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POP MUSIC
Fort Minor, led by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, gave the crowd at Nation a tight rock-like rap concert.
(By Greg Waterman)
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-- Mike Joyce
Eric Reed
Certainly there are worse ways to spend a stormy evening than sitting indoors listening to vintage recordings by Art Tatum and the Andrews Sisters. Yet it's unlikely that those who attended pianist Eric Reed's centennial tribute to lyricist Harold Adamson at the Kennedy Center's KC Jazz Club on Saturday night imagined they would be doing so.
Reed chose the recordings to illustrate different aspects of Adamson's vast and sunny legacy. But given the brevity of the concert, the decision seemed odd, to say the least.
A simple mention of the discs would have sufficed, allowing more time for Reed's quartet to explore Adamson's delightful collaborations with numerous composers, including Victor Young, Burton Lane and Teddy Wilson. (Co-author of "An Affair to Remember" and other pop perennials, Adamson died in 1980.)
Among the evening's highlights were performances of "Too Young to Go Steady" and "Where Are You?" both featuring saxophonist Stacy Dillard's expressive tenor, and "Little Things That Mean So Much," a splendid showcase for Reed's dazzling technique. When a buoyant pulse was called for -- and it often was -- bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Willie Jones III vibrantly responded.
Though an exceptionally gifted pianist, Reed is merely a capable vocalist. He wasn't entirely comfortable with Adamson's songs, but he didn't have much trouble conveying the composer's charm with the jumping "720 in the Books," the waltzing "It's a Most Unusual Day," and the unabashedly sentimental "You're a Sweetheart." Indeed, Reed's affection for Adamson's lyrics -- "adorable" is how he put it more than once -- was always evident and engaging.
-- Mike Joyce
