Saturday night was cold enough outside for wearing a big coat to the Folly Theater, then, once inside, settling coat and body into your seat to hear jazz guitarist Earl Klugh, presented by the Folly Jazz Series.
But Klugh soon warmed up the crowd of about 800 with a set that began with a couple of compositions in a Latin mood: “Slow Boat to Rio” and “Midnight in San Juan.”
By the end of “Midnight in San Juan,” Klugh’s finger-style finesse on his nylon-string acoustic guitar was unquestionable, as was how solid and tight his band was: Ron Otis on drums, Al Turner on bass and David Spradley on keyboards. (When introducing the band, Klugh said we’d be surprised by which band Spradley played in before joining his 18 years ago: Parliament Funkadelic.)
Klugh’s career spans three decades, and the first of two sets hit high points such as “Kari,” from his first collaboration with jazz pianist Bob James, the 1979 album “One on One”; “Wind and the Sea,” from his 1976 self-titled album; and “Ocean Blue” and “Canadian Sunset,” from his 2008 release, “The Spice of Life.” Add a bass-slapping solo spot from Turner, and you had a vibrant first set.
The best was yet to come.
Klugh began the second set by himself with his arrangement of Vince Guaraldi’s “Cast Your Fate to the Wind,” perfectly capturing Guaraldi’s West Coast jazz feel with the delayed syncopation of the chord melody. His short solo set was entrancing as he displayed a finger-style technique that covered everything from flamenco rhythms to single-note riffs that would be the envy of every guitarist who has to use a pick.
When the band came back in, it was as a guitar, bass and drums trio performing “I Say a Little Prayer for You.” This was the warm, beating heart of the evening as Klugh’s guitar lines evoked Dionne Warwick’s vocal phrasing of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David hit.
Keyboardist Spradley got his turn in the spotlight with “Aaron’s ABC’s,” an uptempo piece he wrote for his son. And drummer Otis took a couple of solos during the evening, showing power and agility without ever breaking a sweat.
If concerts get star ratings, then this one gets five stars.
| Robert Folsom, Special to The Star
Perfunctory, by-the-numbers, lazy review.
Does Mr. Folsom get paid for this?
Posted by: Big Bopper | January 17, 2011 at 06:35 AM
Excellent music, sorry it was over-amplified. Loud is not needed with talent.
Posted by: Quiet Jazz | January 17, 2011 at 08:44 AM
BB... im not sure it was a lazy review, but i would have preferred to read what brownlee would have said.
Posted by: fiddler | January 18, 2011 at 09:29 AM
Oh, I definitely would have liked to have read what Brownlee would have said.
Posted by: robwired | February 23, 2011 at 10:15 PM
I just sent this post to a bunch of my friends as I agree with most of what you’re saying here and the way you’ve presented it is awesome.
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