The Phil Norman Tentet
By Mark McDonald
With a blast of brass, drums, guitar, bass, piano and percussion, The Phil Norman Tentet band blew the roof off SOhO at Santa Barbara Jazz Society’s monthly presentation Sunday afternoon.
Norman and his eleven-member group shrieked into an Artistry of Rhythm, opening the show and demonstrating their affection for West Coast cool jazz. They continued with Sonny Rollins’ jazz standard Doxy, followed by Killer Phil, a tune Bob Florence (Norman’s mentor) wrote for him that also included a stand-out brassy fanfare. Then came Point Sierra, an Amat Jamal tune that was arranged and played wonderfully by the esteemed Christian Jacob on piano. Next in line was In Your own Sweet Way by Dave Brubeck, arranged by trombonist Scott Whitfield, which included flourishes on clarinet and flute by Norman and Jeff Driskill.
The familiar “Peanuts” tune called Linus and Lucy was played with airy brilliance by arranger Christian Jacob to end the first set.
During the break, SBJS Secretary, Jan McBride, and Kimberly Ford, a well-known local jazz singer (A Celebration of Joni Mitchell) and former SBJS board member, held the raffle drawing. The winner received half of the money collected, while the other half goes to the SBJS Scholarship Fund, which is the real winner. (For more information on the SBJS Scholarship Fund, contact SBJS Scholarship Chair, ReVay Seifert.)
Phil Norman opened the second set with the iconic Nat King Cole tune Nature Boy, arranged by the prolific Kim Richmond. The band gave us a jazzy version of the familiar show tune Surrey with the Fringe on Top from the musical Oklahoma, arranged by pianist Christian Jacob.
Throughout the show, Norman gave us a bit of musical history behind the tunes, i.e., why they were selected and arranged and included in shows. He also made certain that each musician had the opportunity to perform solo within the tunes and, at one point, basking in applause and appreciation from the audience, he exclaimed, “These are the best musicians in Los Angeles!”
They continued with a George Shearing arrangement of Lullaby in Birdland followed by Frothy, another Florence arrangement that featured soloists Larry Koonse on smooth guitar and Carl Saunders on crisp trumpet. This fresh tune is included on the band’s CD Totally Live at Catalina Jazz Club, which was for sale throughout the day.
The band made its finale with a wonderful West Coast cool jazz version of Dizzy Gillespie’s Night in Tunisia, arranged by Scott Whitfield.
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