Photos: Rudy Lu
The weather was hot , but the GE Theater was cool as Jazz On Jay moved to the GE Theater in Proctor’s. Michael Benedict’s Jazz Vibes entertained and educated the audience with a broad survey of music from the 30’s to the late 60’s.
All the members of the band have had or are continuing to have music education as part of their careers. Each of them gave a short talk on their instrument or jazz in general.
“Bags Groove” a composition by vibraphonist Milt Jackson opened the set, a standard that was made famous by Miles Davis. This was followed by the contrafact “Yesterdays”. Horace Silver’s “Peace” also represented the 50s as well as Monk’s “I Mean You”.
The long career of composer/ saxophonist Wayne Shorter was represented by “Black Nile”.
The Bossa Nova style was represented by Jobim’s “Favela”.
Lou Donaldson’s “Alligator Boogaloo” illustrated this Latin/soul jazz hybrid style from the 60s. The Latin influence made mainstream America with “Flea Market” as the music performance in a popular commercial for the soft drink “Fresca”.
The Big Band era of the 20s-40s was demonstrated by a quartet reading of Charlie Shaver’s “Undecided”.
The early 70s was represented by Elvin Jones’ “Mr. Jones”.
Duke Ellington made the setlist twice with the ballad “ In a Sentimental Mood” and the mysterious “Caravan”.
Overall this was a mellow way to relax on a sweltering summer day. Incidentally, the cool air conditioning and the spacious GE Theater did allow with some lively dancing by some of the children in the audience,
Thank you to the numerous sponsors of this concert series including the volunteers, Schenectady Foundation, Proctor’s Collaborative, Schenectady Amsterdam Musician’s Union 85-133, and others too numerous to mention. For a complete listing see the Jazz on Jay website. Next Thursday’s performance will be by Matty Stecks and the 518.
Setlist:
Bags Groove, Yesterdays, Black Nile, Alligator Boogaloo, In A Sentimental Mood, Favela, Mr. Jones, I Mean You, Flea Market, Undecided
Peace, Caravan
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