May 14, 2007
Funky old men
Saturday night Ron and I ventured out for our one evening at The Melbourne Jazz Festival. While we would have preferred something at one of the smaller venues we settled in the end for Pharoah Sanders, Ben Lieberman and the McCoy Tyner Trio at Hamer Hall. It seemed a good compromise of getting to see more than one artist without stretching the limits of he-who-must-be-babysat.
We needn't have worried about the venue. Pharoah Sanders had the seated crowd clapping and singing along and for the rest of the evening the staid rows of concert hall seats were rocking as everyone whooped, swayed and jigged. OK, it wasn't the same as a more intimate venue but it certainly exceeded expectations for such a formal one. The foyer was buzzing during intermission and there was a real 'vibe' about the whole event.
And the three stars, Sanders, Liberman and Tyners were just about the funkiest trio of old guys I've ever seen! The sight of them all shuffling and limping from the stage at the end was hard to reconcile with the passion with which they played. Sanders especially was dead set on getting down. Getting back up took him a little bit more effort but he was still smiling!
Posted by Faith