Peter
and Will Anderson’s Songbook Summit
is becoming a “not to be missed” annual event at Peter Norton Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre on
Broadway and 95th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. In last year’s program, the Anderson twins,
two exceptionally
accomplished jazz musicians (Peter on the tenor sax, soprano sax, and clarinet,
and Will on the alto sax, clarinet and flute), paid tribute to four of the greatest American songwriters
of the last century - Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, and Jimmy
Van Heusen - devoting a week of performances to each of the four. It was one helluva show and we absolutely loved
it.
This
year’s program showcases just two musicians,
Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, and devotes only six performances over
three days to each of them. And that is
the only bone we have to pick with the twins regarding this year’s production. We would have liked to have seen even more musicians
featured and we assuredly would have preferred to have seen longer runs. A mere six performances over the course of
only three days for each of them just doesn’t seem to do justice to Ellington
and Armstrong, two of America’s all-time jazz greats.
Be that as it may, we
just saw the first half of this year’s program – The Andersons Play Duke Ellington – running only from August 13-15,
and it was terrific. Duke Ellington was
the most prolific American composer of all time who shattered musical barriers
with his distinctive style while traveling around the world with his jazz
orchestra for more than a half century.
He passed away in 1974 but the twins bring him to life again, at least
for the ninety minutes of their program.
(The second half of this year’s Songbook
Summit - The Andersons Play Louis
Armstrong – won’t be staged until August 21-23, so we’re unable to comment
on that program yet.)
The Andersons Play Duke Ellington showcases Ellington’s life and music with video
presentations, entertaining narration by Will Anderson, Al Hirschfeld
illustrations, and an all-star jazz sextet that includes, in addition to the
Anderson twins, Jeb Patton on piano, Neal Miner on bass, Chuck Redd on drums
and vibraphone, and Molly Ryan on vocals.
The show begins with a rousing
instrumental rendition of that perennial Ellington favorite”Take the A Train.” It
continues with entertaining renditions of "Mood
Indigo," "Caravan," "In My Solitude," and "Satin Doll." It provides an intriguing lesson on the
Influence of Japanese music on Ellington with “Ad Lib on Nippon.” And it
culminates in Molly Ryan’s belting out a show-stopping "It Don't Mean a Thing If it Ain't Got That Swing."
The audience loved it as
did we. Little wonder that we’re eagerly
awaiting next week’s staging of The
Andersons Play Louis Armstrong.
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