gerald Albright, and Jessy J provided brief background vocals.

And that was it; concert over, tour over.

What a way to close things out.

During the meet-and-greet, I got to catch up with Gerald, Peter, and Jeff Lorber, and meet Jeff Golub and Jessy.  Here I am with all five:

And here’s a picture Gerald shot of Jessy and me:

Before we said goodbye and I wished her best of luck, she told me to check out her blog, which doubles as a vlog (video log).  I told her I would do so the next day because I was worn out after that concert, as we all were.  I’m a man of my word; I checked it out once I turned my computer on after I got up on Sunday (the day this post is dated).  It’s quite interesting.  It almost inspires me to start vlogging.  We’ll see.

Meanwhile, I hoped you enjoyed this recap, which turned out to be as detailed as my Smooth Jazz for Scholars recap back six months ago.  (Six months ago already?  Boy, time flies.)  As that recap was, this one, too, was a labor of love.

By the way, once I left IMAC around midnight, the rain had tapered off, the winds had died down, and the sky began to clear.