Staff Pick: Sax Summit

I had the great fortune of catching a wonderful show in NYC last summer at the 92nd St. YMCA, a venue very similar to our own Victoria Theatre. It was billed as a "Saxophone Summit" and featured some great friends of Cityfolk: Steve Wilson (alto sax/flute), Bill Charlap (piano/musical director), Ray Drummond (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums, who is scheduled to appear with Chen Zimbalista in February.)

The "Summit" also included alto sax legend Phil Woods (pictured at left, sometimes known as "New Bird"), who just recently celebrated his 78th birthday; Jimmy Heath, tenor saxophone master who's played with everyone from Ray Charles to Art Farmer and Cannonball Adderley, and whose autobiography, I Walked With Giants will be released in January 2010; and young tenor sax "monsters" Harry Allen and Jimmy Greene (pictured at right).

Being a somewhat skilled reed player myself in a previous life, I jumped at the chance to catch this performance. I have had a life-long desire to see Phil Woods in person, and have seen and heard the other musicians a number of times. My wife and I hopped the subway (first time ever!) and headed uptown to the 92nd Street YMCA.

The concert blew both of us away and was truly one of the most memorable live performances that I've seen in my 30+ years of concert-going. Hearing five world-class sax legends in one "sitting" was a joy for myself, and discerning each of their very distinctive styles was something that I could have done long after the performance ended. Walking out of the show I told Joelle that this amazing show is something that I know will stay with me for the rest of my music-appreciating days.

That brings me to my somewhat rambling point of this blog post: given the range of musicians coming to Dayton in the next several weeks (Son de Madera, Los Lobos, Del McCoury and Natalie MacMaster, to just name a few), what shows would you list in your top 3 of your own personal music-appreciating life? Better yet, out of those shows, have any been Cityfolk shows? Share your experiences in our comments section, and I'll reward the 3 best stories with a $20 coupon for the Meadowlark Restaurant that's good for anytime from now until next summer!

Thanks for your continued support of Cityfolk and I look forward to seeing you at one of our many upcoming shows!