One of These Mornings...

Yesterday, June 6th, I had the opportunity to see Mischa Maisky, one of the greatest performing cellists around; he had the honor of studying under both Mstislav Rostropovich and Gregor Piatigorsky, two of the most renowned cellists in history (I saw Rostropovich conduct the NSO about a month ago). He played the Bach Cello suites, which are easily the best known pieces there are for the Cello, but also one of my favorites. He had a different take on them than I have ever heard, he played them very quickly and swallowed a lot of the notes that I think really give the piece character in the process. There is no question that his playing was virtuosic, but if you agree with me when I say that Bach's music is generally a canvas upon which you can project yourself as a musician ( this being especially true for the Cello Suites being that the orriginals no longer exist, ) his interpretation was cold and hurried. I much prefer Cassals (obvious) and Rostropovich's version. However, it was in the sculpture garden at the National Gallery of art which has these big ceilings and columns and a bunch of plants and a fountain in the middle. It was amazing. He came on for an encore, which I have never seen for a classical musician; the people just wouldn’t let him leave. During the encore I caught sight of an old man who simply wept at the beauty of his playing.

From there I had some tapas and went on to see Thad Wilson, a trumpeter and good friend at Bossa on 18th St. I was planning on just staying for an hour, and I only drank tea, which I have decided is a good late night alternative. However, they were so on that I had to stay the whole night. Marc Andereu, his pianist, moved back to Mexico; so the lineup comprised of Mark Morrison (Drums), Mark Foster (Bass; this cat is amazing, he plays and electric bass and brings a lot more funk to the table, really pulled everything together), Sergian Coladovic (Guitar, odd cat, good player), Joe Brotherton (Trumpet, plays with Thad every now and then) and Thad. Then two saxophonists showed up; Jeff Anticiota, this white Yanni looking dude was amazing. Brought a little Trane to the table. What was most amazing was the way they all interacted, having never sat together as a unit, based solely on what they heard eachother play. I typically don’t like hearing Thad do standards, because I like them to stretch out, but they did an incredible Summertime, really really amazing.