Fourplay at the Blue Note December 3, 2015

Posted by Mike C. in Christmas, Jazz, Music, Personal, Photography, Travel.
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I was at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village on Thursday night to see contemporary jazz group Fourplay perform. It was the third of six nights at the legendary venue, which they called their Blue & Silver Holiday Celebration. Each night had an 8:00 show and a 10:30 show. I was there for the 8:00 show.

I left my house in Wantagh at 4:00, walking about 20 minutes to the Wantagh LIRR station. From there, I boarded the 4:27 train bound for Penn Station.

Once at Penn, immediately walked to the Subway station and took the A train, as in the Duke Ellington song, downtown to West 4th Street. I ascended the stairs at West 3rd and walked a quarter block to Blue Note.

I arrived at 5:40, waiting outside until the doors opened at 6:00. I took this picture while I waited:

After I was let in and I checked my coat, I chose a table facing center stage and sat at the closest seat to the stage.

After dinner and dessert, it was time for Fourplay.

The band is made up of Bob James on piano and keyboard:

Nathan East on bass and vocals:

Chuck Loeb on guitars and background vocals:

It’s Chuck’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Chuck.

And Harvey Mason on drums:

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see Harvey from my seat, but I did get this shot of him when he stood up as he and the band introduced each other:

Fourplay is celebrating 25 years as a band, the silver anniversary. That’s why their latest album is entitled “Silver.” A few songs from the album were incorporated into the set list, as you’ll see below:

1. Angels We Have Heard On High
Originally heard on: “Snowbound,” 1999

2. December Dream
Originally heard on: “Esprit de Four,” 2012

3. Max-O-Man
Originally heard on: “Fourplay,” 1991

4. Chant
Originally heard on: “Between the Sheets,” 1993

5. Quicksilver
Originally heard on: “Silver,” 2015

6. Horace
Originally heard on: “Silver,” 2015

7. Silverado
Originally heard on: “Silver,” 2015

8. Silver Streak
Originally heard on: “Silver,” 2015″

9. Bali Run
Originally heard on: “Fourplay,” 1991

10 (Encore). Between the Sheets (The Isley Brothers cover)
Originally heard on: “Between the Sheets,” 1993

The rest of this recap contains various shots of each band member. We start with Bob James:

Nathan East:

Chuck Loeb:

Harvey Mason:

Nate and Chuck:

Shots from the encore: “Between the Sheets”:

Nate thanked the audience:

And the last note was played:

I had a blast at this show. I was into every note of every song. Thank you to Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb, and Harvey Mason for a fantastic night of music. And thank you to Ken Freeman for his masterful mixing. The audio levels were just right – not too loud, not too soft – and each instrument was in tune.

Happy Silver Anniversary to all!

I’ll leave you with a few pictures I took at West 4th Street Station while waiting for an uptown A train back to Penn Station:

Downtown A train: