It was another fine evening of smooth jazz here in the Queen City of the Carolinas as saxophonist Gerald Albright shared the stage with trumpeter Rick Braun. It was the third show in a series that brought some of the top names in smooth jazz to the beautiful Halton Theater on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College. The fans filled the auditorium once again and were not disappointed as these veterans took the stage.

Guitarist Terance Young opened the show with some original material from his first couple of releases. His sound is very clean and I like where he goes with his music. He really doesn’t sound like many guitarists you hear today. Along with “Sumilina,” he played the always popular “Isn’t She Lovely” giving way to “For the Love of You.” The long intense solo allowed these to sound newer with a different edge to them. He brought out “Around the Way” as well as the title track to his latest disc, “Experience.” These were very refreshing as the latter was slow and soulful in its delivery. He got us all on our feet for a little bit of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You.” This native of Columbia, South Carolina is playing a lot of local shows, and I hope you can catch him on the road somewhere this year.

After a quick intermission, Gerald Albright and his band hit the stage with some of his older classics that makes him such a fan favorite. “To The Max” and his 1989 hit “Bermuda Nights” got the crowd back on their feet to standing ovations. The technique and playing style of this veteran are really hard to beat. He followed these with the title track to from the always popular “New Beginnings.” Always the showman, Gerald covered “So Amazing” as well as “My, My, My.” These classics from his earliest works sounded as fresh today as they did back in the mid-eighties when he recorded them. The fun one of the night had to be “P Diddy” with several short solos. The little “beeps” from Gerald kept the crowd rolling, and his solos with only air coming through his horn is always a pleaser.

Rick Braun entered the theater from the back while launching “Cadillac Slim.” He worked the crowd over pretty good as he moved from one area to another. He stayed near the front row as this one came to a grand finale. He joined Gerald on stage for his ever popular “Grazin’ In The Grass” that he recorded with Boney James a few years ago. This one is always fun and had everyone on their feet dancing to the beat. Rick joined Gerald with muted trumpet on “Anniversary,” then after an intense guitar introduction, the two of them closed with “Georgia On My Mind.” The two were coaxed out for a great encore as we were treated to Grover Washington Jr.’s “Winelight.” The long introduction by Albright, along with the muted trumpet of Braun, made this one such a nice one to close with.

As always, these shows are over much too soon as you get swept up in one song right after another. It was good to see these two perform together since they rarely do. But for one special night in North Carolina, their paths crossed and something really nice came from it.