by Tom Baldino
Photo Credit: Scott Hornak
On a night when the air-conditioning units couldn’t cool down the Woman’s Club, The Andy Rothstein Band added to the heat in a good way with two excellent sets of jazz fusion. Several years ago, we did a release party for the Truth Against the World CD which was well represented on this night, with eight of the eleven tracks covered, six of which were included in the first set. They also played several numbers from the previous releases, Wit of the Staircase and Voodoo Tone along with some new tunes and well-chosen covers.
Andy, who is a fine guitarist, has surrounded himself with top-flight musicians, including Tom Cottone on drums, Bob Franceschini on sax, D. Pappas on the keyboard, Tony Senatore on bass, and subbing for Steve Jankowski who is currently on tour with Nile Rogers, John Martin on trumpet and flugelhorn. With this band, the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” was never truer, as this group definitely achieved a sound that could only be produced by musicians who have mastered their instruments.
The first set began with the title track of the most recent collection, “Truth Against the World,” which set the tone for the evening with its intricate horn play surrounding Andy’s masterful fret work and D Pappas engaging solo. Also from that CD, “Funk 7” lived up to its moniker, with a funky beat laid down by Tom, in rhythm with Tony’s bass, allowing John’s trumpet and Andy’s guitar to solo over the top. “Perfect Storm” gave Andy room to stretch out in between what sounded like a precise horn arrangement executed to perfection by John and Bob, with ample time for D Pappas to take flight on the keys and bring this song to its conclusion. Next up was “Cab 804,” which began with Andy asking the audience if there were any fans of the TV show “Taxi,” in attendance, and some of us immediately got the reference. The song, while not resembling Bob James theme song, conveyed that feel with its Samba sound that was pleasing to the ear. The last of the five songs from that CD, “SPDM,” was a mid-tempo number that featured Andy’s inventive soloing and spotlighted Bob on sax, where he showed why he has appeared on more than eighty albums over his career.
They then, gave the horns a break, playing the latest single to find it’s way into the marketplace, a cover, or should I say a reimagining, of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” It was followed by another recent single, “Circuit Breaker,” which Andy mentioned was doing well on the Roots Music charts. This funky sounding tune with a great groove, featured some teriffic horn charts. “Blues,” the final song from the CD in this set, slowed things down with Andy’s take on blues guitar and a sultry sax solo from Bob put the finishing touches on this one. The set ended with “Mojito,” a Latin flavored tune from the first disc “Voodoo Tone,” released in 2006, and certainly ended things on a high note.
Set two began with the title tune from the second CD, “Wit of the Staircase,” and I think Andy should receive and award for the most uniquely titled CD’s. “Return to Reason,” from that same collection was another song with intricate runs and some fine muted horn work by John on the trumpet. Returning to the latest CD, “Strum” had an ethereal opening courtesy of D Pappas keyboards and Tom accompanying work, especially on cymbals. They framed Andy’s playing perfectly with the horns coming in and out to color the sound. Next was a Jeff Beck tune, “Led Boots,” who in my opinion is a guitarist who can’t be duplicated, with Andy choosing here to create a cover that payed homage to the original, but made it sound like his band, and it worked.
They also played a brand-new tune, “About Time,” which will have a future release date, and I predict it will do well, with a nice riff and some stellar horn play. “Step Out,” another number from the “Truth” CD again started with a great riff, featured some complex horn arrangements that grabed the listeners attention, with Bob and Andy providing some outstanding solo tradeoffs. Their cover of Joe Henderson’s “Recorda Me,” which is Portuguese for “Remember Me,” was driven by the horns, with Andy’s suburb guitar styling, underpinned by a great bass line from Tony. Another excellent cover, Wes Montgomery’s “The Thumb,” followed. Like Jeff Beck, Wes, in my opinion, was at the pinnacle of guitar players of his era, and rather than use a pick, he plucked the strings solely using his thumb. They gave the song a funky beat with nice interplay between the guitar and horns. The night ended with “Brain Power,” from the first release, and was a fitting end to an evening that saw some virtuoso performances by a band that lived up that term in spades, and the audience were very appreciative, offering a standing round of applause.
You can follow Andy and the band on You Tube or https://andyrothstein.com.