Friday the 20th turned into a Friday the 13th for me as I made my way up to the The Cliffs at Keowee Falls Golf Community in Salem, South Carolina to join up with Gwen Hughes and the Retro Jazz Kats. The problem was that I got a later start than I should have and made it there too late to play the first set. I called Gwen to tell her the bad news and she was very nice about the whole thing. I really appreciate her making the night a pleasurable one after my missing the entire 1st set. In some crazy way, this was one gig where it might have worked out without much of a huge problem. It's certainly obvious when bass is missing, yet cocktail hour can be the one set where it's just not the end of the world. There was a gentleman who happened to play bass, & he might have been the only one in attendance who was acutely aware of the band's predicament. They filled up the sound, keeping the volume down as requested. I loaded in through the men's locker room and was all set for the 2nd set, which was more jazz & ballads as the crowd was eating at this point. The band was a great lineup of stellar musicians that Gwen calls on for her many projects: Steve Cunningham on guitar & lap steel, Mike Hinton on drums, Mace Hibbard on tenor sax & vocals, Jason "Shot Blocker" Covey on trumpet, & of course, Gwen on keyboards & vocals. I found my groove with Mike shortly into the show over tunes such as "Little Sunflower," "How Insensitive," & "There Could Never Be Another You". Mike taught me the joy of sticking the trick from the Commodores "I'm Easy" of crashing and holding the tonic on the 4. It was funny. Steve & Mace joked about the gig where they kept finding ways to quote "Sara Smile" (the opening guitar licks ~ I wonder who played that original part ~ I hope it was John Oates.)
After the second set, it was time to eat! We hungrily scarfed tall plates teeming with shrimp cocktail, broiled lobster, prime rib, baby lamb chops, iceberg wedge with bleu cheese crumbles & bacon bits salad (loved it), asparagus & skinny carrot medley, & for dessert, New York Cheesecake! Great meal ~ much needed by all of us. Trust me, my picture did not do it justice. We were all so hungry but this was a feast I should have preserved better for posterity.
Those who stuck around were ready to dance to some great fun jams, expertly paced & sequenced. Gwen is a true pro at keeping the crowd engaged. There is never a dull moment in the night. Steve got the prize for ripping on the synth break in the bridge of "Oh What a Night" ~ scary good. Mace shocked me with some great singing: "Let's Stay Together" & "Have I Told You Lately" (in Bb!). We honoured some requests for vintage two-step country music with Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight" as well as Johnny Cash's "I Walk The Line" (Steve wrung some mighty fine "front porch old-skool/nouveau bluegrass" licks from his Telecaster on these - that boy can sure play). Some of the best charts of the night included "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" & "Can't Help Falling In Love". It was a very good night and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than the last time I was with Gwen (in spite of my untimely travel woes & my bud MacDougal not being there) back in September. It makes such a difference when the band can connect with the audience. This band is capable of playing just about anything, which is a tribute to the chart books Gwen has put together. I haven't played with her much but I am able to come in & read it down, much of which I've played before anyways. All of the Kats can read, so the challenge in that kind of situation is first to play the music correctly, play together as a band with good communication, engage with the audience and each other so that we're not a bunch of mummies up there with our heads buried in the charts, and then, if we're all good enough, we turn it into a show with any kind of choreography or some sense of showmanship. I'd have to say that we accomplished all of that and more. I was thinking to myself that this was going to be a tough crowd & that we wouldn't be able to pull them in, so to speak. Sometimes that is not the fault of the band. Nonetheless, we did get them to let their hair down & have a good time. I think some part of that is that Gwen can manage to split the difference with tried & true crowd pleasers as well as some deeper cuts that aren't so overplayed. I'm thinking of songs like "Still the One" & "More Today Than Yesterday" alongside "My Girl" & "Brown Eyed Girl". Everything flowed well & that helped to win the crowd over so that we all had a great time.
I played my Fender Jazz through the Genz Benz combo and it really sounded fat & full. So funny how that amp can cut through with plenty of headroom on some jobs & be wimpy on others. This one was admittedly a lower volume gig so I knew it would be a good fit. I'm so glad I went back to the stock Fender pickups - I love the highs those pickups put out, especially for slapping. I sang some harmonies along with Mace and we had a nice vocal blend - I love singing the low (not really too low) D on "Still the One" & I remembered on the 2nd chorus of "My Girl" to get the high harmony. Once again, I am in debt to Gwen & Mike for putting me at ease when it could have been a very troubling scenario. I tip my hat to a class act that is one of the most professional yet enjoyable groups with whom I am proud to associate.
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