This was my gig of the festival, and one of my gigs of the year. My reason for having wanted to be there was clear: a chance to catch a London appearance by no fewer than three major figures from the American jazz scene, all of them absolutely in their prime – top flight pianist/ bandleader Taylor Eigsti, supremely influential vocal phenomenon Gretchen Parlato and consummate saxophonist Ben Wendel.
But what I heard, what truly captivated heart, head and feet – and endorphin release through laughter – was a quite fabulous band on peak form. Yes. A truly amazing seven-member B A N D, heard in the ideal circumstances of the last night of a tour. With every bit of empathy, trust, warmth and good humour that one could ever hope for, or indeed dream of.
It was also Taylor Eigsti’s Ronnie’s debut as leader. That event is always a life-landmark, one for the personal bucket-list, and it clearly meant a lot to Eigsti himself.
One theory of the way music works is that all happy things start from the bass player, and having heard Jonathan Maron live for the first time, I am deeply ashamed that I hadn’t heard his name before, and know that I will be looking out for it wherever I can find it. Whether underpinning a texture or sailing up into higher registers on his five-string, everything about him speaks of jaw-dropping quality. And what Monika Jakubowska has caught so brilliantly in the photo above is the joy he brought to this band. Even in the seemingly mundane act of tuning a bass.
Reggie McNeill, brought wonderful orchestral heft and atmosphere to the band from his keyboard, and I was picking up an unmistakable musician buzz afterwards about the sheer magic of Zack Greybeal’s drumming.
To hear Taylor Eigsti and Gretchen Parlato do Josh Mease’s song “Me and You” from the all-conquering 2011 album “The Lost and Found” was quiet bliss, and one treat among many. I also loved the the mood-shift that vocalist Casey Abrams brought as the whole band seized on The Police’s “Don’t Stand so Close to Me”. Their enthusiasm and verve lifted the spirit completely, probably irreversibly. Thank you to a truly Magnificent Seven and to Ronnie’s for making this wonderful thing happen.
