WOW! Just wow...
I had the great fortune tonight of seeing one of the best pianists that I've ever known in concert. Today is Cyrus Chestnut's 50th birthday, and as part of the celebration he was playing two sets at An Die Musik in downtown Baltimore. My Dad accompanied me, and we didn't know from the website if he was playing solo or with a group. Either way, we really didn't care either. For $20 it was a steal no matter what. Upon arriving for the second set, it was surprisingly crowded. I say surprising because unfortunately jazz doesn't garner near the attention it deserves, especially locally. If you go to a jazz club in NYC, there is almost always a packed house. Locally, it's a different story. There was a birthday cake event in between sets to celebrate his birthday. Unfortunately, it delayed the second set a bit, but in the end it didn't matter. The music was fantastic! My first exposure to Cyrus Chestnut was roughly 17 years ago when I say him perform in NYC as part of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. I was heading to NYC as part of a trip for the weekend, with the art department at Towson University (in my day Towson State). I noticed in the New Yorker magazine that there was a concert at Lincoln Center, featuring the JLCO, with a battle of the trumpets and the saxes. Luckily I was able to get tickets last minute to attend. I'm so glad I did, because it was an incredible evening, one I'll never forget for many reasons. One was my first exposure to Chestnut. Plus I was able to meet him and many of the other musicians that night, including Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis, Reginald Veal, Roy Hargrove, etc. I even shared a cab ride with some of the musicians back to Midtown. Well, back to Chestnut in Baltimore. Which by the way, he's a native Baltimorean. The concert was great. You can tell he's a classically trained in pianist in many ways. His hand position and posture to me are the first tell-tale signs. But he was constantly bringing in classical influences in his improvisations and his own compositions. It was truly a sight to see. It's something you really have to see in person to believe or understand it. And the way he could mix the both classical and jazz, and even pop/R & B was just amazing. I swear I heard some Lionel Richie in one number he played, I believe it was Hello. Either way, another fantastic night of music.
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B.D.SchmittHusband, Father, Archives
November 2015
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