The Gonzalo Bergara Quartet in the SF Bay Area This Week

jonpowl

The GBQ is playing this Fri. at the Throckmorton ($25) and Sat. at Fifth St. Farms ($15-20) in Berkely. Go to the dates at http://thegbq.com/
It looks like they are working their way up the coast to DFNW.

jonpowl

I went to see the GBQ in a private house in Santa Rosa, CA Sunday night (Sept. 15). Obviously, it was a very nice house with seating for the 60-70 well heeled people (not including me) that attended. Great show in a small venue. I had a chance to watch Gonzalo's fingers when they weren't moving too fast, and Jeffrey's foot tapping almost constantly with his rhythm playing. I met everybody in the quartet except Jeffrey (he wasn't feeling well) and they were VERY nice. Thanks to Brian for great advice in pursuing my GJ guitar playing. Only slight disappointment was that Leah Zeger was replaced by Rob Hardt, but he played so well, I barely missed her.

Bob Holo

Wow... You just got a real treat in seeing Rob Hardt in that kind of intimate setting. He's a dynamite player - hell, probably among the finest reed men playing any kind of vintage swing today. He's composed and/or recorded on upwards of a hundred albums with everyone from Moby to Terence Blanchard, but I like the stuff he does with Gonzalo Bergara & Pancho Sanchez because I'm an acoustic kind of guy. I mean Leah is top-flight... I'd just never thought of "Rob" and "disappointment" occurring in the same sentence... lol...that sentence sort of seems to buck the laws of nature... water and oil... cats sleeping with dogs... chaos to consider a world in which those two words could naturally co-exist in one sentence. ;-)

jonpowl

Yes, quite right, Rob is a tremendous musician and I was lucky to have seen him with the group. He also seems to be a very nice guy. However, I have never loved the sound of a clarinet and prefer violin as the alternate solo instrument in Gypsy Jazz. I believe Rob only did one song on sax during the concert.
One would have to admit that Leah brings a certain magic to the GBQ and when I saw them in March, both her violin and vocals were spot on.
It comes down to personal preferences, apples or oranges, Grapelli or Goodman, Jorgenson on clarinet, Gitane or Telecaster. As well as Rob Hardt played, and he was incredible, I still prefer the GBQ with Leah Zeger on violin and vocals, and I doubt that I am the only one.