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Story and Photos by James Walker
It had been several months since this listener last visited this popular smooth jazz club, located in the financial district of Chicago. The time was perfect to stop in again, as Chicago's premier smooth jazz saxophonist, Skinny Williams, was "holding court" and in typical high energy form. Skinny always performs at a high level and the CU2 crowd just loves it.
On Friday night, he was joined by Josh Ramos on bass, Tony Dale on drums and "Kenny-G look-alike" Brian James on keyboard. Much of what was played this evening was taken from Skinny's most recent CD, Here 2 Make U Happy. This is an excellent CD and has received favorable airplay on nationwide radio stations including WNUA 95.5 (and wnua.com)'s "Jazz, Chicago Style" show, which airs Sundays from 10pm to midnight and features local jazz artists.
One such selection, "Aruba," was the mellow ballad they began this set with. Although Skinny is noted for his high octave blowing, he's also prolific at smoothing out sounds, which please the ladies. This was followed by another soft tune, "Stepping Out," an ideal song for dancers to get their "step on."
Skinny featured the rhythm section on an upbeat Santana song. Brian James stood out on the keyboard, while Josh Ramos looked very natural playing the bass line on his electric bass. This writer is accustomed to seeing Josh on the upright bass, but he handles both with the greatest of ease.
Skinny and the band concluded the set with a couple of upbeat numbers, "Hip Huggers" and "Red Light." What a refreshing evening seeing Skinny and his bandmates for the first time in a month.
Skinny's Saturday night performance included a surprise national artist, who just dropped by to jam with the fellows. The ensemble on this evening was the same as the night before with the exception of Brian "Mighty" Quinn replacing Josh Ramos on the bass. This set also included a female spoken word artist on a couple of selections.
Skinny opened the second set with "Hip Hugger." Quinn displayed a nice extended solo on the number. They followed up that song with "Children of the Ghetto," Skinny's most downloaded song in the United States from his Here 2 Make U Happy CD. The spoken word artist added flair to this number with short snippets at appropriate intervals. Initially, her mic wasn't set for vocals, but that was quickly remedied. By the way, "Miss Celie's Blues" (from the play The Color Purple) is Skinny's most downloaded song in the U.K.
The highlight of the entire weekend occurred as the band was playing Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va" (made most famous by Santana), when world-class trumpeter Maurice "Mobetta" Brown joined in the fray after completing his gig at the Jazz Showcase. Instantly, this became a "blowin' session." It's too bad this evening was not recorded because it was a sight to see and a joy to hear. For those familiar with "Mobetta," they know he is well known for his hard and furious runs on the trumpet and his sudden appearance and energetic sound took the SRO crowd by surprise. It was simply majestic with Skinny and Mobetta going back and forth soloing in addition to playing lines in unison. And if that wasn't enough, Mobetta's talented saxophonist (one of the Crescent City's finest) Derek Douget also jumped in: the crowd was ecstatic!
Everyone was off their feet, shouting in amazement for this unexpected treat that Mobetta and Derek provided on this selection and on "Watermelon Man." One never knows who just might drop in at Chicago's smoothest jazz club. The three of them closed out the set with a display of "call and response" at its highest level. One could feel the electricity in the air. Everyone spontaneously rose to their feet to give these exceptional musicians a standing ovation. It was a blowin' session that those in attendance will probably never forget.
For detailed information about future CU2 events, visit their Web site, CloseUp2Jazz.com.
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