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THE RETURN OF QUARTET OUT


JSngry

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Well?...How did it go?

It went good, thanks.

The band could've played better, but we didn't exactly suck either, so no regrets there.

The crowd was respectable enough in size, although it took a while for it to build. But with O-Voard stalwarts Big Al, Joe, & Rostasi in attendance early on, the vibes were good no matter the size of the crowd.

So Big Al's gonna post pictures, eh? I knew I should've gotten a haircut...

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This one was taken during the other tenor sax solo. Right before I snapped this pic, Jim was sitting looking plaintively, which I thought would make a great picture; he sorta looked like Dolphy sitting in the corner. I wanted to catch Jim at that moment, and tried to quietly move to where I could get a good shot. Unfortunately, I move with all the subtlety of an elephant at a Styx concert, and of course Jim saw me and smiled for the camera. In retrospect, I think this picture best catches the spirit of Jim, the man and the musician:

Edited by Big Al
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Dennis Durick, man of a thousand arms. This picture was taken during one of his explosive drum solos, and the bad thing about trying to get a pic of a drum solo, you never know what the shot's gonna look like. Sooooooo, even though it looks as though he's thoughtfully contemplating a gentle crash during a ballad, he's actually beating the shit outts his toms. I just caught him in mid-thrash:

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I should add that, to the right of Dennis is the bar. I sat at that end of the bar during the first set (the previous picture was taken during the second set), less than a foot from Dennis. There is nothing quite as fear-inducing than sitting that close to Dennis when he's firing on all burners. You just pray he's got a good grip on those sticks, because you could die from a lost stick. I live for moments like that!!!! :excited:

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Last picture, the big man in action (I should add that the reason I have no pictures of Pete Gallio in action is because, well.... his solos were so intense that I was afraid I'd interrupt him, then he might beat me over the head with his big ol' sax, which has to be one of the biggest thickest tenor saxes I've ever seen; sorry, Pete!):

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One last thought before I hit the hay: there are a lot of people who think of jazz as just so much noise. Had these folks been at last night's gig, they might've had their suspicions confirmed, BUT for one very important little fact: these guys know EXACTLY what they're doing. By that, I mean that even though it's all improvised, there wasn't one note that wasn't anticipated by the player. And I think it is THAT which scares non-jazz folks: if they knew that this so-called "noise" is all part of the plan, it might scare them COMPLETELY outta their socks!

I'll be honest: I'm just a boring old Blue-Note type; I don't listen to much of what is called "avant-garde," and perhaps QO isn't avant-garde to begin with. But my whole perspective of so-called "improvised" music was completely reset last night. The way these guys played off each other, the way they anticipated each other's moves, the way they could start and stop tempos at the drop of a hat, just the unbelievable interplay, and the fact that this stuff was INTENTIONAL!!!! made me realize that...... that...... hell, I don't know how to put it, and I'm too tired to try and come up with anything original, so I'll just leave it at this: it was un-fucking-believable.

Good night. Time to put on some Mobley or something...... :g

Edited by Big Al
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Great pics, Al. So that's what Sangrey looks like! :w

Seriously, wish I coulda been there.

As for being a BN kinda guy somewhat intimidated by a-g jazz, I know what you mean, Al. I've been listening to a lot more "out there" stuff lately and catching more of those kinds of shows live, and I have to concur with something someone wrote (perhaps here) that was either attributed to Sam Rivers or said in regards to him: that it's often much more interesting to see an a-g jazz performance in person than to listen to it on an album. I'm not sure why that is, but I'd have to agree. There's just something about the energy and interaction of such a performance that simply can't be captuted on a recording in the same way that a more "conventional" jazz performance can often be.

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