The Allmans Jazz Up The Beacon Run
For the first four shows of their 40th Anniversary Run at the Beacon Theatre, the Allman Brothers Band invited a number of special guests who came from the blues and rock worlds. Last night, the Allmans tipped their collective caps towards the elements of jazz that play a large role in their music by inviting jazz greats Stanley Clarke, Randy Brecker and Lenny White to join them at various points during show number five.
[Moogis Screenshot capture of Oteil admiring Clarke by Gondicar]
Following along on the cripsy Moogis webcast feed, I saw the Brothers kicked things off with Little Martha once again before digging deep into their repertoire for hot versions of Rocking Horse and Gambler’s Roll. For the Dreams that ended the first set, the Allmans brought out trumpeter Randy Brecker and drummer Lenny White who’s best known for his work on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and in the recently reunited Return to Forever.
The second set started with a beautiful Melissa that was the only song of the set that didn’t feature any guest spots. Pedal steel wiz Robert Randolph and jazz drummer Adam Nussbaum started the parade of special guests for rollocking versions of Turn On Your Lovelight and One Way Out before giving way to Brecker for a cover of Joe Zawinul’s In A Silent Way that led into another massive In Memory of Elizabeth Reed. Lenny White came out for the Liz Reed and was joined by his Return to Forever bandmate Stanley Clarke for a mindblowing bass/drum segment towards the end of the mammoth song.
READ ON for the setlist, stats and more from night five…