SFJAZZ presents Uhadi: All-Stars of Johannesburg Jazz
2016-04-07
Joe Henderson Lab
SFJAZZ Center, 205 Franklin St, San Francisco, CA
Late Show, 8:30 PM, Thursday, April 7, 2016

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!

[8:34 PM lights down, announcements]

1. [8:35 PM] ? Khansa (a Xhosa dance)
2. [8:49 PM] Hymn for All
3. [8:56 PM] ?
4. [9:06 PM] ?
5. [9:17 PM] Same Old
6. [9:26 PM] Meadowlands
   [set ends 9:35 PM]
    
   Encore
7. [9:37 PM] ?
   [show ends 9:45 PM]

• Justin Badenhorst: drums;
• Fezile „Feya“ Faku: trumpet, flugelhorn;
• Paul Hanmer: piano;
• McCoy Mrubata: saxophones;
• Herbie Tsoaeli: bass.

Tonight I met Ting for a casual dinner at Gyro King on Grove Street, just outside the Civic Center BART station. Surprisingly, it was super-crowded! Hard to know what was going on, and given the diversity of the crowd, I'm guessing more than a few reasons. The smallest fraction appeared to be folks headed for the symphony or other musical entertainment (like us!). The biggest fraction was a boisterous group of foreign students – perhaps tourists – I didn't really investigate. In a change from the usual Turkish news or soap operas, the big television was playing tonight's WWE match. All-American entertainment at it's finest! It was hard not to get sucked into the show. It's so bad, you just have to watch! After finishing our plates, it was still pretty early, so we walked over to Beer Hall for a second stop on our way to the show. Tonight's choice: an Altamont L-Town Brown on Nitro at Beer Hall. The creamy nitro pull blended well with the malty roast of the brown ale. Nothing dazzling, but a fine choice for a cool evening. The Golden State Warriors were just starting their game against the San Antonio Spurs – a preview of the coming championship?

Over to SFJAZZ. First in queue, so we get to watch/listen to last 20-30 min of early show … good decision to arrive early! The band is enthusiastic and plays until about 8:15 or so, confounding the house staff. We slip in as soon as we can and grab center aisle seats in the the 3rd row. I'm good, but Ting is unhappy that the guy who sits in front of us is big enough to block her view; a couple seat-scoots towards the center aisle and things are somewhat improved. Sometimes you gotta take a few lumps, right?

The show is great, though I have a hard time deciphering McCoy's accent, and so miss the titles to a few of the tunes. Most of the songs seem to be anchored either by piano- or bass-led repeating riffs: on more than one, I'm pleased to notice the return of a riff signalling reprise of the head after a solo segment: makes me feel as if I'm becoming a better listener! The house staff signal for the band to stop as the allotted hour concludes, but the small crowd is enthusiastic, and the band responds with a happy encore, punctuated by a little song and dance from Herbie Tsoaeli. I get the impression that the band would have played awhile longer, but all the same, I'm happy to have things wrap up early – when you gotta climb out of bed before 6 AM, staying up late is a crazy idea!

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2016 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2016 event list! ☸ On to the next event!