Lost in the Sauce at the Sherborn Inn

November 30, 2010

The "Sauce" never disappoints.  We arrived a half hour early and already Sir Richard Giordano, master of rhythm, blues, ballads, and boogie-woogie was tinkering at the baby grand piano; Love is a Many Splendored Thing, At Last, umpteen variations of A Man With a Horn, each one unique, some oriental upbeat tune, happy, peppy that had every guessing -  Hong Kong Blues, a preview of things to come.   Richie is featured all evening - because he's here - to play piano for us.

Flamingo, These Are the Things I Love, Gypsy.  Laura, the beautiful ballad from the 1944 movie, metamorphosing into a boogie - you've never heard anything like this!  As Time Goes By, All of Me, again softly than  LOUD, Richie playing by himself as the rest of the band drifts into the room.  Ken Steiner slips in on acoustic string bass, Jeff on cornet.  Craig comes in the back door, toting a clarinet and tenor sax.   Dave Bragdon slides behind the drums.  They're all here, and we're off!!  From Here to Eternity.

Back Bay Shuffle, wild, Craig on tenor sax - that he played most of the evening.  1920's tune Do You Ever Think of Me swings nicely, Craig now on Artie Shaw clarinet, piano steamrolling, Bragdon on brushes - Jeff calls them 'sacred brushes'. 

Of course the reply to "Do you ever thing if me?"  is I Thought About You.  Jeff playing  melody on flugelhorn -  Craig comping on clarinet.  Richie picks the next tune, won't say where it came from, goes into Hoagie Carmichael's full Hong Kong Blues from  the 1944 movie To Have And Have Not - with the band in tow.  And then he thanks the rhythm section for helping him get through it. 

Craig is featured on clarinet with only drums behind him - Bragdon softly tapping the rim of the snare drum.  The melody develops as the rest of the band joins in stop chorus behind Craig's fiery hot clarinet.  Fantastic! 

Set two featured one of the greatest trumpet players of all time, Harry James.  "Although he was known as a sweet, melodic, player, he was also a jazz player", says Jeff, as he demonstrates with a jazzy Ciribiribin, Craig back on on tenor sax.   Richie is featured on an innovative You've Come a Long Way From St. Louis.  Ken going crazy, slapping that bass.  Folks can't sit still -  they're swinging and swaying in their seats.   (Why don't they just get up and dance??)

Shifting to a heartwarming waltz on flugelhorn, Jeff remembers an old friend, Jimmy Enright, whom we lost 23 years ago this month.   Sleepy Lagoon was Jimmy's favorite. Flugelhorn is generally used in Classical music, but in Jeff's hands, it's tender and poignant. (Thank you, Jeff!!) 

Craig Ball is leader of his own orchestra, formerly known as "The Roxy Band", now The White Heat Swing Orchestra, (with Dave Bragdon on drums).    Craig is also a powerful proponent of Benny Goodman.  After You've Gone featured Craig at his best, backed only by Dave Bragdon's drumming, before the band joined in stop-chorus, spotlighting Craig's arresting sound.  Goodman would have been proud.

One more special fan in the audience - celebrating her 81st birthday here with her family.  Miss Lila and Jeff go way back to the days when she supplied him with many 78's of our kind of music.  The band went into a spicy I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me, and I Love You.

Time for more Richie Giordano. Never get enough of Richie, as he entertains us with one of his favorites, Solamente Una Vez (You Belong to My Heart.) 

Throughout the whole evening, Ken Steiner has been artfully playing bass lines and chords.  Now it was time for him to shine.  Backed only by Dave's brushes, Ken presented a solo on acoustic string bass, playing tempo, chords, and melody for a beautiful Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Truly an artist - in performance and style, ending in a string bass coda.

Jeff and Craig were cooking up something to bring the evening to a close, something that would have folks dancing out the door, making sure they would remember this evening: Nagasaki fit the bill. Fine ensemble, every instrument on fire, Ken slapping string bass, propelling the others, it was insanity!  And then it ended abruptly - just stopped dead - on a dime!

The evening was over.  Everyone wanted more, but it couldn't be.  Saying goodnight, like Billie Holiday, the band slipped into We'll Be Together Again.  

The band members start packing up their instruments. The audience reluctantly starts to leave.  But Richie Giordano, reflected on the shiny side of the baby grand piano, is still tinkering with Begin the Beguine.  We'd be content to just sit and listen to Richie Giordano play solo for another three hours, but he says he doesn't do that any more.  

He says he had enough of that when he was playing solo while working his way through college in Waltham, supplementing his GI Bill.  So we must be satisfied to hear him the few occasions he chooses to appear at the Sherborn Inn, with Lost in the Sauce.   They'll be back in March.

NEXT MARCH - right here.  Hot Combo: Craig Ball reeds, Jeff Hughes cornet/flugelhorn, Richie Giordano on the tuned-up Yamaha Baby Grand piano, Ken Steiner string bass, Dave Bragdon drums. You'll hear shades of Bix & Benny, Basie & Bunny, and the Duke. Come for a most swinging evening, and the return to the Inn of that redoubtable piano master of rhythm, blues, ballads, and boogie-woogie...Sir Richard Giordano!