Submitted by Al Kanovsky 10/23/14
...ruled the airwaves it was 1956. That same year Jimmy Cavallo
appeared on Allen Freed's TV show with his band The House Rockers.
The tune was "Rock, Rock, Rock" and it had people dancing to it all
over the country. It was also the year that Flo and I met and married.
Last night Jimmy was the featured artist at Danny Burger's (the brushmeister) Showcase at BJB's. With Jimmy and Danny were Don Coffman (upright bass) and
Brian (2-brain) Murphy at the piano. With me were Jimmy Belize and his 'squeeze'
Nancy, Jackie Deering with her pal Leslie and arriving late Denise.
Musicians in the audience for this dynamic show were Lindsay Blair, Piano Bob,
Kai Sanchez and vocalist Tom Willis. Wait a second. Just returned from mining
Alaska gold, Mr. Bobby Reynolds. You know it is impossible to keep Bobby from
getting on stage. All JAZZophiles know "The Eternal Triangle" ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9P2wrTi5nE ) and Bobby
is the eternal 'show-off'.
The evening started with an instrumental of the bop melody "Madness" Off to a great start with Brian, Danny, and Don's solos. Jimmy blowing great riffs on the tenor sax. Jimmy takes the mic to sing "Fly Me To The Moon", "Sweet Home Chicago", "Nancy, With The Smiling Face" and "Witchcraft" morphing in to "Tender Trap". The Jazz classic "Perdido" has Brian playing 10,000 notes without repeating any. Is that possible or did I have too many rum & tonics? Danny never lets Brian outdo him so the paradiddles matched Brian's number of notes. It is turning into a heck of a night of music. Jimmy sings "All By Myself" and then "I Want To Be Happy" There are a few young 'swing dancers' in the house and Bradley James Rogers gets up to do a solo dance. Brian keeps close watch and plays stuff that encourages moves by Bradley. The audience loves it. They close the set with Jimmy's hit "There's Good Rockin' Tonight". Everyone who can stand is on the floor. BLUES, Rock 'n Roll, straight-ahead JAZZ and Be-Bop all in one night. Tough to beat!!!.
The 2d set opens with one of my all
time favorites as it is of all JAZZ tenor men. "Lester Leaps In".
They do it with both straight-ahead and bop riffs. Tradition sets in with
"Let the Good Times Roll" and I'm up and shakin' it with (forgot her
name even tho' I know her). Jimmy remarks about where Sinatra would be if not
for Fred Astaire and then sings "Just the Way You Look Tonight".
Dizzy's "Night In Tunisia" features Don Coffman's 5 star solo.
Bop to BLUES as Tom Willis gets up on stage to sing "Everyday".
During his rendition Tom holds a sustained note through too many bars to count.
Jaws are agpe thruout the house. Tom follows with a great "Georgia"
and "'deed I Do". Dukes "In A Mellow Tone" and I'm
dancing with Jackie, held real close. I don't know (or maybe I do) what it is
about holding a pretty woman in your arms, but -- Uh-oh. Mr. Bobby Reynolds is on stage. Cornet in hand. Here
we go. "Your Nobody 'til Somebody" and then they're off on a Louis
Prima kick with "Just A Gigolo" (audience participation included)
and "Wae Marie", Italian lyrics included. Jimmy and
Bobby are clowning around with the tunes and the crowd is loving it. "Just
Friends" have Danny, Brian and Don blowing it away. Bobby gets back up
when the band does "Caravan". Denise has arrived and so she and Jackie
show off some dance steps together. There's a BLUES lyric that goes "shake
that bacon". Believe me there was a lot of bacon shakin'. Danny does his
all-time favorite solo and blows the set up. The solo wasn't the usual 32 bars
or 64 either. It seems to me it lasted forever and a half. I was glad it did.
There is only one Danny Burger. Believe me. The set ends with "There Will
Never Be Another You" and it brought me back to '56 and the first
time I looked in to Flo's eyes. The final set again started with a little bop.
Sonny Rollins' "Doxie". Great tune played by musicians who love the
music. "Got A Lot Of Living To Do". It's true of me at 82. I
hope it's true of you. Another be-bop standard "Oleo" and I think of
Jimmy growing from Rock 'n Roll to a lover of all the JAZZ genres. BLUES is
back in the house. "Going To Chicago"---'sorry baby can't take you.
Nothin' in Chicago a monkey woman like you can do!!'.
They say 'Goodnight'
and close with "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid". Symphony Sid was my high
school years disc jockey. With the radio under the covers with me, I couldn't
wait for his program on 1280 on the AM band. 11 to 12 JAZZ and Bop. Then
his theme "After Hours" with Avery Parrish's incredible, to this day,
piano solo. BLUES 'til 3AM. Kissed all the girls goodnight and headed
home.
No Symphony Sid but it matters not. I have the lovely Real Tracy
Fields (93.1 FM WLRN) to go home with.
Al's Disclaimer:
A short note: The reason I write this is because I love music and words. I do not book acts. I do not promote acts. I do not accept invitations to review artists. I go to venues of my own choice. When and where is not influenced by anything other than who I would like to hear that night or day. If I don't like what I hear, I won't write about it. When I like it I let you all know. I never mention a name without asking permission. "Pardon me, Miss. Would you like to dance?"
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