So, how do you get into the Christmas spirit in Los Angeles? You could do a lot worse than hearing Gordon Goodwin who Tuesday night started the season off by bringing his Big Phat Band to Catalina’s and taking songs that cover both the sacred and secular sides of the Advent season and putting them through the puree’ of his patented swing, bop and funk. The 90 minute set covered every Natal mood, with material ranging from Midnight Mass to Hollywood movies, and the melding of artistry and Gloria in Excelsis Deo was an early gift under the tree.
The set featured joyfully swinging versions of material such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” with solos by Jeff Driscoll as well as a funky “Carol of the Bells” which featured Brian Scanlon’s horn. For the whole evening, Goodwin and the BPB mixed an alchemy of jazz and Warner Brothers cartoon sounds to create a spicy nog of audible delight. A waltz version of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” had drummer Bernie Dresel using his brushes and cymbals as smoothly as Fred Astaire in Holiday inn. Where else but with the BPB would “Little Drummer Boy” feature the bass trombone as the featured instrument, and even the theme from “Home Alone” turn a John Williams piece into a reason for holiday cheer?
Capping off the festive spirit like hanging the last piece of mistletoe, up on stage comes legendary vocalist Johnny Mathis, who sounded as helpless as a kitten up a tree on a jaw dropping duet with Goodwin’s piano on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” as well as a wonderful, wonderful “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” with the band before revving the room with a rollicking “Let The Good Times Roll” that was as a giddy as a reborn Ebenezer Scrooge. By the time the evening closed with a Caribbean “Christmas Carol” and a tribute to “Oh Tannenbaum” that mixed Old World horns with Kansas City bop and blues, Goodwin and his BPB showed that with and without the legendary Mathis, chances are that they had delivered enough holiday cheer to be able to even get Mr. Potter into the holiday mood.
