Per usual, 99% of you missed the Blah Blah last night. Being part of the 1% that did not, I\'ve come to gloat at the treasure you missed.
I walked in to the last few minutes of a nasty Herbie Hancock "Chameleon" which of course caused me to kick myself for having that "one more beer" before heading to the valley.
The line up: Adrian, George, Matt and a new bass man, I don\'t have a name, however this guy was nasty. For the purposes of this review I will call him King Vibrato. There was also a guy that looked like my junior high shop teacher playing alto (?) sax.
Ya know how sometimes when the drum or bass solo\'s occur, the rest of the band sorta walks away from the stage to chat up some honey, or turns and fiddles with their own nobs. Last night this band was so tight that there was very little drum/ bass solo break down. Matt & George would stayed dialed in for the whole solo, adding some dynamite sounds that took these solo\'s to a new level.
It was Matt\'s birthday last night, as presents, his girl came down and added some sweet jazz vocals for a song in the second set. He also gifted himself by covering a ballad off "a record that he once owned, but lost, but he really loved that song and wanted to hear it again..."
The real treasure of the evening came at set break. When it was realized that both Adrian\'s star pupile Caitlain and Casey\'s (of Hubinger St. fame) 18 year old guitar student/ virtuoso were sitting 5 feet from each other. Permission slips were signed and the two yutes climbed on stage with Matt and King Vibrato for 3 blazing instrumentals. This grouping actually got the barmaids, and regulars to come and watch the next generation of Connecticuts finest rip through some material.
This was some of the tightest playing from the Blah Blah that I\'ve ever seen. King Vibrato was a great fill in.... addition (?), I hope to see more of him. George took his game to a higher plane last night and Adrian was a man possessed. Musical highlight of the night for me might have been their cover of The Meter\'s "Cissy Strut" but then again that Freedom Jazz Dance was pretty nasty.
But never fear. Ken, his camera, and his new GARGANTUAN light rig were also in attendance. Next time you see him, try and snag a copy. This is a real gem for the collection.
p.s. - after further review King Vibrato = S. Clarke
