Singer, pianist leave Smith Center crowd smiling, on its feet

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There is something particular about the joy of an older jazz man. When he has fun, so do we.

Perhaps it’s because the music is so complex to play. Some of the harder boppers can forget they are doing it for an audience and not for one another. Or maybe it’s the juxtaposition of those technical riffs coming from the well of soul, often the soul of church.

Either way, smiles were as contagious as the rhythmic clapping on Friday, whether it was Al Jarreau merrily chatting up an audience or Ramsey Lewis speaking more through his hands, getting into a keyboard argument with himself or throwing jokey little quotes from familiar songs into a larger piano solo.

The veteran singer and the pianist were co-billed Friday at The Smith Center, and the Internet-curious could have sleuthed out beforehand that they were combined by the promoter, not touring together. Hope sprang eternal, but it was no huge disappointment that they never shared the stage together.

They were co-billed, however: equal ranking in the ads, not “with special guest” or some other tag for Lewis. So it was a mild disappointment for Lewis fans and, it turned out, the betterment of the show, that Lewis played an hour to Jarreau’s 90-plus minutes.

A more exact split of 75 each might have been just the ticket, judging by the number of those headed for the exits when Jarreau graciously came back for an encore that wouldn’t have been terribly missed.

But Internet peeking also could have led to unnecessary fears about Lewis. Never was it such a relief to see a grand piano on a stage.

The pianist, who will turn 77 next month, has spent the past year touring with his Electric Band of four sidemen and paying particular attention to “Sun Goddess,” a 1974 album very much of its era of funk and electric keyboards.

In his first chance to play The Smith Center, would Lewis not let his majestic, symphonic side emerge to take advantage of those concert hall acoustics? No worries.

The grand piano wasn’t mixed to a full sparkle, at least not as it was heard on the floor (a separated member of our party in the upper balcony said the bright sound there compensated for the attic view).

But there was at least one pin-drop sequence of breathtaking beauty, when a solo piano take on John Coltrane’s “Dear Lord” led to an original called “Blessings,” which bassist Joshua Ramos gently joined with a bow while veteran drummer Charles Heath added quiet accents on the cymbals.

The rest of the set, framed by the tent pole hits “Wade in the Water” and “The In Crowd,” showed Lewis still has the knack for taking the church to the symphony hall, or vice versa. And “Sun Goddess”? Like the man himself, the new arrangement ages gracefully.

At 72, Jarreau was more bowed by age, his need to sometimes pull up a stool perhaps related to his hospitalization for a heart arrhythmia two years ago.

But after a roughly mixed opener, Jarreau playfully proved his distinct vocal shimmer intact on the standard “Come Rain or Come Shine.” He shot into falsetto on the lyric “high as a mountain” and then plunged to the basement for “deep as a river.”

A versatile band directed by Joe Turano followed Jarreau through African and Brazilian rhythms and a variety of moods, from the old-school R&B of “Double Face” (a recent recording with Eumir Deodato) to the Spanish-flavored drama of “Heart’s Horizon.”

As often as not though, Jarreau was happy to be the true jazz singer, making his voice an equal instrument in the band and fielding his parts with scat or mouth-percussion vocals instead of words. If you think that vocalese is all a novelty, witness the hard be-bop of “Scootcha-Booty.”

“Oh that’s so much fun!” Jarreau proclaimed at one point.

And by the end of it the crowd was on its feet to keep the “Boogie Down” vibe going beyond just that song, and those new Smith Center seats just a bit less broken in.

This double-bill was a great value for the ticket-buyer, and the capacity turnout suggests each star might just be welcomed back separately as well as together. And since both stars do a lot of work with orchestras? It is a symphony hall. I’m just sayin’.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at
mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.