A cool brisk evening was in order for some hot jazz in the Carolinas as smooth jazz artists Four 80 East were joined on stage with guitarist Matt Marshak and saxophonist Marcus Anderson for an evening of fun and great music. The two musicians added a lot to the mix and were able to play a few of their songs as well.

The members of the Canadian group were flanked by Marshak on the left while Anderson accompanied them to the right. They hit the stage playing “One Night Only” from Roll On followed with “Been Too Long” that featured Anderson on some nice sax work. It concluded with Matt, Marcus and Rob DeBoer jamming at the center of the stage for a climatic ending. Marcus joined them on flute and EWI for the crowd favorite “Roll On.”  Marshak followed the first two numbers with his hauntingly beautiful “On The Rocks” from the album of the same name. Marcus accompanied the passages on flute once more as the two really sounded good together. Marcus then grabbed his alto and went into “That’s The Way It Goes.” The snappy upbeat tune was a sharp contrast to the previous one, and really got the crowd going. Four 80 got back into the mix once more with the percussion heavy “Montreux.” With its lead from Marshak, the underground sound continued right along giving way to some soaring keys, and some really great sax at the end. “Everything’s Clearer” had a Jamaican feel to it that featured Anderson once more on sax, and a long bass solo in the middle. The first half of the show was concluded with “Five by Five” that featured a dreamy intro that heated up with some great keyboard work from DeBoer and some wonderful sax work from Anderson as well.

After an intermission the band picked up where they left off with “Easy Come, Easy Go.” It started off slow and had a laid back overall approach. They followed it up with the title track from En Route that featured Anderson on flute. The driving chill on this one was highlighted by some really good guitar from Marshak once more.  He gave a quick teaching lesson, and took the whole band to school on “Funkology” from his Family Funktiondisc. Matt laid out a lot of “wha wha” on his guitar that also featured some nice alto from Anderson and a great drum solo from CJ Thompson. One of my favorites of the night had to be Marcus Anderson’s “Waiting For You” as he left the stage and got to know the audience. His sax was intense as he played the infectious chorus and returned to the stage. Four 80 finished up the evening with “Drive Time” and Noodle Soup” before closing the night with their classic, “Eastside” from their first release.

These musicians really played well together, and have done just that at several gatherings in the past. It was a most enjoyable evening as each one brought something different to the show. It was a great night of some smooth jazz in the Carolinas. I look forward to more in the future.