One must know what’s important, and take time for pleasure. Honoring this principle, I cancelled my morning classes on Thursday, November 8, 2018, so that I could attend and record what I knew would give great pleasure: an hour-long recital by Jon De Lucia, alto saxophone, clarinet, compositions; Ray Gallon, piano, compositions; Gary Wang, string bass; Doron Tirosh, drums. It was only an hour, but it felt like a day’s worth of bright sunshine streaming into our ears and hearts. And the radiance persists in the videos, which I can offer below:
SUNFLOWER, by trumpeter Don Ferrara, based on YESTERDAYS:
Jon’s CONFLAGRATION, which I presume is an affectionate cousin to a famous Bird-line with a similar name:
VALSE VIVIAN, for Jon’s goddaughter, based on BROADWAY:
Ray’s HARM’S WAY, constructing a new building on the foundation of SOFTLY, AS IN A MORNING SUNRISE:
A detour into the land of beloved Billie-music, CRAZY HE CALLS ME:
Ray’s KITTY PAWS, an improvisation on THE SONG IS ENDED:
And finally, Zoot Sims’ line on DEEP PURPLE, called, whimsically, NOT SO DEEP:
An hour filled with depth and lightness. I look forward to the next recital and hope to be there!
And a postscript: whenever I share music by first-rank artists whose names might not be known to everyone, commenters write in to say, “X sounds just like [Famous Name]; Y like [Other Famous Name].” As Bert Williams sang, LET IT ALONE. Messrs De Lucia, Tirosh, Gallon, and Wang sound just like themselves, and I am very glad of it. The clapping you hear close to the microphone is mine: I felt even more enthusiastic than it sounds.
May your happiness increase!
