Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Curtis Stigers Band -- a large time in a small package
Only a small step van was backed up to the First Flight High School stage door Saturday evening -- on enterlng the auditorium one could see why.
On the vast stage was a small oasis of musical instruments, including the Outer Banks Forum's prized Yamaha grand piano.
A small set of drums, an acoustic bass lying on its side and one tenor sax on a stand stood with two microphones, a music stand and a few stage monitors.
The drums had two mics pointed at them, the piano one. All the mics fed the public address system, as there were no amplifiers onstage.
The auditorium filled slowly but steadily while the lighting tech played with the dimmers. It was a little more than half-full at 7:40 p.m. when the Curtis Stigers band
was introduced.
Four hepcats in dark suits with colored shirts and ties came onstage; Stigers had no tie, but a red handkerchief was in his pocket and a black t-shirt was under his suit-jacket.
The pianist began with a quick, slightly discordant blues shuffle that Mose Allison might have played, the bass walked and the drummer hit his wood block on the fourth beat. Stigers, holding his sax, stepped up to the mic and began singing.
Well, that's all right, mama
That's all right for you
That's all right mama, just anyway you do
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
After a few verses of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right Mama," which was a hit for Elvis Presley, Stigers blew three building verses of solos on his sax.
Thin and angular, Stigers with his saxophone looked like a drawing from The New Yorker of the archetypal hipster sax player.
After another vocal verse, he gave his pianist, Matthew Fries, some room. Fries' solo went from the offhand Allison style to full wail in a few verses.
Stigers' voice, too, combined the casualness of Allison's style with the chops to hit the blue notes of the song while still sounding natural. (One of the reasons Elvis had a hit with the song and why he was great.)
Next was a bizarre but effective drum solo, performed by Stigers, standing at the mic -- with his mouth! At one point the dummer, Keith Hall, took over and the band played an airy Al-Greenish ballad, Glen Ballard's "You're All That Matters to Me."
Vocalist-songwriter supreme Willie Nelson was covered with a crazy "Crazy" cover -- the introduction and coda were given the wacky treatment; the song itself was played straight.
Stiger's voice is a treasure; so is his band. Bassist Phil Palombi opened bassist Willie Dixon's "My Babe," which Stigers and his band, aka TriFi, made their own.
Stigers explained his influences and sources by his age. He reveres the standard-bearers -- Rodgers and Gershwin -- but grew up listening to '70's and '80's rock and country. From these artists he has attempted to pluck "great songs," which are there to be discovered.
Joe Jackson's "Fools in Love" is a case in point. Stigers' jazzy walking bass version got the treatment: an arrangement that wouldn't have been out of place at the Village Gate, with a great vocal that emphasized any nascent hooks.
Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is the title song of Stigers' new album. It was performed along with a pitch: "Some of our CDs are for sale in the lobby, totally by coincidence."
Sting's "I Can't Stand Losing You" was given the TriFi jazz treatment without losing any of its kinetic energy.
Stigers sang a few of his own songs, one a tribute to his jazz hero Gene Harris, who retired to Boise, Idaho, Stigers' home town. "Swingin' Down at 10th and Main" recalled the Tuesday night jam sessions Harris presided over, to which Curtis Stigers the boy used to bring his clarinet and sax.
Stigers' original "Columbus Avenue" was a sweet love song. "I met and fell in love with my wife in New York City, where we both lived for many years. She was dancing in a Broadway show at Lincoln Center at the time, and we met at the fountain in front of the theatre for our first date. We walked up Columbus Avenue together, and by 79th Street I was in love."
If you go to Curtis Stigers.com you will hear some of his work. I would recommend a side trip to Amazon.com for some of his records. Few in the Forum audience will need to do that, though; his CDs flew off the shelves Saturday night.
©2005 Womack Newspapers Inc.
On the vast stage was a small oasis of musical instruments, including the Outer Banks Forum's prized Yamaha grand piano.
A small set of drums, an acoustic bass lying on its side and one tenor sax on a stand stood with two microphones, a music stand and a few stage monitors.
The drums had two mics pointed at them, the piano one. All the mics fed the public address system, as there were no amplifiers onstage.
The auditorium filled slowly but steadily while the lighting tech played with the dimmers. It was a little more than half-full at 7:40 p.m. when the Curtis Stigers band
was introduced.Four hepcats in dark suits with colored shirts and ties came onstage; Stigers had no tie, but a red handkerchief was in his pocket and a black t-shirt was under his suit-jacket.
The pianist began with a quick, slightly discordant blues shuffle that Mose Allison
might have played, the bass walked and the drummer hit his wood block on the fourth beat. Stigers, holding his sax, stepped up to the mic and began singing.Well, that's all right, mama
That's all right for you
That's all right mama, just anyway you do
Well, that's all right, that's all right.
That's all right now mama, anyway you do
After a few verses of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right Mama," which was a hit for Elvis Presley
, Stigers blew three building verses of solos on his sax.Thin and angular, Stigers with his saxophone looked like a drawing from The New Yorker of the archetypal hipster sax player.
After another vocal verse, he gave his pianist, Matthew Fries, some room. Fries' solo went from the offhand Allison style to full wail in a few verses.
Stigers' voice, too, combined the casualness of Allison's style with the chops to hit the blue notes of the song while still sounding natural. (One of the reasons Elvis had a hit with the song and why he was great.)
Next was a bizarre but effective drum solo, performed by Stigers, standing at the mic -- with his mouth! At one point the dummer, Keith Hall, took over and the band played an airy Al-Greenish ballad, Glen Ballard's "You're All That Matters to Me."
Vocalist-songwriter supreme Willie Nelson
was covered with a crazy "Crazy" cover -- the introduction and coda were given the wacky treatment; the song itself was played straight.Stiger's voice is a treasure; so is his band. Bassist Phil Palombi opened bassist Willie Dixon's
"My Babe," which Stigers and his band, aka TriFi, made their own.Stigers explained his influences and sources by his age. He reveres the standard-bearers -- Rodgers
and Gershwin -- but grew up listening to '70's and '80's rock and country. From these artists he has attempted to pluck "great songs," which are there to be discovered.Joe Jackson's
"Fools in Love" is a case in point. Stigers' jazzy walking bass version got the treatment: an arrangement that wouldn't have been out of place at the Village Gate, with a great vocal that emphasized any nascent hooks.Randy Newman's
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today" is the title song of Stigers' new album. It was performed along with a pitch: "Some of our CDs are for sale in the lobby, totally by coincidence."Sting's
"I Can't Stand Losing You" was given the TriFi jazz treatment without losing any of its kinetic energy.Stigers sang a few of his own songs, one a tribute to his jazz hero Gene Harris
, who retired to Boise, Idaho, Stigers' home town. "Swingin' Down at 10th and Main" recalled the Tuesday night jam sessions Harris presided over, to which Curtis Stigers the boy used to bring his clarinet and sax.Stigers' original "Columbus Avenue" was a sweet love song. "I met and fell in love with my wife in New York City, where we both lived for many years. She was dancing in a Broadway show at Lincoln Center at the time, and we met at the fountain in front of the theatre for our first date. We walked up Columbus Avenue together, and by 79th Street I was in love."
If you go to Curtis Stigers.com you will hear some of his work. I would recommend a side trip to Amazon.com
for some of his records. Few in the Forum audience will need to do that, though; his CDs flew off the shelves Saturday night.©2005 Womack Newspapers Inc.
