My Plans Were Spoiled Years Ago
The George Garzone Quartet laid four on the floor at The Mad Monkfish on Saturday, 20 April 2024.
The Shoyu Ramen? Not quite in the same ballpark at the Duck Noodle Soup.
Said the guy at the bar, whom I was getting squeezed-sat next to at The Mad Monkfish, after I asked, half-apologizing: "I hope I'm not spoiling any plans":
“My plans were spoiled years ago…"
How’s that for a stone cold bad ass reply at the drop of the hat? That’s the kind of noir bitchery you can only find in a true jazz crowd.
Sure, there can be a lot of (too much!) pomp and circumstance among the connoisseurs of one of America’s finest art forms. Decadence, and a little wood rot, in both the art and audience set in year’s ago. But that doesn’t mean you don’t get those twilight glimpses of a bygone golden era from time to time.
Wouldn’t you love to step back in time and hear jazz greats at all the legendary haunts, plus the dives, during a time when the music was still a bit dangerous?
If not the jazz era, then when?
The quartet, led by George Garzone, produced a vintage cool jazz sound that didn’t show too much interest in the developments in the genre after the late 60s. But what they did, they did fantastic. Extra points for the cornet and/or flugelhorn player, who added a touch of brass obscurity to Garzone’s more straightahead saxophone riffery.
The horns did well to cut above the white noise in the restaurant meets jazz venue, which can get thick and soupy when the crowd is really digging into their noodles and sushi boats. The powerful calrion call of Garzone’s horn stood the slurpers back to attention.
ENiAMA lot of call and response in this band, which is a welcome departure from the paint-by-numbers rut some live jazz musicians can fall into, passing the meandering solo baton along until you can’t remember what the theme or motor was driving the whole jalopy. Call and response keeps the players dialed in with each other. The audience too.
For the record, the players were Garzone on saxophone, Phil Grenadier (flugelhorn), John Lockwood (acoustic bass), and Austin McMahon (drums). The Knicks took care of the 76ers in Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs on the TV. And the Shoyu Ramen was a real step down from the Duck Noodle Soup at the Yoko Miwa Trio show.
Now you know.