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 Jeff Lindberg |
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Review by Mary Lou Wade It was such beautiful weather in Chicago that some folks chose to stay outdoors but the audience members who entered Thorne Hall on Sunday were in for a glorious springtime treat.Jeff Lindberg and his orchestra welcomed John Campbell,  the original pianist of the Jazz Members Big Band (now the CJO) and it was as if he had never been gone. He led the full rich sound from the lively opener, Jerome Kern's “I'm Old Fashioned” until the final encore, following a standing ovation, of “Darned That Dream” with the other star of the show, Charles McPherson. His long solo at the beginning of ”Young and Foolish” was delicate and gentle, yet he poured his hard driving energy and experience into every number of the two-hour program.After a lengthy intermission saxophone star McPherson grabbed the audience's attention with a warm-up of “What Is This Thing Called Love?” accompanied by the sterling drumming of George Fludas and the brilliant bass playing of Dennis Carroll.  The full orchestra backed McPherson in Jimmy Heath's “The Serpents Tooth” that ended with a glorious crescendo and CJO's Associate Artistic Director Charley Harrison's arrangement of “Jeannie” was certainly worthy of a recording. Benny Carter's lush ballad “Souvenir” was soaring and “Willow Weep for Me” was poignant. Stanley Crouch, the Jazz critic of the NY Times, is quoted in the program, writing about Charles McPherson: “He is a singular voice who has never sacrificed the fluidity of his melody making, and is held in high esteem by musicians both long seasoned and young.” The last two scheduled numbers were arranged by Joe Lipman and transcribed by Conductor Jeff Lindberg and two greater versions of “Almost Like Being In Love” and “Night and Day” would be hard to find and will be long remembered by the entheustic audience, all agreeing that listening to the CJO was one fine way to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon.
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