Maybe because it’s the Christmas season, but it seems like every December LA gets blessed with the gift of a plethora of guitar players coming to town for a few days in the various clubs. Anyone hearing me complaining?!?
Sam First Club got the ball rolling by having its second annual “Guitar Summit”, this time featuring Angeleno Larry Koonse along with guests Peter Bernstein and Yotam Silberstein (Koonse did joke that he was changing his name to “Koonsenstein” for the occasion in order to keep with the team unity). Backed by bassist Mike Gurrola and legendary drummer Joe La Barbera, the eighteen strings created an opening 75 minute set that, if it’s a portend of things to come, looks like an advent calendar of swinging axes.
The guitarists set the tone as they opened with a deft and delightful read of “What’s New”, with the front line taking turns soloing and displaying their wares, mixing and matching with support from sometimes one, the other or both in the shadows. With La Barbera dancing with his brushes like Fred Astaire, Bernstein displayed his warm tone on a rich and lyrical solo, before Silberstein’s liquid and sinewy lines veered around the melody.
Koonses dark and moody “Sync or Swim” had the composer create bluesy droplets eventually joined in by the other guitars to create a rainforest of chiming tones. Gurrola and La Barbera popped the clutch and dug in a rivulet of a groove for a driving read of “Speak Low” that had Bernstein and Silberstein jab back and forth like sparring partners, with Koonse joining in to alternatively trade fours with La Barbera for some supple volleying.
The highlight might have been Bernstein’s pastoral solo intro to a drop dead gorgeous rendition of Horace Silver’s “Peace”. La Barbera’s brushes should be bronzed and displayed in the Smithsonian, as they coaxed along the theme before the three leaders closed the piece, drawing out various portions of the melody to a lyrical climax like the closing of the first act of a Mozart opera.
The Bernstein closed the set up with his “Jive Coffee” that had him throwing out “Take Five”-ish riffs on a musical tug of war with La Barbera’s crisp sticks as Silberstein and Koonse rocked out to a photo finish.
Yes, the three day event is billed as a “Summit”, and let me tell you, they reached the top of it the first night.
Upcoming shows at Sam First include Yuhan Su 12/06, Joe La Barbera 12/08-09, John Beasley 12/15-16 and Bob Reynolds 12/21