It’s always interesting to see who the current tour of Guitars and Saxes consists of. No matter who the lineup is, it’s always a good show. This year’s is no different, as guitarist Jeff Golub teams up with saxist Euge Groove and Jesse J along with keyboardist Jeff Lorber for good measure. It was Lorber who played the role of the constant musician while the others came and went from the stage at various times.

After a brief introduction of all four artists, Lorber launched into “Night Sky” from his latest disc with some great interplay with Euge and a few good licks from Golub as well. Newcomer Jesse J picked up the pace with her hit “Tequila Moon” with Golub and really got the crowd into it. He continued on with the title track from Dangerous Curves. The duo on sax graced the stage with their own choreographed dance steps that added some fun to this crowd favorite. Lorber got out his portable keyboard for an oldie with a little bit of fusion on “Toad’s Place.” Jesse showed a lot of range on her solos here and was a nice addition to the song. Euge Groove finished up the first set with “Livin’ Large” and “Sneak a Peak.”

Golub kicked off the next set with the title track from his Night Life disc back in his Ave. Blue days. Both Jesse and Euge served as good back ups and Lorber added a nice solo getting the crowd going with a blazing ending from Golub. One of my favorites was Euge Groove’s “Religify” as he worked the crowd as well as the stage. It was a sharp contrast to Jesse’s “Sin Ti” which slowed down the pace considerably. This was a nice one that showed off her abilities on sax as she was accompanied by Golub. She followed that two songs later with a new one from her new release, True Love. “Tropical Rain” is the first single and played up well with the crowd and back-up from Lorber. He continued on with “Rain Dance” and then “Ain’t Nobody” from his Kickin’ It disc. It was fun to see Jesse on alto and Euge on tenor. The two of them sounded great together. This was a crowd favorite that had everyone on their feet and finished up with another fine Golub solo.

That was just a warm up for him to introduce “I’ll Play the Blues for You” from his latest release. This one was much more intense with that blues feel to it, as much of the new disc has. It really was one of his better songs of the night. As the crowd was now really going, Euge kept the momentum up with the ever popular “Born To Groove” and “TOP” to round out the set. Both songs brought down the house to an appreciative audience! Begging for an encore, the Carolina crowd was treated with the always popular, “Cut The Cake” with Jesse on vocals and Golub on lead. It was a fun evening for these fine musicians as well as the audience on hand.