Big Band • Swing • Ballroom
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Concert Review from The Rhinoceros Times, September 11, 2005 by Orson Scott Card
Last Friday we were lucky enough to attend the opening concert of this season of "Music for a Great Space."
This concert series began fourteen years ago, when a magnificent organ was installed in the sanctuary of Christ United Methodist Church on Holden Road in Greensboro. This music-loving congregation wanted to share the new instrument with the whole community, and began inviting guest organists to perform.
Over the years, the concept broadened to include other kinds of performances, though the organ remains an important part of the season.
But the concert that kicked off this season was quite different from anything else on the docket. Wally West and his "Little Big Band" have a Greensboro connection -- West's wife (and the girl singer for the band) is Cathy West, who also serves as the coordinator for music and the arts of Christ Methodist.
So this band was definitely playing for the home crowd. The sanctuary was packed, and the response to the banter made it clear that most of the audience already knew the Wests very well -- and liked them.
They probably would have gotten a warm response from that crowd even if they weren't all that good.
But I didn't know them. That made the banter seem kind of long now and then, because we came to enjoy ourselves, which only happens when he stops talking and plays.
This concert series began fourteen years ago, when a magnificent organ was installed in the sanctuary of Christ United Methodist Church on Holden Road in Greensboro. This music-loving congregation wanted to share the new instrument with the whole community, and began inviting guest organists to perform.
Over the years, the concept broadened to include other kinds of performances, though the organ remains an important part of the season.
But the concert that kicked off this season was quite different from anything else on the docket. Wally West and his "Little Big Band" have a Greensboro connection -- West's wife (and the girl singer for the band) is Cathy West, who also serves as the coordinator for music and the arts of Christ Methodist.
So this band was definitely playing for the home crowd. The sanctuary was packed, and the response to the banter made it clear that most of the audience already knew the Wests very well -- and liked them.
They probably would have gotten a warm response from that crowd even if they weren't all that good.
But I didn't know them. That made the banter seem kind of long now and then, because we came to enjoy ourselves, which only happens when he stops talking and plays.
And mostly that's what they did: Play and sing. I know big band music, and these performers were the real thing. West himself has recorded and toured with many top acts as a saxophonist, and every other instrumentalist is a superb professional performer. Who knew there was anybody this good right here in town?
Most contemporary jazz is so influenced by be-bop that it leaves me cold. Melody has long since been abandoned, and to an old horn player like me most of the performances sound like a bunch of guys showing off their hot licks during the tuning-up before the real concert -- only the real concert never comes.
With West's "Little Big Band," though, melody is still firmly in place. It's the kind of music that swung when Louis and Bing were remaking the pop music landscape and Ella was singing with Duke.
The only drawback was that in a church sanctuary, it didn't feel right to get up and dance. Which just about killed me. But ... I stayed in my seat and appreciated the tradeoff. You may not be able to dance, but the acoustics in the sanctuary were fantastic. Like singing in a really big shower, only without any echo or muddiness.
When they call it a "great space," they aren't kidding. It made me want to bring in the church choir I sing with, just so we can sing in a room designed for music.
And if you ever get a chance to hear Wally West's Little Big Band, don't pass it up.
Most contemporary jazz is so influenced by be-bop that it leaves me cold. Melody has long since been abandoned, and to an old horn player like me most of the performances sound like a bunch of guys showing off their hot licks during the tuning-up before the real concert -- only the real concert never comes.
With West's "Little Big Band," though, melody is still firmly in place. It's the kind of music that swung when Louis and Bing were remaking the pop music landscape and Ella was singing with Duke.
The only drawback was that in a church sanctuary, it didn't feel right to get up and dance. Which just about killed me. But ... I stayed in my seat and appreciated the tradeoff. You may not be able to dance, but the acoustics in the sanctuary were fantastic. Like singing in a really big shower, only without any echo or muddiness.
When they call it a "great space," they aren't kidding. It made me want to bring in the church choir I sing with, just so we can sing in a room designed for music.
And if you ever get a chance to hear Wally West's Little Big Band, don't pass it up.