Lost in the Sauce!
at the Sherborn Inn in May 2007
with very special guests, Don & Jack Alessi
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Lost in the Sauce, a Hot Swing Band in the great tradition of the bands of the 30's and 40's,
Jeff Hughes trumpet, Craig Ball reeds, Richie Giordano piano, Ken
Steiner string bass, and Dave Bragdon drums. They began with Back Bay Shuffle
and Basie's
Swinging The Blues. Right then we knew it was going to be
a special evening.
And what a rare treat! Once a year, Jeff Hughes
brings in New England's own accomplished guitar soloist, Don Alessi,
and his son Jack Alessi
on vocals. |
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Pianist Richie Giordano is always
tinkering at the piano, early on as the others are still arriving, with
I Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle. And generally he's the
last one still playing, but not tonight. Jeff asks him to start
You Belong To My Heart, and leads out with the trumpet in a rumba beat,
soon Don's guitar notes are flitting all around the trumpet like a
bumble bee.
We waited all evening for Richie Giordano's Swanee River
Boogie. Or any boogie by this boogie-woogie meister. Never
disappointed! There's no sitting still - you gotta move! |
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Jack Alessi, one of the
Three Swinging' Tenors, gave us All of Me & Blue Moon, the 1930's
Bing Crosby special I Surrender Dear, Marie (in Italian.)
The More I See You, Ken Steiner melds his walking bass with the
guitar. Always (my song!) Where or When, |
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Second set, waiting for the band to return, we hear Jeff's soulful trumpet on the poignant
Pete Kelly's Blues, with a mournful clarinet response,
backed only by guitar and piano - heartrending
and beautiful.
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The guys are back, picking up the
tempo with The A Train, with powerful support from Ken Steiner's string bass and
Dave Bragdon's drums. Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me,
had the string bass & guitar in sync. Actually, Ken Steiner
is always in sync, just enough to fill the gaps but not intrude
behind each solo, and then driving the ensembles. His I
Never Knew was a scorcher! |
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My favorite of the evening
was Don Alessi solo with the 'rhythm boys' on a stunning bossa nova A Day in the Life of a Fool.
Whew! It's beyond depiction - you
had to be there. |
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Then it was Craig Ball's turn - our own Benny Goodman, whose White Heat
Swing Orchestra plays every Wednesday at The Boston Harbor Hotel on the
waterfront patio, (just
beyond the arch on Atlantic Avenue) June 27 through August 29th.
Craig's incredibly high-speed Don't Be That Way was unsurpassed!
Benny would be proud!. And continued with yet another clarinet
spectacular Who? The walls vibrated, this joint was jumpin'! |
| Guitarist Eric Baldwin
stopped in to get some pointers from his favorite swing guitar hero,
Don Alessi, and subbed for him on an exciting Bye, Bye,
Blackbird with Jack on vocals. Good
job, Eric. Following in those footsteps isn't easy. |
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This magnificent rhythm section, string bass, guitar, piano, and drum on
Ellington's Jump for Joy.
Ken & Dave were outstanding. Then father and son teamed up for a
duet with Jack on vocals backed by Don on an emotional, That's All.
Just to let us know our time was up. Nine thirty
comes way too soon - they ended with a barn-burning Nagasaki. |
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But Don doesn't stop.
As the band puts away the instruments, he continues softly with Polka Dots and Moonbeams.
Unwavering at 89, he is just superb on guitar! And he's coming back next
year! |
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