alisonboston.com

Nobody else really had a chance with me last evening after I heard drummer Bobby Durham sing Errol Garner’s ‘Misty’. Yeah, it’s a heart-tugging crooner’s number, but it was Durham’s clear, open, tenor voice that did it for me. When he hit the high notes, my heart melted. I bought his Cd ‘For Lover’s Only’, but it doesn’t hold a candle to his live performance.

Not only did he wow me with that one song thrown in at the end of the concert he played with the Csik Gustztáv Trio, but he also tickled my ribs with what he told me is called ‘The Bobby Durham Special’, a tricky little cymbol technique he learned watching Philly Joe Jones (who he told me practiced in his kitchen when he was nine years old) and Max Roach.

When I raved about Durham to my companion at the concert, she said: “Don’t underestimate that bass player - Reggie Johnson -he was thrumming-out melodies in his solos, and that’s not easy on a bass.”

Another pleasure served up by the evening’s programming was David Golek’s guitar heard on the Columbus Jazz Boat. Innocent, sweet compostions accompanied by the Földvári Gergely Trio.

But there’s not a doubt that the biggest hit of the night amongst serious fans was guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel appearing as a replacement for Bob Brookmeyer, who cancelled due to health reasons. Rosenwinkel’s guitar was great to hear at Közraktár Sátor with the Szabó Daniel Trio, and die hard fans appreciated his surprise jam at the Time Cafe and Lounge when he joined the Czirják Csaba Quartet for a couple of numbers, finishing things up around 1:30A.M.