So just wanted to follow up with a review of last night's show at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.
Overall it was a chop-tastic, face-melting affair. That said, there were enough Latin grooves to keep the ladies in front of me squirming in their seats all night long. And they seemed OK with the seemingly endless rounds of solos from each band member. They were the type of solos that would start modestly, usually quiet and and unassuming, and then they would build and build toward orgasmic, ecstatic crescendos.
So perhaps my one quibble would be that I could have done with just 3 solos from each band member and had the extra time put toward group-oriented material. The group seemed to be locked in with each other and having a good time, and it would have been nice to have a little more communal music.
But as I said, that was a relatively minor quibble. These are all insanely gifted players, and Stanley Clarke seems to have adopted the role of elder statesman who finds amazing young talent and creates a forum to present them to his audiences. Sort of like what Pat Metheny is doing these days (or what Bill Bruford was doing with Earthworks.) Highly recommended.
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