daveguy1

[sORRY FOR THE LATENESS OF THIS POSTING! THERE WAS A GLITCH IN MY NEW MEMBER REGISTRATION, AND THEN I MESSED UP THE FIRST TIME I TRIED TO POST THIS. IN ANY CASE, I HOPE THIS REVIEW WILL STILL BE OF SOME INTEREST. THANKS.] Hi - I am new to your forum. I had to join so as to comment on the A--KICKIN' GREAT Dr. Lonnie Smith show at the Jewish Mother in Virginia Beach on 8/18 (or, as "Groove Merchant" put it - one FANTASTIC show)!! First, let me help Groove Merchant out with the names of Dr. L's colleagues. The drummer's name was Tony Pinciotti, and the guitarist was Dan Faehnle, and yes, they were also FANTASTIC, especially, if I may say, the drummer, who just about set the place on fire with the ferocity of his s--t! I'd second everything Groove Merchant said, and add the following personal observations: -- Nobody else IN JAZZ makes an organ sound quite as FUNKY as Dr. L (yes, I'm even including Jimmy Smith, who was superior technically, just maybe not quite as funky as Dr. L). There have been other organ players based in R&B, soul or rock who were just about as funky (Billy Preston for one, certainly), but with them you didn't get the "exploratory" nature of Dr. L's jazz thing; -- as far as Saturday's Va. Beach show, since I am a fan of both soul-jazz AND straightahead jazz, I particularly appreciated Lonnie and his band playing Coltrane's "Giant Steps", just about the only straightahead number they did that night, and, as Groove Merchant said, it was done at a BLITZKRIEG, but tight-as-a-drum, pace; -- I also enjoyed Dr. L's digressions, such as his singing note-for-note perfect impersonations of Johnny Mathis doing "Misty" and Stevie Wonder doing "You Are the Sunshine of My Life"(!!); -- if I had any caveats about the show, it would just be two very minor things: he might have said "I'm gettin' too old for this!" once or twice too often (he said it after almost every number), and I might have preferred it if he had cut back a little on "teasing" the audience (by slowing down or even stopping his playing in the middle of a song). But, as I said, these are very minor caveats; -- To sum up: after the show, when I asked Dr. L to sign one of my Lonnie Smith CD's, I told him that I had waited a long time to see him in person -- and I'm damn glad I finally got the chance!