Got to like it when a band feels a room's vibe and creates a mood to match. Even if there was too much worldwide trash for us to feel truly celebratory, we could lock into a mood of low-key communality.
Before the show, Mike Stern relaxed on the bandstand loosening his pickin' wrist with a half hour of quiet Telecaster improvisations, and continued in the same vein when joined by the full quintet at full volume, often beginning a tune with unaccompanied excursions around the fretboard, lyrical & thoughtful. Blond head crowned with two little red cones, Leni Stern started the set on 4-stringed n'goni, closing eyes to sing "Thief in the Night," her heartstring-plucking tale of a desert encounter; keyboard star Jeff Lorber joined in with a bluesy electric solo while Gary Novak and Jimmy Haslip laid down a resonant thump on drums and lefthanded electric bass.
Leni switched to her gold Strat to comp along with the shoogafunky key riff of Lorber's "Motor City," and for an hour continued to play off Mike's surging, concentrated leads, either via basic chords or the bright, daring but unostentatious intertwinings that have become her trademark. This combo fused more sources than the usual lunchbox, locating their own personality as they tapped African, reggae, blues, jazz and soft rock. Mike Stern held center attention with his confident attack and phased tone; Novak seemed like the only one who really wanted to bust out, bashing all of his four big cymbals and demonstrating tricky polyrhythmic footwork.
Lorber felt little need to flash his considerable chops on electric keyboard and Rhodes, preferring on this occasion to slide into the music's spaces and provide platforms through his own very catchy tunes. In the midst of seasonal madness, lazy grooves and open ears were just what we needed.
Also welcome was the Baked Potato's patio tent seating, a bit chilly (two gas tower heaters) but a welcome refuge from the claustrophobic interior. Well, you could really hear the helicopters when they roared overhead, and a musician patron felt obliged to shush the room when he felt partiers were paying insufficient heed to the two big TV screens and the loudspeakers, which worked just fine, full bass and all.
Ya do what ya gotta, so good.
* * *
TV PHOTO BY FUZZY BAROQUE.