The Jazz group, Fourplay: Bob James, Nathan East, Chuck Loeb, and Harvey Mason, celebrated their 25th anniversary at the Blue Note New York with a rousing performance to promote their new CD, Silver, released on the Heads Up International label, a division of Concord Music Group; it was a not-to-be-missed evening of music.
As longtime fans of the Jazz supergroup Fourplay, we had the ultimate pleasure of attending the first show of their 6-night gig at the acclaimed Jazz club, the Blue Note New York located in the heart of Greenwich Village on December 1, 2015. Although we were well familiar with their style and talent seeing and hearing this multi-talented band perform live made for a remarkable evening that will go down as one to remember in our musical memory banks.
Mark Wexler of Concord Music Group
Concord Music Group’s Mark Wexler introduced Fourplay as "the baddest band in the land," and although all of the members have successful solo careers they have also had a 25-year relationship playing together. The result was pure musical magic with Bob James on piano, Nathan East on bass and vocals, Chuck Loeb on acoustic and electric guitars, and Harvey Mason on drums and percussion.
The band opened with the Chuck Loeb song, December Dream off their 2012 Fourplay – Esprit de Four release which had a nice duet between Bob James and Chuck, as well as interesting solo work throughout that highlighted the talent of the ensemble. Next in the line-up was the Harvey Mason/Michael Lang song, Max-O-Man off their 1991 debut album entitled Fourplay.
Harvey Mason
The band segued into the Bob James song, Chant, off their second album entitled, Between the Sheets, released in 1993, as they continued their night of nostalgia celebrating their work for the past 25-years, with Nathan East whistling to add another layer to the already tight tune. The band had fun introducing one another, with Bob James playfully teasing that Nathan East was a recent grad of the Julliard School of Whistling, referencing his new addition of whistling on Chant and added that Nathan also plays bass.
Nathan East
Next in the line-up was Quicksilver, off their new Silver release, written by newest Fourplay guitarist Chuck Loeb, who joined the band 5 years ago, whose predecessors were Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour.
Chuck Loeb
Bob James introduced his song Horace, written for the Silver release, as a tribute to one of his favorite Jazz pianists, Horace Silver (1928-2014). Next in the line-up were two more cuts off the Silver release, Silverado, a blazing upfront guitar piece written by Chuck Loeb and former Fourplay member Larry Carlton, with Harvey laying down some exceptional drum work, and Silver Streak, written by Harvey Mason and Chris Wells, which had a luscious, soft piano intro.
Bob James
Taking a musical step back in time to their debut release, Fourplay, they segued into the Lee Ritenour/Bob James song, Bali Run. The band closed out the evening with an amazing rendition of Bob James’ Westchester Lady that brought the house down with their dynamic interplay which was like watching and hearing a musical tennis match with the back-and-forth lobbing of the talented foursome and their instruments that left the audience exhilarated and sated after a sensational concert by a band that Jazz aficionados have long appreciated.
Nathan East and Chuck Loeb
For information on upcoming Fourplay performances, please visit: http://www.fourplayjazz.com/, http://www.bobjames.com/, http://www.nathaneast.com/, http://www.chuckloeb.com/, and http://www.harveymason.com/.
The Blue Note New York is open 365 days with at least 2 concerts per night. Shows at the Blue Note New York are at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm nightly. The Late Night Groove Series is at 12:30 am (midnight) on Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday brunch concerts are at 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm. Show times are subject to change without advance notice.
Bob James, Nathan East, and Chuck Loeb
Doors open at 6:00 pm for dinner and the best seats. Even if you are not dining, the club recommends arriving early for the best seats. For 10:30 pm concerts, doors open at 9:45 pm. They recommend lining up at 9:30 pm. for good seats, if not earlier for high demand shows. Reservations are valid until 7:30 pm for the first concert or 10:00 pm for the second concert. After those times, your seats may be given away. Doors times are subject to change without advance notice.
The Blue Note New York is located at 131 West 3rd Street, between MacDougal Street and 6th Avenue, right in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.
The Blue Note also has clubs in Milan, Hawaii, Beijing, Tokyo, and Nagoya.
Please visit the website, www.BlueNotejazz.com/NewYork, for information on upcoming performances.
Cheers!!
Blue Note New York
131 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
United States
Telephone: +1-212-475-8592
Email: club@bluenote.net
Website: www.BlueNotejazz.com/NewYork
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BlueNoteNYC
Read Luxury Experience’s Fourplay CD Reviews: Fourplay – Silver, Fourplay – Esprit de Four in the Music Scene section.
Websites where you can procure Fourplay – Silver are iTunes, CDUniverse, KM3 – Kings Road Merch, and Amazon.
Listen to cuts off Silver on Yahoo – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2jJa2kP1WU and https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=JZODwJ4BsRI.
For information on upcoming Fourplay performances, please visit: http://www.fourplayjazz.com/, http://www.bobjames.com/, http://www.nathaneast.com/, http://www.chuckloeb.com/, and http://www.harveymason.com/.
Follow Fourplay on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FourplayJazz.
Follow the Blue Note on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/BlueNoteNYC/
Follow Luxury Experience on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LuxuryExperience.
© December 2015. Luxury Experience. http://www.luxuryexperience.com/ All rights reserved.
