Jessy J at Iridium recap February 11, 2012

(2/25 UPDATE: Jessy has posted video of six songs from the 8:00 set to her YouTube channel, including two in one video.  They are embedded in the set list below the corresponding titles.)

I was at The Iridium jazz club Thursday night to see saxophonist/vocalist Jessy J perform.  There were two shows: 8:00 and 10:00.  I went to the earlier one.  It was the first time I’d seen her solo since I first saw her with Guitars and Saxes in 2008.

I had originally planned on seeing Jessy at the Daniel Street club in Milford, Connecticut back in late July, but I was unable to make it.  I was unaware she’d be at The Iridium until the previous Monday, January 30, when the date was listed in her latest newsletter.  Not about to let this opportunity pass me by, I immediately bought a ticket.  (6/22/12 UPDATE: Daniel Street closed one month before The Iridium show.)

Before we get the show recap started, I’d like to share a funny thing that happened after I bought that ticket.  The site I bought it through, TicketWeb, listed my hometown, with the 11793 zip code, as Briar Park rather than Wantagh.  I had never heard of that alternate name and a Google search was inconclusive.  I reached out to my Facebook friends from Wantagh or North Wantagh through a status update, but none of them commented.  A comment in this old message board thread helped slightly, but not much:

… While my neighborhood is served by the Levittown School district, I am 110% positive that my development is considered (for intents and purposes) North Wantagh. Just north of me is the “R” section of Levittown, and the Briar Park section of Wantagh; and south of the parkway is the “T” section …

I walked through that “T” section of North Wantagh earlier today, so called because most of the street names begin with the letter “T” (i.e. Twin, Tally, Toll Gate, Tumble, etc.).  So, apparently, Briar Park is a section of Wantagh, but I still don’t know where.  If anyone happens to read this and knows the answer, please leave a comment.

On to the recap:
I was dropped off at the Wantagh LIRR station at 5:30, 29 minutes before my Penn Station-bound train arrived.  I killed some of the time in the adjacent McDonald’s, buying a small meal, before returning to the platform.  The train I was on was an older model, an M1, the predecessor to the M7, which features an automated voice recording – which I do a good impression of – and synthesized bell.  When I arrived at Penn Station, I immediately walked to the 34th Street subway station to take the uptown 1 train to 50th and Broadway.  I barely missed one, but another arrived four minutes later.  Finally, I arrived at The Iridium, 45 minutes before showtime.  Since I was early, I got a great seat: a table on the left side of the stage.  After a spaghetti and meatballs dinner, it was finally time for Jessy J and the band.

Jessy was on the tenor sax:

Her pants look pink, but they’re red.

She was backed up by Jay Rowe on keyboards:

Mike Nunno (“NEW-no”) on bass:

Jon Roundtree on drums:

And Rohn (“Ron”) Lawrence on guitar:

8:00 SET LIST
1. Fiesta Velada
2. Sin Ti

3. Mas Que Nada (Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 cover) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, background vocals
4. Tequila Moon

5. Tropical Rain

6. Remember the Night

7. Hot Sauce

8. Conga (Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine cover) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, vocal solo
9. Oye Como Va (Tito Puente cover, arrangement similar to Santana version) – Jessy, vocals; Rohn, vocal solo
10. Baila! – Jessy, vocals

1-4 are from Tequila Moon (2008).
5 and 10 are from True Love (2009).
6 and 7 are from Hot Sauce (2011).

A few songs featured a call and response, wild at times, with Jessy and Rohn Lawrence.  Here’s a sample:

The view from the HD monitor behind me:

Jessy wore two musical hats for “Mas Que Nada,” “Conga,” “Oye Como Va,” and “Baila!”: saxophone and vocals. Here she is during “Mas Que Nada”:

Rohn backed her up:

Mike Nunno’s “Mas Que Nada” bass solo:

Rohn’s “Remember the Night” guitar solo:

Clapping in the middle of “Hot Sauce”:

Jessy switched to alto sax for “Conga” and “Oye Como Va”:

“Conga” vocals:

Rohn’s “Conga” solo:

Miami-style clapping:

Vocal solo…

…with audience participation:

Jay Rowe’s “Oye Como Va” keyboard solo, first seen from a monitor:

The end-of-solo glide:

Jessy switched back to tenor sax for the last song of the set – “Baila!”:

Jay’s “Baila!” solo:

Then, it was Rohn’s turn:

And finally, a drum solo by Jon Roundtree:

The last note:

The end!

Afterward, Jessy and I briefly caught up with each other and shot this picture:

She asked if I still had my blog and I told her I do.  I also met Rohn in person for the first time and caught up with Jay and Mike, who I’d previously seen on bass for drummer John Favicchia’s Dharma All Stars.  Outside of the band, I saw my friends Katherine Gilraine, who came for the 10:00 show, and Kat Sarracco who was at the 8:00 show, but I didn’t even notice during it because I was focused on the stage the entire time.

Going back to Penn Station, I was unable to find the entrance to the 50th-Broadway subway station’s downtown platform.  So, I gave up and planned on walking all the way down to Penn.  I didn’t realize it, but I would be walking through Times Square.  The tourists were out in full force and I was one of them, shooting these pictures:

My last picture of the night was the exterior of the Times Square station:

I was finally able to board the downtown 1 train, but had to walk a bit above ground before finding the LIRR entrance.  I ran to catch the 10:05 Babylon-bound train.  The New York Rangers hockey team had a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden that ended moments earlier.  (The Rangers won 4-3 in overtime.)  So, the train I barely made was packed.  I stood by the car door until Jamaica when one of the fold-out seats next to me was vacated.  I got back to Wantagh just after 11:00, ending a great night of music and travel.

Thanks to Jessy, Jay, Mike, Jon, and Rohn for a wonderful, exhilarating show.  It was a blast!