What a week

What a week of great music at the Narrows March 21-26. Six great shows, each very different in style, all top notch in performance. We made lots of new friends and partied with many of our long time fans. It was such an enjoyable week, I though I would give a quick recap

Monday March 21 Peter Wolf- Monday night became Saturday night with Mr. Wolf and his red hot band ripping it up. The show consisted of mostly Wolf solo material with a a sprinkling of old Geils stuff.  Peter is a master showman who was very appreciative of the great Narrows audience who listened rather than blab there way through a show. I/we thank you for your attentiveness and passion. It was great to see so many people up dancing and having a great time on a Monday night. Ah, the power of rock and roll

Tuesday- March 22 Al DiMeola-We were in the presence of true musical genuis with Al. He is regarded as one of the finest guitarists in the world and he really delivered the goods with an expertly played show. His band easily moved from a world music vibe to straight out jazz fusion. Special kudos to Percussionist Gumbi Ortiz( a 21 year veteran of Al's band) this guy really lit it up, he and Al have great chemistry and they fed off each other all night. We don't do many jazz shows at the Narrows,(we will be doing more this year). This was a great way to expose jazz fans to our venue. Next jazz show will be with Gretchen Parlato on April 6. She is a great vocalist who was recently featured on NPR http://www.npr.org/2011/03/27/134795606/first-listen-gretchen-parlato-the-lost-and-found

Wednesday March 23 George Winston- A musical savant, pure musical genius, a wonderful man. George held the hushed crowd in the palm of his hand with his keyboard prowess His show was a mix of N'Awlins barrelhouse piano(ie Professor Longhair, Henry Butler), jazz interpretations and original material. To fully understand the commitment George has to his instrument, I thought I would give some insight into his practice regiment. Geoerge arrived at our venue around midnight of March 23, we locked him in the venue and he played till 3 am, he then returned at 5 pm on the day of his perforamnce and played for about two hours. He then played a two  hour show and stayed after the show to play another 3 hours. He told me, he practiced a minmum of 8 hours a day. That my friends is dedication to an instrument, it allows the musican and instrument to  become one. Truly a remarkable show.

Thursday March 24 Leon Redbone. The only show on the run I did not attend. Reports from the crew was Leon was Leon playing tinpan alley and old timey numbers with flair and originality. Nobody does that stuff better than Leon.

Friday March 25 Aztec Two Step with Buskin and Batteau- Packed house for this one. Everyone singing along to all the old favorites. Aztec has a great connection with this area and a real dedicated fan base. This time through they fleshed out their sound on some numbers with David Buskin on Piano, Robin Batteau on Violin and Marshall Rosenberg on Percussion. It made for a big sound. Buskin and Batteau also did a few numbers of thier own. B&B used to be Tom Rush's back up group. Real nice guys. We had fun trading Tom Rush stories. Tom is one of our all time favorites.

Saturday March 26 Chely Wright- To say that Chely has a rabid fan base would be understating the obvious. To give you a an idea, 4 fans showed up at 11:30 am after leaving Maine at 6:30 am for 8:00 pm show. When she hit the stage it had a Beatles on Ed Sullivan feel. Chely is a great country singer and writer. She has a warm an inviting personality and sang beautifully. Local guy Chad Burdick played a nice opening set and made quite a few fans.

A lot of blood, sweat and beers went into this week. And by all accounts a good time was had by all. We presented some fabulous acts and our fans were treated to some fabulous music. Thanks to everyone who came out to the shows. It is much appreciated. Special thanks to Deb and Kathy who went above and beyond to make it all look easy and feel good