Back in the day, there were so many jazzers playing the Hammond B3 that you could throw a rock into a crowd in Westwood and probably hit one. These days, an artist who’s dedicated his whole career to the humming Hammond is about as common as a shrimp cocktail at a bar mitzvah. Oh, sure, there are artists who play the B3 every now and then along with other keyboards, but only someone who has dedicated his career to it can create the perfect amalgamation of sounds that brings to mind echoes of church, Dodger Stadium and a roller skating rink.
Still swirling the Leslies after all of these years is Ronnie Foster, who stuffed the Baked Potato with sounds that were more apt to be felt than heard. Teamed with long time partners in guitarist Mike O’Neill and drummer Chris Foster, the Blue Note recording legend delivered a 90 minute set that had the audience swaying, whooping, hollering and even joining in for some singing along.
“It’s heavy metal country night” joked Foster as he sat down and popped the clutch, with his left hand creating bass lines the soulfully strutted on the swirling and shuffling “Blues For J” and boogalooed on Broadway on the funky chicken of “8 Counts”. Foster pulled plugs and pushed knobs like he was at the helm of the Starship Enterprise, creating splashing climaxes like crashing waves at Malibu alongside O’Neill’s acid trip of a guitar solo on “2 Headed Freep” or bare footin’ the blues as he charged out of the stables like a stallion as Chris Foster swatted the ride cymbals like they were flies on the calypso gallop of “Big Farm Boy Goes To The Latin City”.
O’Neill delivered understated and tasty guitar treats on the easy laid back pulse of “Isn’t She Lovely” with Foster creating changes in dynamics from stratospheric highs to hushed lows. He slapped some BBQ sauce on the funky chicken for a greasy “8 Count” that had the crowd hooping and hollering, while the blues boogie of “Hey Good Lookin’ Woman” had the leader turn the audience into a call and response Baptist sermon. After the team galloped to the finish line to the mercurial “Feet”, Foster smiled and told the exhausted crowd, “We play with our hearts”. On this Friday night, Foster played with it on his sleeve.
Upcoming shows at The Baked Potato include Jamie Kime 03/11, Val McCallulm 03/13, Bob Reynolds 03/14, Ozone Squeeze 03/15-16 and Kirsten Edkins 03/18