 Bob Dorough @ Chicago Cultural Center Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago, USA I can't say enough what a true pleasure it was to catch Bob
Dorough in a rare Chicago appearance at the Cultural Center – a free
show, no less! Accompanied by bassist Larry Gray and drummer Charlie
Braugham (the three had never played together before this gig), Dorough
gave a perfect audience-friendly show: all the songs you want to hear,
none of the ones you don't, and a few great surprises. In person,
Dorough is as charming as you'd picture him, gregarious and self-aware, a
veteran musician who knows how to bring down the house. About two
hundred or so people showed up for the show, which was sponsored dually
by the CCC and the Guild Complex. Dorough showed up in suit coat and
ponytail, remarked at being "for the first time, outdressed by a
drummer," and launched into a set that was enjoyable from start to
finish. I'd gotten there early and had a seat in the front row just
diagonal from Dorough's piano, and it made me think of just how much
better jazz shows are to experience than rock shows – no standing, no
crowd noise, and better still, musicians who can play. Who'd have
thought that forty years into the rock era, journalists would come full
circle and once again decry rock for being incomprehensible noise? Well,
bring me melody and harmony, brother, 'cause I'm all for jazz.
Dorough kicked the evening off with a couple of standards ("I'm
Beginning to See the Light" and "Moon River") done up in his quirky style
with ad-libbed vocals and crazy falsetto here and there. Set the mood
perfectly. He followed up with the title cut from his 1997 Blue Note
album Right on My Way Home and the tune he
cut with Miles Davis that gave him a bit of unintentional fame in the
60s, "Nothing Like You," the latter given a real jazz workout stretching
it to about five times its original length (of a minute and a half). For
the people who came to see him based on his "Schoolhouse Rock"
connection, these songs gave a very good representation of what "else"
he's done. Very enjoyable and uplifting. The band was amazingly tight
for having only rehearsed together briefly, and only missed a couple cues
throughout the night. Gray was outstandingly solid, and Braugham was
delightful, looking like a crazy old science teacher sitting behind the
skins.
Next up was a trio of Dorough's jazz history songs: "Yancey" (a
rarely-performed tune about Chicago blues legend Jimmy Yancey that he
dusted off for his appreciative Chicago audience), "Something For Sidney"
(about Sidney Bechet, and my favorite cut on the recent album), and
Dorough's classic "Yardbird Suite" (his vocal homage to Charlie Parker).
Dorough was in good voice all night, a bit gravelly in places but the man
is 74 years old! His piano playing was flawless and as full of humor as
his vocal inflections and lyrics. "Better Than Anything" was a charmer
full of innuendo that you could imagine him singing with Blossom Dearie,
and then Dorough treated the audience to three of his "pop-art" songs,
which use common phrases and "found lyrics" to great comic effect: "This
is a Recording" uses the words of a wrong-number phone message, put to a
melody somewhere between "Schoolhouse Rock" and Charles Ives. "Do Not
Remove This Tag Under Penalty of Law" was the evening's high point for
me, a hilarious song with an instantly memorable melody. "Love
(Webster's Definition)" was equally memorable and got laughs in all the
right places. The great thing about Dorough's songs is that they are
broadly funny but moreover they're just good songs. He made the evening
more memorable with stage banter that was genuinely funny, including a
weird observation about how "Now even water bottles have nipples." I
prefer to leave that unexplained.
Dorough and the band closed the set with a quartet of favorites
from "Schoolhouse Rock," played in jazz format but with audience
participation. I had some trepidation about the potential for smugness
among the audience, but fortunately Dorough presided over the songs with
great control and taste. "Three is a Magic Number" was another big high
point (although I sort of wished he'd incorporated some of De la Soul's
lyrics, just for fun) – the audience reaction approached gospel-sized
fits of hysteria. "My Hero Zero" and "Good Eleven" were good choices,
indicating the strength of the songwriting over the nostalgia factor, and
the set closer, "Conjunction Junction," received a wonderful performance
replete with three-part harmony from the audience … and those aren't easy
harmonies!) I normally don't care too much for that song, but it was a
great way to end the show. The audience responded with a huge ovation,
and Dorough escaped into the crowd to sign and sell CDs. As enjoyable
a show as I've seen in a few years, I was ultra-glad to have had the
opportunity to catch Dorough in action. I have only one thing more to
say: Bring Blossom Dearie to Chicago!
Setlist: Review by Bob Fortuna |