Three different kinds of delight intermingling and coalescing: the pleasure of a new lyrical / hot jazz ensemble, the Lichtman – Sanders – Engel trio (that’s Dennis Lichtman on clarinet / electric mandolin; Jake Sanders, guitar; Jared Engel, string bass) which I enjoyed at The Django on February 18.
That atmospherically-named spot is luxurious and evocative, in the lower level of the Roxy Hotel, 2 Avenue of the Americas, south of Canal Street. It’s described as a “Gorgeous jazz & cocktail club in the cellar of The Roxy Hotel, NYC,” and that isn’t hyperbole. The gentlemen in charge, Vito Dieterle and Joseph Schwartz, have done it splendidly — down to the lovely service and the delicately pickled fennel as part of a delicious cured meat-and-cheese plate.
Here are three selections from that evening’s banquet of swinging lyrical music.
WANG WANG BLUES:
WILLIE THE WEEPER:
PICKING THE GUITAR (a 1932 Nick Lucas opus):
The trio played much more music that night, and their repertoire was deliciously varied, but these three will do for the moment.
Incidentally, I asked Jake about his lovely guitar, and he told me, “It’s an M-14 National. Mahogany veneer over plywood with 14 frets to the body.” So now you know.
And perhaps irrelevantly, I encountered this record label online (where else?) and was fascinated to know that this issue of this beloved song came complete with a comma:
One, never knows, do one?
May your happiness increase!
