Dee Dee Bridgewater - vocals
Christian McBride - bass/musical director
Benny Green - piano
Lewis Nash - drums
Chris Potter - tenor saxophone
Ambrose Akinsmusire - trumpet


After a longer-than-necessary amount of (mostly silly) banter, the evening began with an unusual duet, pairing bassist Christian McBride with vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater on "I'm Beginning To See The Light". It was a stellar performance, filled with uncanny rhythmic and melodic interplay, nuance, and even a bit of musical humor. The remaining five band members were then introduced and brought onstage, quickly launching into one of many uptempo gems, this one a Chris Potter original, "Henya".

After a bit, it was apparent that musical director Christian McBride would keep us guessing as to who would interpret the evening's substantial material, moving from solo to duo to trio to quartet, quintet and sextet (counting Dee Dee). And he did it beautifully, both with a deft touch with song choices and the pace of the program. Benny Green, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash interpreted Dizzy Gillespie's "Tanga", my first chance to really enjoy the breadth of Lewis Nash's extraordinary gifts. Man, what a superb drummer! He displayed a phenomenal use of dynamics, tonal colors and rhythmic shadings with extraordinary brush work, cymbal mastery and crisp, clear strokes, all in a very musical way. With sticks, mallets and brushes (including their metal handles), Lewis was a sensitive, complimentary ingredient all night long. My wife said to me, after the show, "Lewis is the most musical drummer I've ever heard". I can't disagree. Unfortunately, Patti never got to hear the late Alan Dawson, but that's another story. Lewis was magical last night.

Band members original compositions were widely used, including Benny Green's "Benny's Crib", after opening the 2nd set with a solo offering beginning with the chordal structure of "The Man I Love", which soon morphed into a length, enjoyable improvisational ride, bringing us back home before resolving and dissolving completely, to a hush ... and a hushed audience.

The arrangements were wonderfully imaginative and provocative, yet engaging and accessible. I could tell that my wife was having a good time, and that's a good barometer for me, because Patti enjoys jazz, but has little tolerance for things which are too "outside". There were occasional, brief excursions into more abstract melodic and harmonic statements, but they were well-timed and not overdone or for effect. One of many highlights for me was their treatment of Thad Jones' "A Child Is Born", where I felt that Dee Dee and the quintet were indivisible in their weaving of the fragile elements of this piece. Absolutely elegant. Juxtaposed to that piece, things got plenty funky with Horace Silver's "Filthy McNasty", which the audience ate like candy. Christian McBride also shown on "East Of The Sun, West Of The Moon", another great trio setting. Dee Dee took us to church with "God Bless The Child", her homage to Billie Holiday, who was on the original bill of the 1st Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958. It was a rousing, long version and worth every moment. She introduced the band members as Deacon So-And-So, except for Rev. Nash. Amen.

It was my first time to hear Benny Green and Ambrose Akinmusire in person, though Chris Potter had been to Anchorage in another group, The Mingus Big Band, several years ago. Benny was fantastic, almost as much fun to watch as to hear, inasmuch as he's tall, lanky and very physical when playing piano. He has a very boyish face, almost a shy appearance, but not when he's playing. His range of expression, through dynamics and chordal usage is astounding, pounding on the keys one moment, caressing them and making you really pay attention the next. Benny is something special. Ambrose is, as Dee Dee declared, "the baby" of the group, at age 30. Ambrose has the most unusual tone I've ever heard from a trumpeter, and not one easily described with words. It's almost muted, rounded, not bright, metallic and sharply detailed as is often the case. When I mentioned how unusual his tone was, Patti responded with "it almost sounds like a flugelhorn". Yes. That's my gal. She got it. He never used any mute, but it sounded almost as if he had stuffed his fist into the bell of his horn at times. Wonderful talent.

The evening closer was "All of Me", which would not have been my choice, but they did justice to this tried and true (read overused) chestnut, and took it home with great gusto. It was an evening filled with mostly straight ahead bop-oriented material, nicely punctuated by excellent arrangements and musicianship.

Oh, yes, the attire. The men were nicely dressed in suits, and every one played with their coats on except for Lewis, who wore his to the drum kit before taking it off and storing it beside him. Dee Dee Bridgewater could not be missed in her bright green dress, which appeared to be a brocade fabric, and black, stilleto ankle boots. She was steppin'.

Now, to the surprise. It not only surprised my wife and me, but it appeared to surprise the band and the rest of the audience, as well. I caught one band member glancing toward Christian McBride afterward with a look of "what the ...?". The concert was over. The encore was complete. The bows had been taken. They were all lined up in a straight line across the stage when Dee Dee Bridgewater suddenly, unexpectedly started singing "Amazing Grace" — all of the verses, a cappella. I'm pretty confident that it blind-sided the band, and felt very weird. Everyone in the hall was kind of in limbo. And, Dee Dee was clasping Benny Green's right hand the entire time.

THE END —