Dr. Lonnie Smith and his In The Beginning Octet at SFJAZZ
It’s called White Coat Syndrome, the phenomenon that happens when your blood pressure spikes during a doctor’s visit. Monday night’s visit to Miner Auditorium was filled with tense moments as the Hammond B-3 specialist often raised our pulse.
Dr. Lonnie Smith is familiar with the SFJazz stage, having performed over the years with musicians like alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson and at the Soul Jazz Summit in 2008.
Dressed in a long white coat and black turban, the soul-jazz organist led his talented octet throughout the evening with just a simple wave of his finger. They are on tour supporting Smith's latest recording, In the Beginning, his second release on Pilgrimage Recording, a label he founded in 2012.
Unannounced, Smith got up and left the stage as the third tune was starting to take off. He returned a few minutes later, playing with his customized Dr. Lonnie Smith's SlapStick™ Walking Cane. Some in the crowd had never seen the dual-purpose instrument before and were unsure where the funky bass sounds were coming from.
Later in the second set, allegedly unrehearsed, Smith mentioned that the cane’s inventor, Andy Graham, was in the house and invited him to the stage. Supposedly, the plan was for Graham to demonstrate his own invention with the octet backing him up, but someone forgot to check the batteries in the wireless transmitter, and the audience watched him awkwardly pretend to play “air cane.”
Smith, not the stagehand, saved the day when he fiddled with the transmitter and made it produce some of the most unusual sounds from a device without frets or stings. Everyone from drummer Johnathan Blake to a female audience member got the cane to groove. “If you got a little rhythm, you can go to town,” explained Smith, who is sending several out to inspire young musicians around the world.
Smith concludes his North American tour on June 30 with a show in Canada, then heads to Rotterdam in mid-July. For more info, visit: http://drlonniesmith.com
Program Notes
June 16, 2014
SFJazz Center, Miner Auditorium
First Set: Falling In Love | Mama Walker/Hola Muneca Medley | Move Your Hand | Keep Talkin’
Second set: In The Beginning | Slow High | Turning Point | Play it back | Slapstick demonstration | Psychedelic Pi
Musicians
Dr. Lonnie Smith: Hammond B3 Organ
John Ellis: tenor saxophone
Jason Marshall: baritone saxophone
Andy Gravish: trumpet
Alan Ferber: trombone
Ed Cherry: guitar
Johnathan Blake: drums
Munyungo Jackson: percussion
Photos: Steve Roby
