Hollywood Jazz Quartet Featuring George Young
By Natalie Wilson
Last year, at one of our Jazz Parties/ Jam Sessions, an amazing saxophone player showed up and wowed both the musicians in the house band and the audience as well, with his virtuosity. His name was George Young and it was apparent that he was a fabulous player and we invited him to come back with his band. So last Sunday, George returned with his Hollywood Jazz Quartet…and what a quartet it was! Besides the fabulous George, there was pianist, Lou Forestieri, bassist Harvey Newmar and Kendall Kay on drums…all veteran, exciting players.
Starting off the afternoon with the Miles Davis composition, Solar, the tight group romped through that tune, and as with most others that day, “trading fours” so that we got to hear each player with their amazing solos. It was apparent that we had some stellar players in our midst. Both George and Lou are extremely melodic musicians and seem to have endless ideas to express. On There Will Never Be Another You, as well as other tunes, George switched saxes from tenor to alto to soprano seamlessly. They played a lovely, Nearness of You and several boss novas including One Note Samba and La Playa, written by pianist, Lou Forestieri. Bassist, Harvey Newmark7, another super melodic player had a great solo on My One and Only Love. My personal favorite of the afternoon was another Miles composition, All Blues. Pianist Lou Forestieri, favored us with another terrific solo on that jazz waltz and Kendall Kay kept the groove going with his masterful drum playing. The choice of tunes and, most importantly, the excellent players made for an unforgettable afternoon of straight ahead jazz…pure perfection! I can’t wait till they come back….
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