Another night at Small's. It's small, it's without an audience. It's strange, of course it is, but it hasn't always been like this and hopefully it won't be too long before the Greenwich Village venue returns to something like normal. This evening drummer Darrell Green brought in a five piece band - two horns, guitar, bass and drums.
One hour, five numbers, no announcements. One or two familiar sounding tunes, sit back and enjoy the music. The opening selection could well have been Vincent Youman's Without a Song, the quintet nicely warmed up. Camille Thruman blew tenor, impressing on, was it Blue Bossa? Unison horn passages on a ballad intro hinted at Ornette, was this Wayne Shorter's Nefertiti? No matter, this was good as Darrell Green kicked in a swing time feel, trumpeter Roney's brief blast giving way to Thurman and the impressive Marvin Sewell on guitar, the horns riffing off mic, and off stage.
Roney counted them in on a beautifully paced ballad feature before band leader Green belatedly introduced the band. Small's PA isn't the best, it's difficult to pick up on any words spoken. The Darrell Green Quintet went out on a 'quick blues'. A good set, roll on a return to 'live' gigs!
Russell
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