Raffi Garabedian Octet at Joe Henderson Lab, November 19, 2023

SFJAZZ presents the Raffi Garabedian Octet performing the Crazy Dog
Joe Henderson Lab
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA 94102 USA
6:00 PM, Sunday, November 19, 2023

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[6:00 PM] {house announcements, performers out; MS begins on flute}

1. [6:02 PM] The Armenian Question
2. [6:05 PM] A Mother's Letter
   [6:10 PM] {greetings from RG}
3. [6:11 PM] Escape to Erzurum
4. [6:19 PM] The Closet Playwright
   [6:27 PM] {RG partial band introduction; MS swaps from flute to tenor saxophone}
5. [6:28 PM] Three Gold Liras (RG) » [6:30 PM] {MS swap back to flute} »
6. [6:34 PM] (vibraphone solo) » [6:36 PM] March 17, 1927 » [6:40 PM] {MS swap back to tenor saxophone} »
7. [6:43 PM] Ten Acres
8. [6:46 PM] First Trip to Fresno (1931)
9. [6:53 PM] Contrapuntal Bewilderment
   [6:59 PM] {set ends; Raffi introduces everyone, then we bolt for Miner Aud…}

• Rashaan Carter: bass;
• Mark Clifford: vibraphone;
• Raffi Garabedian: tenor saxophone, vox;
• Ben Goldberg: clarinet;
• Danny Lubin-Laden: trombone;
• Sean Mullins: drums;
• Marcus Stephens: tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute.
• Danielle Wertz: vox;

Tonight's opening show was quite interesting. The biographical subtext – the story of Raffi's family's immigration from Turkish Armenia to California a century ago – made for an interesting lyrical base, while the large ensemble allowed for lots of variation in sound textures. I was a little disappointed that Scott Amendola was replaced by Sean Mullins – one of those unannounced changes between onsale and the performance date – but given that Sean was the drummer on Raffi's 2022 recording of this material, maybe that was a change for the better? My compliments to Mark Clifford: I really enjoyed his contirbutions tonight!

Big thanks to Ting for the photo gallery!

Whoa! This section is incomplete for now, sorry!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2023 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2023 event list! ☸ On to the next event!