Johnny Case's 25th Anniversary at Sardines, 9.2.2008
It might have been the best night of music ever at Sardines. A host of great players and fans showed up to help Johnny Case (aka Jhon Kahsen) commemorate 25 years of Fort Worth's longest-lived opportunity to hear live jazz, and to celebrate the release of two new CDs, Texas Sunset Suite (with his guitarist brother Jerry) and Strays...and Other Songs (with a trio including ubiquitous bassist Jeremy Hull and fiery South African-born drummer Danny Tcheco).
Rolling up on the restaurant, we found the parking lot jam-packed -- a good sign -- and parked across University Drive. I'd neglected to make reservations, but owner Amy Matarese was kind enough to have saved us a table right in front of the bandstand. Johnny was holding forth with the Hull-Tcheco riddim section, Joey Carter on vibes, Keith Wingate on guitar, and Mario Cruz on tenor sax. (Seeing Joey's daughter and Dave Williams' son standing behind Joey's vibes reminded me of watching Sir Marlin Von Bungy's son operating the Me-Thinks' smoke machine at Lola's on Sunday.)
Cruz is a Fort Worth native who's logged time on the road with Jaco Pastorius and Blood Sweat and Tears. "Mario was my band director in middle school," said Latin Express trumpet king Leo Saenz. "He was only there for like a year, then he left. One day we turned on the TV, and there he was, tearing it up on Saturday Night Live." Cruz is a forceful, expressive player whose big tone recalls Coltrane's sheets of sound and Sonny Rollins' endless invention. (He also does the walk-on to the bandstand a la Sonny.) He made all the drummers work hard -- not just Tcheco (who displayed admirable restraint and use of dynamics as well as his trademark power), but Dwayne Durrett and Eddie Dunlap as well. The whole band was on fire, but it was Cruz's big sound that was stoking it. It's good to have a player of his caliber back on the Fort Worth scene. (Tenormen Dave Williams and Johnny Guadarrama were also in attendance but didn't play while I was there.)
The vibe became mellower when Jon Pointer (a friend of Johnny's since the '60s) took over behind the ivories, Hull and Tcheco yielded bass and drum duties to Kyp Green and Durrett, and a new front line with Leonard Belota on fluegelhorn and Pat Brown on trombone stepped in. Leo Saenz joined them for a down-and-dirty blues. Then Johnny and Mario returned and Leo led them in a Latin groove that was a favorite when Latin Express used to play the old Black Dog, with Leo singing and playing water glass percussion as well as stirring the crowd with his high-note trumpet fluency. Chris White, Toby Guinn, and Drew Phelps took their turns on bass, Pat Brown got his chance to shine on the first (!) ballad of the evening, then Chris returned to play trumpet on a "Mr. P.C." with Daymond Callahan on piano. We had to leave as a bit of free improv was just getting started.
The big, receptive crowd spurred the musicians on to ever greater heights of invention. Hopefully they'll continue to support jazz at Sardines on a regular basis, and make it out to the Jazz By the Boulevard festival September 19-21, when many of the musos will be performing. (I also made a note to try and get the night off on Saturday, September 13, to see the Fifth Avenue Jazz Collective perform at Arts Fifth Avenue.) Kudos most of all to the Sardines staff, who did an admirable job of handling the rush, working around the numerous photographers and bandstand gawkers, and making sure everyone was well taken care of. It was a real pleasure at the end of the night to see Johnny, that quiet and self-effacing man, beaming with pride at the show of appreciation.
Rolling up on the restaurant, we found the parking lot jam-packed -- a good sign -- and parked across University Drive. I'd neglected to make reservations, but owner Amy Matarese was kind enough to have saved us a table right in front of the bandstand. Johnny was holding forth with the Hull-Tcheco riddim section, Joey Carter on vibes, Keith Wingate on guitar, and Mario Cruz on tenor sax. (Seeing Joey's daughter and Dave Williams' son standing behind Joey's vibes reminded me of watching Sir Marlin Von Bungy's son operating the Me-Thinks' smoke machine at Lola's on Sunday.)
Cruz is a Fort Worth native who's logged time on the road with Jaco Pastorius and Blood Sweat and Tears. "Mario was my band director in middle school," said Latin Express trumpet king Leo Saenz. "He was only there for like a year, then he left. One day we turned on the TV, and there he was, tearing it up on Saturday Night Live." Cruz is a forceful, expressive player whose big tone recalls Coltrane's sheets of sound and Sonny Rollins' endless invention. (He also does the walk-on to the bandstand a la Sonny.) He made all the drummers work hard -- not just Tcheco (who displayed admirable restraint and use of dynamics as well as his trademark power), but Dwayne Durrett and Eddie Dunlap as well. The whole band was on fire, but it was Cruz's big sound that was stoking it. It's good to have a player of his caliber back on the Fort Worth scene. (Tenormen Dave Williams and Johnny Guadarrama were also in attendance but didn't play while I was there.)
The vibe became mellower when Jon Pointer (a friend of Johnny's since the '60s) took over behind the ivories, Hull and Tcheco yielded bass and drum duties to Kyp Green and Durrett, and a new front line with Leonard Belota on fluegelhorn and Pat Brown on trombone stepped in. Leo Saenz joined them for a down-and-dirty blues. Then Johnny and Mario returned and Leo led them in a Latin groove that was a favorite when Latin Express used to play the old Black Dog, with Leo singing and playing water glass percussion as well as stirring the crowd with his high-note trumpet fluency. Chris White, Toby Guinn, and Drew Phelps took their turns on bass, Pat Brown got his chance to shine on the first (!) ballad of the evening, then Chris returned to play trumpet on a "Mr. P.C." with Daymond Callahan on piano. We had to leave as a bit of free improv was just getting started.
The big, receptive crowd spurred the musicians on to ever greater heights of invention. Hopefully they'll continue to support jazz at Sardines on a regular basis, and make it out to the Jazz By the Boulevard festival September 19-21, when many of the musos will be performing. (I also made a note to try and get the night off on Saturday, September 13, to see the Fifth Avenue Jazz Collective perform at Arts Fifth Avenue.) Kudos most of all to the Sardines staff, who did an admirable job of handling the rush, working around the numerous photographers and bandstand gawkers, and making sure everyone was well taken care of. It was a real pleasure at the end of the night to see Johnny, that quiet and self-effacing man, beaming with pride at the show of appreciation.
posted by stashdauber at 9:17 PM
1 Comments:
A good and accurate report. John Case is an undiscovered National Treasure as evidenced by how the area's most distinguished jazz musicians show up consistently to play for free and have fun when he occasionally sponsors a benefit or other event there at Sardines.
Post a Comment
<< Home