Squire, Howe and White remain, along with Oliver Wakeman on keyboards (yes, Rick's son) and Benoit David on vocals. The show at the Orbit Room in Grand Rapids was a step down from previous excursions at Wings, Joe Louis, Olympia and the like, at least in size. Never mind the fact the promised comps and photo pass did not materialize, how was the show? First, the good. Howe and Squire haven't lost a thing technically. And there's still a lot of fire there, including White, pounding out the polyrhythms.
The set list was interesting, with two tracks from Going for the One and Drama, and de rigeur classics "Close to the Edge,""Roundabout" and "Owner of A Lonely Heart" (Howe has managed to put his stamp on that Rabin raveup). They went back as far as The Yes Album for "Yours Is No Disgrace," and the "Soon" excerpt from "To Be Over" on Relayer was a highlight. But no tracks from the more recent The Ladder or their upcoming CD, which was quite disappointing. "Owner" was the only Rabin-era track, and similarly no tracks from Tales From Topographic Oceans, though there were some brief quotes in Howe's guitar solo.
Also, in a smaller venue, the stage set was spare, with none of the Roger and Martyn Dean creations or lasers. But the biggest disappointment was the sound mix. Must be Squire was in charge, because his bass sounds totally overshadowed everything else, save Howe's electric guitar. When Howe pulled out the mandolin for "I've Seen All Good People" you couldn't hear it. Ditto Wakeman's phalanx of keyboards, with the exception of one; it must have been set on 11 and the rest on 3. Dad would never have allowed that.
The vocals too were difficult to discern, and David had an unfortunate tendency to go flat. A stronger mix might have helped even in that regard.
Overall, the playing was impeccable, the stage presence of Squire and Howe strong, if less so for David.
On to the jazz side of things. Dave Grusin has a new CD, DVD, and iPad app: A Night with Dave Grusin includes his originals as well as music from Bernstein and others. Guests include Patti Austin, Gary Burton, Nestor Torres, Arturo Sandoval and Jon Secada. Stirring, cinematic music, even those tracks not from movies.
Grusin is a charming man and for someone with the career he's had - scoring 60+ movies, releasing another 20+ recordings, performing worldwide, and helping save jazz in the 80s by starting the GRP label with partner Larry Rosen - affable, humble and enjoyable to talk to. He gives much of the credit to Rosen, who he said took the idea of a concert and turned it into an event.
That includes the first-ever iPad app of its kind. It gives you not only the music but photos, bios, interviews, and several additional camera angles from the show. Fun stuff.
