It was certainly fitting that “Rhymin’” Paul Simon was part of the packed house at Catalina’s on Thursday night, as Gadd’s 90 minute set reminded everyone why the Gadd/Simon collaboration of “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” has stood the test of time for not only the song, but for both partners.
Gadd’s drumming style, so suave, so easy and yet so deeply grooved, has graced many a famous song, as well as concerts like the one this Christmas Season night.
With his team of Walt Fowler/tp-fh, Jeff Babko/key-p-tb, Travis Carlton/b and Michael Landau, Gadd formed pulses made for marathon runners as on the moody blues of ‘Marvin Gardens” with Fowler’s muted horn and Landau’s sinewy strings. Babko’s keys teamed with Fowler’s flugelhorn as Gadd supplied the nimble cadence of “The Long Way Home” before turning to his high hat for a simmering soul jazz feast on “Timanogos”. Gadd’s brushes wafted with style a la Astaire while Babko turned took up the trombone and traded jabs with Fowler as Landau melded his riffs to Gadd’s snares on a particularly effervescent “Way Back Home”.
And if you want the blues, well, Landau made his guitar cry throughout the Chicago-laden “Blues For…” as his whammy bar whined around Babko’s dark ivories. The team got into a soulful strut as well, as Fowler and Babko boogalood through “Can’t Turn You Loose” and did the Funky Chicken on “Sly Boots”. And while Gadd never technically took a solo, he would lock in with Carlton’s deft digits to create beats that bounced, dug in deep or avalanched into exciting rising and falls of dynamics, with the rest of the band serving as longboarders, riding the crest.
Closing with a fingerpopping “Signed, Sealed Delivered”, Gadd and company left the crowd appreciating that there are still giants of music still performing and celebrating music that is both accessible and inspiring.
Upcoming shows at Catalina’s include Dave Benoit 12/15, Jane Monheit 12/17, Poncho Sanchez 12/28-31 and Roberta Gambarini 01/3-4