LIVE: The Clifton Anderson Quintet @ A Place for Jazz, 9/12/14

Photographs by Andrzej Pilarczyk

A Place for Jazz kicked off its 2014 fall concert season at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Schenectady’s Whisperdome earlier this month with a stellar performance by the veteran jazz trombonist Clifton Anderson. The former member of Sonny Rollins’ band set the pace with the opening “And So We Carry On” and kept things solidly swinging throughout the evening’s performance.

Bolstered by an ace band – featuring bassist Paul Beaudry, drummer Steve Williams, saxman Eric Wyatt and pianist Victor Gould – the 56-year-old Anderson served up a tasty sampling of standards (Duke Ellington’s “In a Mellow Tone”), originals (the show-closing “Been Down This Road Before”), show tunes (“Tomorrow” from “Annie”) and a curve ball or two, as well (a wild interpretation of the ’60s Japanese pop hit “Sukiyaki,” aka “You Took Your Love Away from Me”).

A Place for Jazz continues its fall season at 7:30pm on Friday (September 26) with a concert by Boston-based tenor saxophonist George Garzone and his band, featuring pianist Robert Marullo, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Bob Gulloti. Tickets are $15; $7 students; FREE children under age 12 when accompanied by an adult.

SECOND OPINIONS:
Jeff Nania’s review at Metroland
Rudy Lu’s photographs at Albany Jazz
Andrzej Pilarczyk’s additional photographs at Albany Jazz
Excerpt from Michael Hochanadel’s review at The Daily Gazette: “Even that early, Anderson forecast ‘shorty-George’ abbreviated versions of the songs, expressing misgivings about his chops. But the band was in a full-on blowing mood and his chops proved just fine; so he wound up leading, not following or skimping. He and Wyatt used wireless mics attached to the bells of their horns, so they could roam freely, usually stepping down off the risers and closer to the crowd when they soloed. But the music didn’t need this proximity to engage because the band swung so strong and the soloists listened so closely that many solos began right where a previously soloing bandmate had ended. Tentative at first, Gould, the band’s youngest member, gained confidence, delivering the best solo of ‘In a Mellow Tone’ with tasty echoes of Teddy Wilson when quiet and of Oscar Peterson when more assertive. He then he held his own in ‘Easy to Remember, So Hard to Forget’ after blistering breaks by Anderson and Wyatt.”