The crowd at the Jazz Band Brawl was small but appreciative, and was a surprising cross-section of folks. Seated among fortysomethings and silver-haired listeners were several boys, likely not even sixteen years old, but mature enough to dig a jazz groove. Lorentz was not surprised at this. Ray Harry is in his last year before retirement, so this is probably one of his final appearances with the band. He is happy to see that young players are interested in both the traditional and modern forms of jazz.
Every jazz musician is a composer.
Indeed, jazz musicians seem to be perpetually creating and smiling. Larry Kinling, bassist of the Steve Herberman Trio, was coaxing the best from his queen of an instrument. The shapely body of an upright bass, fitted with plump strings, leaves no mystery about how the sound is made. That huge resonance chamber could do nothing else but mellow and amplify deep vibrations, and Kinling worked his fingers like crazy to do it, all the while with a faint Mona Lisa grin. Herberman knows how to handle its energy, and during the competition brought its sweet tones and wavy grooves out to play.