Bobby Hutcherson in Chicago

[ejp626]

I was hoping to see Bobby a couple of times on his upcoming trip to the Showcase, but I am caught between a couple of trips. I might be able to see him on Saturday the 28th, but even that is questionable, since I am supposed to be at the airport early on Sunday.

To add to the confusion, the Chicago symphony, under Barenboim, is performing Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 that evening. That's something that also would interest me.

I'll probably end up doing neither, since I will be pretty wiped out from the first trip. Anybody going to either of these performances? Any suggestions/recommendations?

[sheldonm]

  ejp626 said:

I was hoping to see Bobby a couple of times on his upcoming trip to the Showcase, but I am caught between a couple of trips. I might be able to see him on Saturday the 28th, but even that is questionable, since I am supposed to be at the airport early on Sunday.

To add to the confusion, the Chicago symphony, under Barenboim, is performing Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 that evening. That's something that also would interest me.

I'll probably end up doing neither, since I will be pretty wiped out from the first trip. Anybody going to either of these performances? Any suggestions/recommendations?

...yep, I'll be at the Sunday show. I had thoughts of going earlier in the week, maybe Friday but nothing in stone yet. One you figure out your schedule, let me know!

m-

[sal]

Yeah, same here. Hopefully we can meet up.

[LWayne]

Since I will be back in town on business, I probably will be attendind an early show in the week (most likely Tuesday or Wednesday). Anybody know the band with whom Bobby Hutcherson will be playing?

I know that he has a CD with the SF Jazz Collective coming out soon (probably the same week that he is in Chicago). I guess he does not record his own groups any more. I believe the last release under his name was about six-seven years ago on Verve. I think it was entitled "Skyline".

Any insight as to his recording future?

LWayne

[sal]

  LWayne said:

Anybody know the band with whom Bobby Hutcherson will be playing?

I believe he's scheduled to play with the local rhythm section of Willie Pickens on piano, Larry Gray on bass and George Fludas on drums. Great band!

[sheldonm]

  sal said:

  LWayne said:

Anybody know the band with whom Bobby Hutcherson will be playing?

I believe he's scheduled to play with the local rhythm section of Willie Pickens on piano, Larry Gray on bass and George Fludas on drums. Great band!

[Alexander Hawkins]

I've only heard Willie Pickens on the occasion almost a year ago where he depped for Hank Jones at Symphony Center. I have to say I REALLY enjoyed his playing.

[sheldonm]

Here is a photograph I made during Bobby's Thursday night show.

[LWayne]

I was there at the 8:00 PM show on Thursday night as well. Really enjoyed the personal touch of hearing Bobby playing happy birthday for his son!

You must have been the gentleman in the front row snapping away! I was with a friend from Chicago who also enjoyed the show. Apparently the Chicago Trib had some nice things to say the next morning.

LWayne

[sheldonm]

  LWayne said:

I was there at the 8:00 PM show on Thursday night as well.  Really enjoyed the personal touch of hearing Bobby playing happy birthday for his son!

You must have been the gentleman in the front row snapping away!  I was with a friend from Chicago who also enjoyed the show.  Apparently the Chicago Trib had some nice things to say the next morning.

LWayne

←

Well....I don't know about gentleman, but yes, that was me in the front row. I was with Jim Neumann and his wife (Beehive Records) and pianist Jan Lundgren. Sal showed up towards the end of the set and we stayed for the second one as well. Bobby was in a great mood and his version of Happy Birthday was great!.

m-

[LWayne]

I was fortunate to attend two shows last week (the late set on Tuesday night and the early set on Tursday) and really enjoyed hearing Bobby Hutcherson. It was great to hear him play some of the standards. In particular, I enjoyed hearing "Little B's Poem" as well as the numerous ballads that he has recorded.

Personal highlight was talking to Bobby between sets. He is quite a story-teller and entertained his audience with some great gems. He related that he recorded some 45 albums for Blue Note during his career, and that there will be plans to release all of them at some point in the future. Sounds like a Mosaic project.

One other entertaining story involved his sister, who worked with Ray Charles as a Raylette during the 1960's. Apparently, the band used to travel from gig to gig on their own chartered plane. On one flight Bobby's sister brought a new recruit to the cockpit to meet the crew. Imagine their surprise when they found that Ray Charles was sitting in the pilot's seat flying the plane!

Ray advised the girls that the crew let him "fly" the plane when it was on auto-pilot, and added, with some humor, that he was looking forward to learning how to land the plane at some point. Apparently this revelation was too much for the young dancer who promptly resigned the band when the plane landed.

One of the many great stories related by Bobby Hutcherson. He is a truly warm person who seems to really appreciated connecting with his audience. Here's to wishing him continued success and best of luck going forward.

LWayne

Edited June 1, 2005 by LWayne

[sal]

Very thoughtful post, LWayne.

Seeing Bobby is always a delight.