Cal Performances presents the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis
2016-09-29
Paramount Theatre
2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612-2303 USA
8:00 PM, Thursday, September 29, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:14 PM; lights down, announcements from Matías Tarnopolsky]

1. [8:19 PM] Temperance
   [WM introduces next tune; performed only by WB, CH, VG, AJ, DN, KR; all three horns standing around a single mic near the piano]
2. [8:26 PM] Mood Indigo
   [WM introduces Myra Melford, who replaces DN for the next tune]
3. [8:33 PM] the Strawberry
4. [8:43 PM] Armageddon
5. [8:57 PM] Lulu's Back in Town
6. [9:07 PM] Summertime
7. [9:14 PM] Nelson Mandela (from Ted Nash's Presidential Suite)
8. [9:22 PM] Portrait of Louis Armstrong
9. [9:32 PM; +KW] Big Fat Alice's Blues
   [9:42 PM; set ends, all off after band introduction]
    
   Encore
10. [9:43 PM] Rhythm-a-ning
    [show ends 9:51 PM]

• Walter Blanding: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet;
• Chris Crenshaw: trombone;
• Vincent Gardner: trombone;
• Victor Goines: tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet;
• Carlos Henriquez: bass;
• Sherman Irby: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet;
• Ali Jackson: drums;
• Ryan Kisor: trumpet;
• Wynton Marsalis: music director, trumpet;
• Elliot Mason: trombone;
• Ted Nash: alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet;
• Paul Nedzela: baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet;
• Dan Nimmer: piano (except t03);
• Marcus Printup: trumpet;
• Kenny Rampton: trumpet;
  - with special guests -
• Myra Melford: piano (t03);
• Kenny Washington: scat vox (t09).

It was a hectic scene around there venue, but we checked about and found a parking spot about three blocks away, then hustled back to the Theater to be astounded by a entry line that wrapped around the corner from Broadway into 20th. This will not do! We skirted the sidewalk and headed east past the box office, sadly, the line on that side was also long enough to wrap around the corner, though distance and density-wise, it was maybe only half as bad as the other side. Still, not acceptable to the Funfolks, so we curled around to the side entrance on the North, where there were no more than ten or twenty folks waiting. That's more like it! Our friend Liz was working at the will call table in the outer lobby, so we earned bonus hugs and greeting kisses as we stepped towards the inner lobby. Finally, the right choice!

And now, some ten or fifteen minutes later, it's showtime, but the place seems to be only half full. I bet they take another ten minutes to let the rest of the fold come on in. Hard to say why the process is so slow here. It's not like they were doing any sort of weapons or contraband search, and tearing ticket stubs is a quick task too. Anyways, I'm glad we finessed the worst part of the mess!

Jeff Kaliss posted an interesting interview with Wynton at SFCV – definitely worth the time to read! Sadly, I couldn't find any post-show reviews of this gig … I guess that state-of-the-art jazz big band isn't newsworthy in the age of Instagram and reality stars. Andrew Gilbert mentioned the performance in an aside as part of a Berkeleyside article he posted on local performances by Myra Melford, and I appreciate his ongoing effort to bring jazz news to the greater bay area.

Overall I thought the show was great fun, though I would have preferred seeing them in a more intimate venue like Miner Auditorium. The addition of Myra Melford as a special guest was a huge surprise – apparently this is a result of her work having gathered attention from Ted Nash, who arranged Myra's piece the Strawberry for inclusion in a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra program back in New York, then reprised the piece here in Oakland to honor her as both composer and performer. After my initial shock – Wynton calling Myra up onstage? Wow! – I settled in for careful listening, and we were rewarded with a really invigorating performance. The band deftly negotiated the quirky darting turns of the tune, which shifted gears from a straight dixieland or stride meter to a more express-train-like chug-a-lug and then blasted on into outer space with a wild crashing solo full of tone clusters and arm bars from Myra. I thought it made quite an impression … left a smoking crater of my mind, indeed! It's good to know that Wynton is willing to let the band get that far out of line from the standard big band swing. I look forward to hearing more performances from them in this vein in the future!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!