Last night I heard a great Symphony concert. We have season tix so we see them all, but it is rare that the whole concert is as good as this one. Maybe 3-4 like this since we started a few years ago. This is why we buy season tickets, to catch these gems where everything clicks.
Some weird modern music to start. It was melodic, thematic and played like the orchestra was on fire. They obviously had a good night sleep, or promised a big raise or something. It was spectacular, even on wacky modern classical music.
Then came on Branford Marsalis with his regular jazz quartet.
I have seen Branford play many times in person with different bands, even as guest soloist with this orchestra last year, but didn't know what to expect. They played a piece written for orchestra and jazz combo that was pretty lame, society snooty, (but the money is great....
) Then the quartet played 3 tunes by themselves. They were weird, but simple and geared toward the classical audience. I was waiting for them to really cut loose and do their thing, but they never did. They got a standing O, of course, and it was pretty fun. People in that hall had no idea what they could have experienced if the expectations, politics and big money bullshit was removed. Many would probably breath a sigh of relief that they weren't subjected to the full force of state of the art burnout session. There was no sound reinforcement at all so it was very difficult to hear what they were doing, even sitting 6th row center. Jeff Watts' drumming was some of the best live jazz I have heard in several years. He is the real deal. Bran is too, but showed none of that last night.
Then the piece de resistance!! After intermission, the symphony, with Marsalis "sitting in" on alto played Pictures at an Exhibition, (aka pics of an exhibitionist... ) I had never heard it live before, except in my 10th grade marching band. As in the first piece, the orchestra was on fire, playing perfectly in tune, perfectly in time, no speed limit, reeds and violins playing like lightning, and everybody following the conductors gestures like a fine sportscar. Midway through I started thinking about my recordings of Berlin, NYP and Minnesota, and realized these local yokals were playing like a truly world class orchestra. I love brass, and this was a very special moment for me. It is recorded for radio broadcast, so I will post a link to it when it plays in a couple months. Great show!!
