Originally the May edition of Reckless Steamy Nights was supposed to be a family affair with Sherri Erlich and her husband and musical partner, Charlie Clark, as the feature act and Sherri’s son, Oliver Kostrinsky, opening. Well, Oliver who is immersed in the blues has been in their birthplace, Clarksdale, Mississippi, and decided not to return home as he was getting some good bookings there. This allowed Sherri the opportunity to add David O’Rourke on guitar and Diego Lopez on drums for the evening. It also gave Charlie, a prolific song writer, a chance to spotlight some original material from his thirty plus year catalogue.
The evening began with an excellent original instrumental number called “Gary’s New Groove,” inspired by bassist and JSJBF friend Gary Mazzaroppi. Sherri then stepped out from the wings to introduce a song made famous by Peggy Lee, as she wished everyone a “Sweet Happy Life”. The band then performed a beautiful rendition of Sting’s “Fragile,” with Sherri’s voice soaring over the guitar stylings of David O’Rourke. Another original, “Samba De Primivera,” found Sherri and the band in their sweet spot with the audience responding with much appreciation. A well-chosen interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love,” was highlighted by Sherri’s vocals and featured a well-crafted guitar solo from David. “I Just Can’t Bring Myself to Say I Love You,” a gritty mid-tempo blues, written by Charlie long before they married, added to the variety of the set. On the Antonio Carlos Jobim song “How Insensitive,” Charlie explained how the introduction to that tune and the original that followed, “Memories of Us,” were based on a work of Frederic Chopin. The Prince song “Kiss,” featured a fine vocal from Sherri and an up-tempo guitar solo from Dave. The set ended with the original, “Whispering Wind,” which featured a nice drum solo from Diego.
The second set featured Charlie on keys and vocals on his original tune, “Survive It, You Know You Can”. “Points of No Return,” was also an original song that was cowritten by Edward Allen, who was delighted to be in the audience to hear it live. “Danny’s All-Star Joint,” a Rickie Lee Jones number, was a real swinger, and Sherri had the audience clapping along. “Another Star,” written by Stevie Wonder for the “Key of Life” collection, also received a warm response from those in the room. Another song cowritten by Edward Allen, “I Will See You Again,” displayed his and Charlie’s strong song-writing skills and fit in perfectly with the evening’s vibe. Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “Pride and Joy” was another well-played and received blues number. Sherri then did a smoldering version of the bolero style “Besame Mucho,” a song written by 15-year-old Consuelo Velasquez who claimed she had never been kissed when she wrote it! The night came to a close with Anthony Newley’s “Feeling Good,” a song written for the stage production of “The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd.” What a great way to end a terrific night of music.
I must compliment the band on how smoothly everything went, despite the fact that David and Diego had to play the originals with charts. You would have never known it was their first live performance of these songs.
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