I was visiting my brother in the Big Apple last week, and I made it a point to try and see as much live jazz as I could. Two gigs of note:
Guitarist Gene Bertoncini plays two nights a week at La Cafe Madeleine, located on 43rd and 10th. A&M'ers may recall Gene from his appearances on the Winter Consort album(s) as well as Summertime and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Desmond. Here he was playing nylon-string acoustic guitar, performing unaccompanied renditions of jazz standards, a few Brazilian tunes, and a little bit of Bach. It was a very intimate setting, with Gene just sitting at a table at the front of the café; I was fortunate enough to be seated at the table next to his. I got a chance to chat with him about his time with Paul Desmond (my hero); I also requested a few tunes, and he said he was impressed with my knowledge of jazz. Late in the third set, George Martin (!) showed up with a friend--Gene introduced me to him, again speaking highly of my taste in music. That was a surprising development, to say the least. Anyway, Gene's repertoire included Jobim's "Wave," "Useless Landscape," and "Double Rainbow"; Baden-Powell's "Canto De Ossanha," "Emily" by Johnny Mandel, "The Duke" by Brubeck, "The More I See You," "Girl Talk," and others. Beautiful player.
Later in the week I caught a soul-jazz gig at a bar called Smoke, which ended up giving me a pleasant, A&M-related surprise. A local magazine advertised the headliners as being Mark LeDonne on organ, Peter Bernstein on guitar, and Eric Alexander on tenor sax. Never heard of LeDonne, but I like Bernstein and Alexander so I decided to go. When I arrived at the venue, I noticed that, seated at the bar, there was a man wearing a large yellow turban. I thought, "Gee, that looks like Dr. Lonnie Smith, one of the all-time greats of the Hammond organ." Sure enough, when showtime rolled around, Dr. Lonnie Smith sat down at the Hammond and proceeded to get down with his funky self for three hours. Soul-jazz fans will recall Lonnie from his many many appearances alongside A&M artist George Benson on such classic soul-jazz albums as It's Uptown, Cookin', Alligator Boogaloo, Midnight Creeper, Live At The Club Mozambique, etc. Wonderfully funky stuff.
(On a non-AM note, Eric Alexander was replaced by another all-time great, George Coleman, on about half of the tunes. Jazz fans will remember George from his association with Miles Davis in the early '60s, and from his appearance on Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage LP.)
Now if only Sergio Mendes would play New York...
- William
Guitarist Gene Bertoncini plays two nights a week at La Cafe Madeleine, located on 43rd and 10th. A&M'ers may recall Gene from his appearances on the Winter Consort album(s) as well as Summertime and Bridge Over Troubled Water by Paul Desmond. Here he was playing nylon-string acoustic guitar, performing unaccompanied renditions of jazz standards, a few Brazilian tunes, and a little bit of Bach. It was a very intimate setting, with Gene just sitting at a table at the front of the café; I was fortunate enough to be seated at the table next to his. I got a chance to chat with him about his time with Paul Desmond (my hero); I also requested a few tunes, and he said he was impressed with my knowledge of jazz. Late in the third set, George Martin (!) showed up with a friend--Gene introduced me to him, again speaking highly of my taste in music. That was a surprising development, to say the least. Anyway, Gene's repertoire included Jobim's "Wave," "Useless Landscape," and "Double Rainbow"; Baden-Powell's "Canto De Ossanha," "Emily" by Johnny Mandel, "The Duke" by Brubeck, "The More I See You," "Girl Talk," and others. Beautiful player.
Later in the week I caught a soul-jazz gig at a bar called Smoke, which ended up giving me a pleasant, A&M-related surprise. A local magazine advertised the headliners as being Mark LeDonne on organ, Peter Bernstein on guitar, and Eric Alexander on tenor sax. Never heard of LeDonne, but I like Bernstein and Alexander so I decided to go. When I arrived at the venue, I noticed that, seated at the bar, there was a man wearing a large yellow turban. I thought, "Gee, that looks like Dr. Lonnie Smith, one of the all-time greats of the Hammond organ." Sure enough, when showtime rolled around, Dr. Lonnie Smith sat down at the Hammond and proceeded to get down with his funky self for three hours. Soul-jazz fans will recall Lonnie from his many many appearances alongside A&M artist George Benson on such classic soul-jazz albums as It's Uptown, Cookin', Alligator Boogaloo, Midnight Creeper, Live At The Club Mozambique, etc. Wonderfully funky stuff.
(On a non-AM note, Eric Alexander was replaced by another all-time great, George Coleman, on about half of the tunes. Jazz fans will remember George from his association with Miles Davis in the early '60s, and from his appearance on Herbie Hancock's Maiden Voyage LP.)
Now if only Sergio Mendes would play New York...
- William