Peter White came to the stage for the late show of a The Smooth Jazz Cruise first night extravaganza to find an audience breathless with anticipation and ready to party. Thrown together into what, over four years, has evolved as the quintessential smooth jazz heaven the informed, the passionate and the merely curious gelled as one to appreciate the mastery of Whites enormously accessible brand of contemporary jazz music. He is at his very best when delving into his back catalog for songs that he then blends together or merges with some of his more recent hits. This takes work and demands total collaboration from his backing band and here with Ron Reinhardt on keys, Dwight Sills on guitar, Rayford Griffin on drums, Ronnie Gutierrez on percussion and Nate Phillips holding it down on bass the synchronicity was such that White proceeded to play what was arguably the show of his life.
Selecting from his current ‘Playin Favorites’ album he rolled right into ‘Mr Magic’ and with Jackiem Joyner and Jimmy Roberts both huge on sax it looked like it couldn’t get better than this. But it did get better as Richard Elliot stepped up to blow the doors off with his contribution to what proved to be a taster for White’s well known love of Motown music, the chart topping ‘What Does It Take’. He revisited the motor city for ‘Who’s That Lady’ from the ‘Glow’ CD and fused it with a few chords of ‘Papa Was A Rolling Stone’, to which the audience gladly sang along. Surprisingly, and without a pause, he then weaved into Tito Puente’s ‘Oye Como Va’ where with the help of the rocking Jeff Golub he produced a predictably high octane performance. Returning to ‘Glow’ he segued ‘Bueno Funk’ and ‘Bullseye’, briefly reached back further to the outstanding ‘Dreamwalk’, then brought it back to Motown and ‘Just My Imagination’. Maybe there was a little of the James Bond theme in there too although that could have been ‘just my imagination’.
‘Swept Away’ from ‘Confidential’ included his own harmonica playing and his scene setting intro of a boy watching the sea from an English beach while ‘Midnight In Manhattan’ from the ‘Perfect Moment’ album brought Euge Groove on stage. He played the Grover Washington part in what turned out to be a truly exceptional duet and helped prove yet again that this was a very special Peter White night. Much lower key but in many ways just as powerful was the occasion later in the week when Peter White, with only a pre-recorded backing track for support, played a special engagement exclusively for his fan club members. ‘The Caravan’, thanks to its president, Joan Lynch, is one of the best organized most connected fan forums around and out on a private sun drenched deck, as the MS Zuiderdam sailed on from of St Maarten to Half Moon Cay, White repaid their support in the best way he ever could, with the magic of his music.
For more on the Peter White Fan Club and for details on how to get involved go to www.peterwhitefanclub.com
Check back here often for more snapshots of the 2007 Smooth Jazz Cruise.