Marcus Shelby Orchestra at Miner Auditorium, May 23, 2019

SFJAZZ presents Green and Blues featuring the Marcus Shelby Orchestra with Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket
Robert M. Miner Auditorium
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
7:30 PM, Thursday, May 23, 2019

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[7:32 PM; lights down, announcements from Randall Kline]
[7:36 PM; Welcoming remarks from Marcus Shelby]

1. [7:39 PM] Flora Blues
   [7:55 PM; Introduction of and comments from Daniel Handler]
2. [7:55 PM] Acorn and Second Harvest Blues
3. [8:08 PM] Grizzly Blues
   [8:13 PM; Comments from DH; add John Calloway]
4. [8:16 PM] Wandering Blues 1
   [8:24 PM; Comments from DH; drop John Calloway]
5. [8:25 PM] Gente de Razón
   [8:33 PM; Set closing comments from Marcus; all off after a minute or so for applause]

[8:53 PM; lights down, band out; pause to get set things up for Marcus' contrabass]
[8:54 PM; Comments from Daniel Handler]

1. [8:55 PM] Wandering Blues 2 (performed by MS, AS, GW, PW; others sit out)
   [9:00 PM; Comments from Daniel Handler]
2. [9:01 PM] Gold Rush Blues
3. [9:13 PM] Muir's Walk
   [9:18 PM; Comments from Daniel Handler]
4. [9:19 PM] Blues Up and Down (Hunter's Point)
   [9:28 PM; Comments from DH; add John Calloway]
5. [9:31 PM] Green and Blues (performed by JC, MS, AS; others sit out)
6. [9:40 PM] (Outro vamp underneath MS band introduction & sales pitch)
   [show ends 9:44 PM, no encore, lights up right away: shoo!]

• Danny Brown: tenor saxophone;
• Rob Ewing: trombone;
• Tomoko Funaki: contrabass;
• Tom Griesser: alto saxophone;
• Charles Hamilton: trombone;
• Fil Lorenz: baritone saxophone.
• Patrick Malabuyo: trombone;
• Bill Ortiz: trumpet;
• Rafa Postel: trumpet;
• Marcus Shelby: conductor, contrabass (s2t01 and s2t05).
• Adam Shulman: piano;
• Kristen Strom: alto saxophone;
• Bill Thereur: trumpet.
• Genius Wesley: drums;
• Kate Williams: trumpet;
• Patrick Wolff: tenor saxophone, clarinet.

• John Calloway: flute;
• Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket: narrator.

Although I was miffed again to find that the show that was delivered today was somewhat different from the show that was advertised and sold to me, what can I do about it? Absolutely nothing! So one more time to grin and bear it.

According to the pre-performance comments from either Randall or Marcus, tonight's show was a revival of a program first put together in 2012. I would summarize it as a musical review of bay area history. Each piece included a few slides of photos or art to support the title theme, but that visual portion of the show was relatively brief: no more than a minute. It seemed odd to me that the slides were turned off so quickly, but I suppose that served to reinforce the notion that my attention should really be focused on the music.

With an emphasis on the blues, the music was quite good. Most of the pieces started slowly, then built up to something more exciting, with solo breaks for several performers stretching things out. I particularly enjoyed the trading fours between Danny Brown and Patrick Wolff on tenor saxophones during Acorn and Second Harvest Blues – a fine salute to the traditional cutting contests of the past.

Wandering Blues 2 was another highlight, opening the second set with a strong contrabass solo from Marcus. I assume from the title that the piece was a variation on the first set's Wandering Blues 1 – perhaps simply reworking it for quartet? – but I didn't form a strong enough memory of that earlier version to be able to recognize whether both tunes expressed the same thematic material. Guess I should have looked to see if the suite was available at the merch table after the show.

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2019 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2019 event list! ☸ On to the next event!