Wednesday with Wynton

I meant to post about this earlier but have been so busy with my two fantasy baseball teams that I haven't had time.

Last Wednesday, J-Mac and I along with Jayman and his very pregnant wife MC went to Massey Hall to see Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz At Lincoln Centre Orchestra. This tour was called "The Songs We Love" tour. It was fascinating as their entire set list was very famous jazz songs. We all literally knew every song from Tea For Two to All Of Me.

My personal highlight was their rendition of John Coltrane's arrangement of My Favourite Things. As well, the encore was a version of Duke Ellington's C Jam Blues. For this song, the 12 horn players stood at the front of the stage and each member riffed on the song for a minute or two. I really really wish I took pictures but it just seemed so classless to do it and would have ruined a great couple of minutes for me. Some idiot wearing a hoodie and arriving halfway through the show was taking pictures and I couldn't be like THAT guy.

Top 5 John Coltrane Albums

1. A Love Supreme

2. My Favourite Things

3. Giant Steps

4. Lush Life

5. Duke Ellington and John Coltrane

My favourite member of this orchestra has to be saxaphone player Ted Nash. Not only is he a terrific player (duh, obviously if he is working with Marsalis) but he is about the most expressive musician I have ever seen. He watches and listens to all the other members intently. If they do something he is really enjoying, you can see it in his face. If they do some weird riff, he gives them a double take like "man, that is crazy". When we saw this orchestra at The Hummingbird Centre last year, the piano player was doing this great solo. All the sudden he broke into Bobby Darin's version of I'm Beginning To See The Light. The look on Nash's face was classic. I find every time I see them in concert, I am always watching Nash to see how he is reacting.