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Classic: Gershwin show starts festival in grand fashion
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Published: August 15, 2008
By George, that's great music -- especially when some of this area's finest players perform it.
The Carolina Chamber Symphony Players presented Gershwin, By George! last night in Gray Auditorium at the Old Salem Visitors Center, starting the Carolina Summer Music Festival in memorable, auspicious fashion.
The program, an intermissionless affair, lasted about 90 minutes. It featured one Gershwin favorite after another, from "Embraceable You" to "Fascinating Rhythm." Martha Bassett sang glowingly, and the band, in equally fine form, consisted of Jacqui Carrasco on violin, Matt Kendrick on double bass, Federico Pivetta on piano, Wally West on saxophone, Ken Wilmot on trumpet and John C.B. Wilson on drums.
With Gershwin, it seems next to impossible to reach the saturation point. But Kendrick, who also served as the night's arranger, wasn't taking any chances that the audience might grow bored. He made sure that each number had a different look and sound, and he did so in a way that brought out the best solo talents of all involved.
Kendrick and company offered a similar program of Cole Porter fare last year. They shouldn't hesitate to celebrate other parts of the Great American Songbook.
The concert set an example that more jazz performers and their audiences should follow. The performance was lightly amplified, enabling us to enjoy even the softest detail, and the audience listened attentively from beginning to end.
Many highlights will remain in my memory for some time. These include West's sultry antidote to Bassett's poignant account of "I've Got a Crush on You." Wilson's extended introduction to "I Got Rhythm" started like a sputtering snare-drum routine and ended on fire. It was also a hoot -- as when he tickled the collective funny bone with his occasional strikes on a Chinese-opera gong, a bronze instrument shaped like a Frisbee.
Pivetta offered an involved, virtuoso account of "Fascinating Rhythm," briskly attacking each note of the main theme with a crisp, almost percussive attack.
■ The Carolina Summer Music Festival will continue through Aug. 31. The next concert, featuring Carrasco and pianist Ruskin Cooper in "Rhapsody in Blue," will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in Babcock Auditorium at Reynolda House Museum of American Art. See www.carolinasummermusicfestival.org or call 366-682-8524.
■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.
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