This is our last dance...
We reported on the night that David had introduced Later, Apparently the Bowie cover wasn't the only way our man's presence was felt during the show. Towards the end of the evening, after DB was spotted in the balcony, (apparently lost in the music himself) the audience spontaneously erupted into a chant of: "BOWIE, BOWIE, BOWIE, BOWIE..."
David appeared touched by the acknowledgement and smiled and waved back to the crowd as he left. It was a lovely way for an audience to express their appreciation of a hugely successful festival which has surely raised the bar for the curator of next year's High Line. The evening concluded, for those that had the stamina, with an intimate One BowieNetter who did wish to attend all three shows, and managed exactly that, was Simone. She gives a great account of her evening BowieNetter members can view larger alternative versions of the pictures above from the evening by going Thanx to Gary Gershoff and Finally, I'll leave you with an account of that Mike Garson show from BowieNetter kscnyc who kindly sent in the picture and review below...
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Thank you for informing us about the Mike Garson gig at the Blue Note last night. It was wonderful, and included a couple of surprises! Ratzo Harris and Billy Mintz accompanied Mike on acoustic bass and drums, respectively. Mike said that he had only met the Ratzo an hour earlier, as opposed to Billy, with whom he had met eons ago playing together in the Catskills and had played with at Bar Mitzvah's, etc.
Incidentally, Ratzo Harris was outside in line behind me enjoying a slice of pizza when he asked my friend and I whom we were waiting to see. I told him, and said that if he were interested he would need a reservation. He then said, "Oh thanks, maybe I'll go", and proceeded towards the entrance. I immediately recognized the "imposter" on stage-lol. I guess he wanted to see what kind of crowd was showing up.
Back to the show- Garson's show featured some Jazz standards, including his arrangement of "Bésame Mucho" and at least one original song that he and Mintz had composed. Additionally, Garson took on the challenging Roberta Piket arrangement of a selection from "The King And I". This was fitting, since Mike's backing musicians comprised two-thirds of Piket's trio. Harris and Mintz were afforded solo time, twice during Harris' solos, he actually played with his chin!
The first surprise came at the end of the first set, when Mike announced a guest vocalist, the multi-talented Gail Ann Dorsey. She was as brilliant as she is beautiful. She sang a truly wonderful and stirring version of "Alfie".
Garson opened his second set with his new arrangement, "Theme and Variations on Space Oddity". Another surprise came late in the second set when Mike introduced the very talented Roberta Piket and invited her onstage to perform with her band. After a great performance, Mike joined her trio for a "four hands" performance with the two pianists sharing the one piano. That joint performance was quite exciting and entertaining as they played several call and response riffs and traded razor-sharp runs and juicy piano licks with each other.
Mike then closed the set at around 3:15 am and thanked his band, guests, and all of us who attended. What a treat it was to see a celebrated piano virtuoso with such a great rhythm section, joined by such stellar guests in a tiny venue, such as the Blue Note. On a side note, former Bowie drummer and band mate, Zachary Alford was in attendance and sitting with Gail Ann Dorsey and her friends. Thanks for the wonderful late night entertainment Mike!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks so much for that kscnyc, a lovely end to what has been a hugely successful festival and the quickest ten days of my life...and I wasn't even there. Honest guv.