| May 9, 2007
The Birchmere
Alexandria, VA
Joe Sample and Randy Crawford are currently touring to support their new CD, Feeling Good. Luckily for me, the tour made a stop in the Washington metro area. This is the second night of a two night booking at The Birchmere. I’m happy to report that people came out in force on both nights, to see two of the very best do what they do best. Sample and Crawford have a musical relationship that began 30 years ago and comes full circle with Feeling Good.
Joe Sample chose to perform not with a keyboard, but with a Steinway & Sons concert grand piano. Rounding out the acoustic trio was Sample’s look-a-like son Nick on the upright bass, and the legendary Steve Gadd on drums.
Sometimes less is more. You don’t always need a whole lot to get your point across. The standard jazz trio worked on the album, and it worked just as well live. Besides, how can you possibly go wrong with that kind of talent?
The first part of the show belonged to Sample. He opened with “Hipping the Hop,” originally recorded with George Benson on Benson’s album, Absolute Benson. From there, he went on to “Spellbound,” easily one of the crowd favorites. Hearing him play these tunes acoustically, in such an intimate environment, was a real treat. Joe Sample is quite the story teller, and he told us some amusing stories relating to “Memories,” and “X Marks the Spot,” (both from The Pecan Tree.) Joe and Randy have a wonderful, playful relationship, and he introduced the next song, “Gee Baby, (Ain’t I Good To You)” as a testament from Randy before introducing her.
Once Randy Crawford took the stage, the rest of the night belonged to her. We don’t see her too often in our part of the country. We’ve certainly never seen her at the Birchmere before, so, the crowd welcomed her with much enthusiasm. As if answering his comments about “Gee Baby,” Randy came back singing “Thing Called Joe,” followed by the title track of the new CD, “Feeling Good.” As I said earlier, sometimes less is more. It’s true of the instruments, and it’s true for the vocals. There’s no question that Randy Crawford has the pipes to cover a wide range, but, she did not divert to what I call “the screaming diva routine.” She did not over sing her songs. Her vocals were very controlled. She knew when to kick it up, and when to pull it in. Again, you do not always need a lot to get the point across. Classic songs like “Loverman,” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’” sounded fresh and exciting in the hands of Randy Crawford and Joe Sample.
They performed a total of seven songs from the new CD, including “Everybody’s Talking,” “End of the Line,” “Tell Me More,” “Rio De Janeiro Blue,” and “But Beautiful.” I was a bit disappointed that they did not play my favorite from the new release (“See Line Woman”) but everything else they performed was so good and so pure, that they can be forgiven. If left up to me, and the rest of the audience, they could have played the whole album, and then some, and kept right on going.
In between songs, people would yell out songs they wanted Randy to sing. Though most of them were not on the set list, she obliged several of the requests by singing a few verses from some of them as they were called out. This is how “Cajun Moon” ended up in the set list.
They ended the show with “One Day I’ll Fly Away,” with a long, beautiful piano introduction while Randy set-up the song for us. She said that this song was the beginning of her musical relationship with Joe Sample, back when she first began and he took her under his wing. This was followed by the Crusaders huge crossover hit, and the song that introduced Randy Crawford to the world, “Street Life.” The applause and adulations at the end of the show was thunderous. Nobody wanted it to end. Randy, Joe, Nick Sample and Steve Gadd obliged the audience with not one, but two encore songs. Randy decided to deviate once more from the set list and led the trio in a beautiful rendition of “Rainy Night in Georgia,” and, from the new release, “Dance Land.” At the end of the song, while the trio continued to play, she sang us out as she exited the stage. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely wonderful show.
Lots of people play piano. Lots of people sing. In terms of talent and performance, Joe Sample and Randy Crawford are so far above lots of people. Theirs is about musical interpretation, not just playing and singing. There is a difference. This music is not for lightweights. This is smart, intelligent stuff. This is grown folks music, and, should this show come to a venue near you, I urge you to go see it. You won’t see this line-up too often, so don’t miss the opportunity to see these music masters at work.
- Mary Bentley |
