Last night my friend and I went to see Wayne Shorter at the JVC Jazz Festival. The Venue was the Lincoln Theatre on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road Mall. The House was packed. The band personnel were:
Wayne Shorter - Tenor & Soprano Saxophone
Danilo Perez - Piano
John Patiyucci - Bass
Brian Blade - Drums
The band played 4 pieces that lasted about 1 hour and 20 minutes and then played 2 encores lasting about another 20 minutes. I wish I could tell you which pieces were played, but except for the second encore (which was an avant garde version of Beseme Mucho), I had no idea what tunes they were playing. They were all excellent though and the band was really enjoying each other on stage!
Wayne was in TOP form going back and forth from tenor to soprano sax within each song.
Danilo was great on piano, laughing and injecting a vocal "HEY!" and "Yeah!" here and there.
John was AMAZING on Bass! It was my first time hearing John and I've got to tell you, he is incredible! His energy was what (IMHO) really kept the band motivated to perform at such a high level. He played the H*LL out of that bass!
Brian cooked on drums!
After the show, I had a real treat. My friend had a friend who was involved with the festival and we were invited backstage to meet the band.
I greeted Danilo with a "mucho gusto!" and was warmly received. Next I met John and Brian and told them how much I enjoyed their playing. Finally, I got to meet Wayne. I shook his hand and told him how much I enjoyed the show. He said to me, "We didn't know what we were playing out there." I replied, "well it sure sounded great." His response was classic -- "Well, that's jazz!"
After that My friend's friend took us over to the Van Dyke (also on Lincoln Road Mall - and one of the only places on Miami Beach to hear live jazz on a regular basis) to hear the late set of Mose Allison. 77 year old Mose plays piano and sings funky/blues. He plays and sings like a man 25 years younger and was quite enjoyable.
Well that's my report, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Stay tuned for my next installment. B)