Tony Bennett, with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Apollo Theatre, New York, NY on December 16, 2008.
A night of firsts: never saw Mr. Bennett, never been to the Apollo, never ate at Sylvia's....All cool things to check off the list...
The show started a few minutes past eight with a 30 - 40 minute set by the Count Basie Orchestra. The Orchestra is now led by long-time band member Bill Hughes, who noted that he joined the band in 1956...they warmed up the room with a strong set of swing and with no real break to speak of (save for a couple of musicians entering and exiting their positions) Tony Bennett was introduced. I did not keep notes but he covered quite a bit of ground. For Once in My Life, The Best is Yet to Come, My Favorite Things, and of course....I Left My Heart in San Francisco. All told, about 60 - 70 minutes of Tony. The only tune missing for me was his take on Winter Wonderland, which appears on both of his Christmas records - this year's release with the Basie Orchestra and his last one, from 1968!
Cool side note: on the way in we were all handed laminates with a code on back to download a track from the show after Dec 23...
There was a fun post-show reception at Sylvia's, the classic soul food spot on Lenox Ave. You know its a party when Charlie Rangel's in the house...
Neil Young and His Electric Band, with Wilco and Everest, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY, December 15, 2008
Everest...moderately interesting rootsy kinda band. Probably great in a bar...but Wilco...Fucking Wilco, man, how do they keep getting better? It is ridiculous. I have not seen them in a couple of years and I tell you, they were loud, crystal clear, and adventurous. I remember after seeing them for the first time 8 or 9 years ago I sent an email to my friends calling Wilco a cross between The Band and the Bay City Rollers. You might be able to add Pink Floyd to that list. Damn...I nominate them for Best Band in the World right now...Tweedy is unreal. I hope we're still seeing them 20 years from now. Impossible Germany and Spiders (Kidsmoke) were the highlights for me...
Neil's band for this tour is "His Electric Band": Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Ralph Molina, Anthony Crawford and Pegi Young. Managed to scrounge a video from the show on offa YouTube:
Neil's set was heavy up on new songs...a lot of singing about green energy and recycling...idealistic lyrics, earnestly delivered, that's Neil, right? Cortez and Cinnamon Girl were worth the price of admission alone, though...Oh yeah, and Cowgirl in the Sand and Neil introducing Pegi as the "Unknown Legend" (which was beautifully played in its own right...). Neil's set list:
Love And Only Love
Hey Hey, My My
Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
Powderfinger
Spirit Road
Cortez The Killer
Cinnamon Girl
Oh, Lonesome Me
Mother Earth
The Needle And The Damage Done
Light A Candle
"Cough Up The Bucks"
Fuel Line
"Hit The Road And Go To Town"
Unknown Legend
Heart Of Gold
Old Man
Get Back To The Country
"Off The Road"
Just Singing A Song
When Worlds Collide
Cowgirl In The Sand
Rockin' In The Free World
"Get Behind The Wheel"
A Day In The Life
12/19/08 update: Wilco set list courtesy of Wilcobase:
Via Chicago
Impossible Germany
You Are My Face
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hummingbird
Jesus, Etc.
Forget The Flowers
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Please let me know if you have recordings of any parts of this show. I would love to post them here.
McCoy Tyner, Blue Note, New York, NY, December 9, 2008.
Let's get discussion of the line-up out of the way first:
McCoy Tyner, piano Gerald Cannon, bass Eric Kamau Gravatt, drums Savion Glover, tap dancer Gary Bartz, MC (and more importantly, saxophone) Marc Ribot, guitar
McCoy Tyner is my favorite living musician, jazz or otherwise. For over a year I have been on an uber-nerd quest to gather every recorded note of his I can find. It is an on-going project, something I think and hope will take years to finish. You can follow the progress with these links:
Anyway, McCoy is in the midst of a run of shows at the Blue Note to mark his 70th birthday and to promote his new record, Guitar. Two sets and a different special guest each night. The guests include Ribot, Joe Lavano, Ravi Coltrane and Bill Frisell. I would go every night if I could but I can't so the Ribot night was a no-brainer for me. Ribot is the Forrest Gump of musicians...every time I get into an artist, Ribot shows up as a collaborator or sideman...
McCoy covered so much ground in the Ribot sets...He hit some of his own best compositions, nodded to the Msaters (Coltrane, Monk and Duke), and displayed a phenomenal level of musicianship on what is arguably one of the most physically demanding instruments to play well in old age.
McCoy still has the intense left hand he is known for as well as the nimble right. For the first set we sat just over his right shoulder and had a great view (his hands were reflected in the finish of the polished Steinway which was a treat as well)...The set started with his own Sama Layuca (from the album of the same name) and ended about 70 minutes later with Trane's Moment's Notice. In between, Ribot ripped some wild solos (after the second set I told him he doesn't have a cliche in his body and he replied, "well, I'm trying to learn some") Gary Bartz proved his relevance and Savion Glover...well...he tap danced...when it worked (and it often did) there was a tremendous interplay with the other players. When it didn't, he seemed oblivious to the dynamics and stomped through their playing. My biggest complaint with the set was not his presence, but the fact that the board he tapped on was mic'ed and way too prominent in the mix. The taps were going to ring out, they did not need to be amplified...
For the second set, which opened with an absolutely smoking take on McCoy's Fly With the Wind (a good 10 - 15 minute airing), Savion was only present for two songs and seemed to fit in much better. This set was much more fiery and intense as well. McCoy and the rest of the band were clearly loosened up.
70 is young these days but McCoy will not be around forever. I can't see how he can continue to play at this level much longer...though he takes his personal care very seriously, he even adheres to a special diet which he discusses here so who knows...the point is, see McCoy while you can. As the last living member of the classic John Coltrane quartet he is an important figure in jazz history. It is amazing, he was only 27 when his time with Trane came to an end. he could have never worked again and been a jazz giant. But he kept going and became an innovator in spiritual jazz, Latin, big band, in his use of strings and other instrumentation...he avoided embarrassing fusion (ignore the record with Santana from the 80s, we all make mistakes)...played with the cream of the horn players, from Pharoah, to Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, Azar Lawrence, to Joe Lovano today...The guy is the shit!
If you come across recordings of these sets please let me know. There are some absolutely lovely photos here and the Blue Note's site has some video from soundcheck posted.
Music links posted here expire after a very short period of time, typically fourteen days max...Get 'em while you can...And always remember to enjoy and support live music.
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Tony Bennett, with the Count Basie Orchestra at the Apollo Theatre, New York, NY on December 16, 2008.
and his last one, from 1968
!
