October,
when I started out to see Wave Music in Concert. I was anticipating having a
good time, because for the first time I had the opportunity to see
famous artists from the Smooth jazz scene. There is nothing more annoying than to
arrive too late at a gig, so I decided to go very early. Michael
van Droff, the promoter of the gig, was kind enough to send me two
free tickets for the concert. When I arrived at the Medienzentrum in the
Düsseldorf harbour area, the guards let me in without checking my tickets. May be
they thought, I was a member of the staff.
I noticed two men who I recognized as Peter
White and Rick
Braun. So I said hello to them and we started making small-talk.
First I delivered greetings from Joan Lynch, a fan who had spoken with
him at an event in Houston
/Texas the Sunday before. Rick Braun remembered her and said, smiling to Peter, that he had to give
him the photo, he got from Joan, showing Peter and Rick together. Peter told me that he was born in Luton, just north of
London England and that his father and the father of Anthony
Weedon, one of the other artists of this event,
had lived in the same neighborhood and were good friends. What a small world!
Then both
men went onstage to do a sound-check It sounded very professional.
Peter played some chords and Rick blowed his trumpet in a brilliant
manner. So I awaited unpatiently for the concert to start.
The first number was an upcoming
Hip-Hop-Rap-Jazz duo. 
The
female vocalist of this group is Jhane Issacs, a very attractive woman.
She asked me before the show, if her outfit looked OK, giving me a charming
smile. She was dressed in a black leather outfit. "Black is beautiful",
was my admiring answer. She also said they would soon be releasing an album.
The Starter of this group was a 
Hip-Hop
cover version of Gershwin's "Summertime". Jhane's smooth and
mellow voice was a great addition to the rougher vocals of her partner Hami.
The next performer was Anthony
Weedon. When you hear 
the voice of Anthony Weedon, an artist from
Great Britain, you may really think "Has Chris Rea
released a new album?" The similiarity is
simply amazing. Anthony Weedon
has only be writing and singing since his
39th birthday and this is impressive. One day he was listening the radio and got exited about the bad quality of music. „Hey, I can write better trash than
that," Anthony Weedon 
commented to a friend and
then he wrote and wrote.....That was 7 years ago. In the meantime he has written more than 40
songs , from which he has compiled the 15 best on his CD „Visions" .
From this album he sang "I do" and "Gun fighter".
And
the man can sing! Astonishing how cool and easy Anthony puts on his show. He
traded his sunglasses for the spectacles of sax-player Ismael Diallo, remarking that
Ismael would look prettier now. He was not too shy
and not afraid to make fun
of himself.
For example, at one point he
even varied his voice from bass to falsetto.
Now it was the time for the appearance of
Peter
White, who immediately had the audience spellbound playing some guitar
chords. The fans moved closer to the stage and the scene took on a more
familiar touch. "My cherie 
amor",
a cover of Stevie Wonder's former hit, which Peter played on his
his album reflections, produced a heart-warming effect. He then followed
with "Venice
Beach", a song from his album "Caravan of Dreams". This
song is named after the beach, Peter is living close to. Rick Braun went
on stage accompanying Peter's guitar by trumpet. Yes, Rick reached
even the highest notes. Rick used sometimes a metal mute, and sometimes a
wa-wa-mute with a foot-pedale. Peter and Rick are wizzards of their
instruments.
Slim
Man, who named himself jokingly on stage "schlimm man" 
(in
German this means bad man), was the next artist profiting from the good mood
which Peter and Rick had produced. Slim Man has performed all across the
USA with a group of musical talents. Wearing his blue sunglasses as a
trademark, he impre
ssed
the audience with his voice in a superior style. He sang "There for
You", "Overdose of You" and "Secret Rendezvous", which was accompanied by Peter White. His next song was
"Low Rider"
a old hit of Eric Burdon and 
War.
Remarkable was Ismael Diallo's solo on saxophone. One can compare him
to Kirk Whalum, if comparison is allowed. After the show I recommended him to go
to the USA for better chances. He has the musical power and talent for a great
career. His wife, having listened to the concert, was looking skeptical. Also
a great appearance was made by Lutz
Deterra, the magican of keyboard. By the way, all
the German sidemen like Stephan Segurna (drums), Günther Asbeck
(bass), Kai Koschig (guit),
Renis Mendoza (perc) were
professional musicians playing world-class quality. I hope to hear more of them in
the future. Please drop me a note for the next gig, guys!
More tunes were played by Peter and Rick, the titles of which are sadly forgotten. Next time I will keep a
song diary. Some
quotes of spanish songs, I heared a long time ago. The highlight
of the event
was undoubtedly Rick Braun 's "Indians" from his album
"Night Walk". Rick played like a god." Du mußt einen
Traum haben und diesen verwirklichen,"(You must have a dream and realize
this dream) announced Rick this song in perfect German. Rick has a German wife and so
he has learned the 
language.
Well done, Rick!
So we soon arrived the end of the event. The musicians
played all together at the finish. It was a time for sweet memories.
We heared "What's going on?" from Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye
had fought hard to get Motown to release this title. It's
an epic song cycle on which Marvin took total control and weaved his
observations about inner city youth, the ecology, and race relations. The song
was performed by Slim Man accompanied by Rick Braun, 
Peter
White and the California Sunset Record Band.
After this more contemplative song
followed Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" from his album "Talking Book", released in 1972 by
Motown records. It was a real
funky jam, giving Antony Wheedon and Hami anew an opportunity to show
the scope of their vocal talents supported by the lovely voice of the
beautiful Jhane Issacs.
The 
Allstar
Band left the stage and the audience called for an encore. Soon they all arrived back
to play the classic rock song "Route
66". This song about the legendary street in the USA has
been sung by hundreds of
musicians. The audience was clapping and dancing and the artists had a lot of
fun too. You could see
the smiles on their faces. It was a great pleasure for the whole
Smooth Jazz community. So time flew and it was shortly before midnight when
the final notes faded away.
I was asked if I would come to the concert in Munich too. I was very sorry to have to say no. I had to work and no time to travel to Munich. But I saw the show on the Internet. Susan Youngblood, a representative of CSR, had heared that Nathan East, the bassist for the famous group Fourplay, was staying in a hotel in Munich. He had a concert the next day with Phil Collins. So she phoned him and he came to the concert to play with the others. To cut a long story short: next time I will take the train.