Will Donato & Elan Trotman at Houndstooth recap March 12, 2012

Saturday night, to coin a borrow a previously used term, was saxtacular!  Saxophonists Will Donato and Elan Trotman performed at Houndstooth Pub, a few blocks north of Penn Station.  It was the first time I’d seen Will in concert, but the second for Elan, who I saw last April with Brian Simpson.

But before taking the LIRR to Penn Station and walking those few blocks to Houndstooth, something noteworthy occurred in my neighborhood and another thing in my family.  It was my mother Lisa’s birthday.  My presents to her were two scratch-off lottery tickets, she won $2 with each, and a Chicago CD.  As for the noteworthy neighborhood event, a curbside tree by my neighbor’s house was taken down by a crew from what I assume was the Town of Hempstead.  They also removed a tree a block north and west away on Thursday.

Here are two before vidcaps.  This one is from February 5, 1995:

And from November 11, 2011:

The next three are after pictures that I took before going to Wantagh’s LIRR station:

I suppose the next step is to redo the sidewalk.

With that business out of the way, on to the show at Houndstooth.

Backing Will and Elan up were Jay Rowe on keyboards:

Kenny Harris on bass:

And Chris Marshak, brother of guitarist Matt Marshak, on drums:

I was on hand for the first set.  Elan went first.  Here’s what he played:

Elan Trotman:
1. Lil’ Too Late
2. 100 Degrees
3. Heaven in Your Eyes
4. Last Dance

Jay’s second solo on “Heaven in Your Eyes”:

Elan made way for Will Donato:
Will Donato:
5. New Life
6. I’ll Be Around
7. Jaywalking
8. Always You
9. Funkability

Guitarist JJ Sansaverino joined the band for Will’s portion of the set, seen here during his “New Life” solo:

Will went into the audience multiple times:

“Jaywalking” began with a bass solo by Kenny Harris:

And he had a simple “it’s you” vocal on “Always You”:

That song also had a wild guitar solo by JJ:

Back into the audience during “Funkability”:

He even went behind the bar!:

After “Funkability,” the set was complete.

And what a wild set it was!  Elan was exciting and Will was lively!  I can only imagine how much wilder the second set must have been.  Before I left, I got to meet Elan and Will in person for the first time.  Elan told me he liked my Brian Simpson show recap and I thanked him for the compliment.

On the way back to Penn Station, I remembered that the championship game for the Big East Tournament was taking place that night at Madison Square Garden.  Before walking into Penn, I took a picture of the tournament’s banner:

In the championship game, the Louisville Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 50-44.  About twelve hours later on the same basketball court, the Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers squared off.  Unfortunately, the Sixers won.  After the game, the court was taken apart and the hockey rink was set up as the Rangers faced the Islanders a few hours later.  The Rangers won 4-3 on a Marion Gaborik goal with six seconds left in overtime.

Back on Saturday night, the 10:45 Babylon-bound train was a few minutes late, but I made it back to Wantagh on time.

Thanks to Will, Elan, Jay, Kenny, Chris, JJ, Steve Butler, and Ed Tankus for another great night at Houndstooth.

11:47 PM UPDATE: After posting this recap and linking to it on Facebook, Elan had this to say:

Nice job – yet again. Really nice work.

Thank you again, Elan.  I’m very glad you liked it.

I also got this from Will:

Mike I really enjoyed your amazing blog. The photos really captured the night and I am honored to be reviewed with such passion and care!

Thank you, too, Will.