A Night at The Biltmore with Class Act

Brent & John at The Biltmore, with the rest of Class Act in the background
Photo by Brent Whiten

Got this past Saturday night booked on Halloween, thanks in no small part to my friend Brent Whiten.  He regularly plays with the band Class Act, or as it is sometimes labeled, Class Act Band  They needed a bass player for this Saturday and I was indeed available.  The band is led by keyboardist/vocalist Judy Boehm.  She was very nice and helpful.  Her style is to just go right into the next song, giving the night a free-flowing non-stop array of tunes.  Many times the keys were different from the original (not an issue, if you really know the song), but she would hold up 4 fingers indicating the key was E (for sharps in the key signature).  The guitarist, Ed Sanker, gave me some good audibles as well.  He shared many of the lead vocals with Brent. 

The song selections were spot on.  Uncanny how similar the flow was compared to what I encounter with my regular band: Waiting On The World To Change, Don't Know Why, Everything, When You Say Nothing At All, Better Together, My Girl, Love Shack, Shout!, Brick House, Play That Funky Music, Get Down Tonight, You Are The Sunshine of My Life, Crocodile Rock.  You get the picture.  The first dance was Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.  Love those syncopated breaks and that neo-swing groove.  Brent gave to a nice authentic vibe with the clicks on the rims during those breaks - very cool.  I brushed up on it to nail the correct changes and that quick low F (after the Em - A7 turnaround) that I had never learned in the past.  The guitar solo goes to Bb instead of simply repeating the IV of the bridge.  A great tune to have under your fingers.  John Deacon always played the perfect part on those original Queen albums.  His lines are worth studying.

Everything was great all night except for our attempting to honor a request.  I was over my head with It's Still Rock and Roll To Me.  Overstepped my bounds and really just tried to stay out of the way.  It sucked the wind out of my sails, but they really wanted to hear some upbeat Billy Joel.  Well, you can't fake it all the time.  Lesson learned, I hope.  All in all, a great night in the reverberant chambers of the Biltmore.  We were able to dine from the buffet, so no cold chicken boxed lunch!  It did get loud, but in my opinion it was fairly manageable.  Nobody complained, and everything sounded good.  I stuck to my Fender Jazz.  My other bands would have remarked that I only played one bass for a whole night.  Maybe I should try that more often!  Many thanks again to Judy for having me fill in for her husband Jim.  Class Act is appropriately named!

Getting a little bit lower now during Shout!

You've made it this far - here is the arm-chair quarterback ocd-centric fakebook-approved chart for Billy Joel's It's Still Rock and Roll To Me.  Suitable for framing, although I was already framed!  It never hurts to have a little 80's Billy Joel in your back pocket.  Remember, we only play 80's Billy Joel - what movie was that Uptown Gurls band from?  Too funny!