Chris Walters digs the masterful composers

Nashville-based pianist and singer Chris Walters dug deep into the Great American Songbook - and two of his own worthy gems - in what mostly was a tip of the hat to icons George Gershwin and Cole Porter at the Gulf Theater in Punta Gorda, Florida on Saturday, March 18.

Walters called this tour "Rhapsody in Burlesque" - melding a reference to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with his sometimes playful and unusual treatments of the material. Rest assured, there were no dancers involved, other than his fingers dancing over the keyboard. 

Chris Walters

He was backed by bassist Zebediah Briskovich and drummer Miles Vandiver, both from St. Louis. While each had a few improvisational moments, this was more a well-arranged tribute to composers who had a profound impact on 20th century American music and the extensive jazz repertoire.

Walters opened with medley from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess operetta that included an intimate, dirge-like take on "Summertime" and infused "It Ain't Necessarily So" with a bit of honky-tonk piano and his husky vocals.

Miles Vandiver

Zebediah Briskovich

Porter's "Night and Day" and a boogie-woogie treatment of "Anything Goes" followed. Briskovich's rich-toned bass was featured on Gershwin's "Lullaby," which segued right into his "Cuban Overture." Much later in the program, Vandiver was featured with a wide-ranging drum solo on Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," which provided the most extensive jazz feel of the night.

Walters made sure to acknowledge a few other composers, with instrumentals that included Willie "The Lion" Smith's "Echoes of Spring," Jack Fina's sprightly "Bumble Boogie" (based on "Flight of the Bumblebee"), Peter Nero's clever "Scratch My Bach" and a solo piano journey through "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The latter piece ended with a snippet of Judy Garland's vocals from The Wizard of Oz. 

The trio delivered several standout moments:

• Walters paired a salty take on Gershwin's "Here Come De Honey Man" with Porter's "Love For Sale" with his own unusual twist. Both lyrics were sung from the viewpoint of a pimp, not the lady marketing her wares upstairs.
• He also shared two beautiful standards-quality originals: "Waltzing With a Broom," about a man whose wife/dancing partner had passed on, and "Cool Blue Swing," the latter a metaphor for living the good life. It was delivered with a shuffle-beat rhythm of his native New Orleans.

The 90-minute performance, with no intermission, concluded with Walter's exquisite interpretation of "Rhapsody in Blue."

Walters has extensive jazz, pop and country music credentials. He was pianist and musical director for Barbara Mandrell and J.D. Souther, toured for seven years with the band Alabama, and now works with Alison Brown, the Peter Mayer Group and saxophonist Jeff Coffin's Mu'tet.

The concert was co-sponsored by the Gulf Theater at the Military Heritage Museum and the Charlotte County Jazz Society.

Briskovich, Walters, Vandiver

Metz-Parrott-Sportiello dig into the jazz canon - and popular songbook

Eddie Metz Jr.

The International Trio swings with immense joy, humor, mega-talent and professionalism wherever they play. Any road weariness - or even jet-lag - is left behind once its members hit the stage.

That was clear on Sunday, January 19, when drummer Eddie Metz Jr., bassist and singer Nicki Parrott, and pianist Rossano Sportiello concluded their week-long Florida tour with a matinee concert at the Glenridge Performing Arts Center in Sarasota.

The International Trio’s return visit swings mightily

Drummer Eddie Metz Jr.’s trio with Italian pianist Rossano Sportiello and Australian bassist-singer Nicki Parrott sure knows how to swing its music. It did so on Monday, January 13 with creativity, poignancy, a bit of humor – and a program that honored the players’ great influencers.

Eddie Metz Jr.

This was the band’s fourth visit to the Charlotte County Jazz Society’s concert stage in nine seasons. It was clear from the first notes that their sound and simpatico have reached new heights – and the audience responded in kind. This is a band of equal partners. Their concert programming has evolved over the years to a point where they have combined their formidable musical talents in ways that appeal to their listeners.

Swinging jazz in two different contexts

The Charlotte County Jazz Society opened its 2017-18 concert season on Monday, October 9 with a robust evening featuring two Sarasota-based bands that covered a lot of musical territory in different contexts.

Trombonist Dick Hamilton's sextet and pianist Mike Markaverich's trio performed an hour apiece - and 10 songs apiece as it turned out - at the Cultural Center of Charlotte County's newly renamed William H. Wakeman III Theater. The early season event drew a crowd estimated at more than 225 attendees.

International jazz in more ways than one

The excellent and versatile Orlando-based drummer Eddie Metz Jr. brought his International Jazz Trio to Port Charlotte on Monday, January 11 for a concert with more foreign tinges than just the trio's membership.

The band consists of Metz, Australian-born bassist and singer Nicki Parrott, and Italian-born pianist Rossano Sportiello. Metz tends to get top billing on Florida tours because he lives here, but it really is a trio of equals. All three players contribute mightily to the group's dynamic sound and tune selection.

This was the band's third visit in five seasons to the Charlotte County Jazz Society's concert series. These musicians always seem to unearth more little-heard gems and swing the heck out of them with their playful camaraderie and astonishing technique.

In addition to some standard fare from the jazz canon and the Great American Songbook, the evening also touched on some decidedly foreign material in terms of composers or inspirations. That added Austria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and Poland to the intriguing concert mix.

Rossano Sportiello

They opened with London-born pianist George Shearing's composition "She" before showcasing Sportiello on two Ellington-related tunes: "The Sunset and the Mockingbird" (from Duke's "The Queen's Suite") and Mercer Ellington's little-heard "John Hardy's Wife."

Other Sportiello gems included his take on Erroll Garner's "Misty" and a classical fantasie in which Italian-born composer Domenico Scarlatti's "Sonata in A major" segued seamlessly into Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland." The classically trained pianist also shared Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" and his customary Chopin medley, the latter as the concert closer.

Nicki Parrott

Parrott's charming vocals and creative bass playing are always a crowd pleaser. Her vocal features included the Dinah Washington hit "What a Difference a Day Made," "It's a Good Day," English composer Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" (sung in tribute to the late Natalie Cole), "La Vie en Rose" and her concert staple, the Peggy Lee hit "Fever." Her vocals also shined on the band's version of the Ray Charles R&B hit "Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So" (with Peggy Lee's "love him so" lyric variation).

The evening's highlight, in terms of crowd response from the crowd of 350+, was a Sportiello solo piano segment that opened with a delicate exploration of "I Wish You Love." It sequed into several tunes from the Austria-based "The Sound of Music" soundtrack. After "Edelweiss," Metz and Parrott joined in for most of the exuberant final section, "Climb Every Mountain."

Eddie Metz Jr.

Metz's drum wizardry was showcased on "Shoe Shine Boy," a Sammy Cahn-Saul Chaplin tune from the Count Basie songbook. In 1982, Metz spent six months as the drummer in the Basie band while he was still in college at William Paterson College. There's nothing like starting your career with the best. Decades later, Metz is still working with the best - and is one of Florida's most in-demand jazz drummers.

Rossano Sportiello, Nicki Parrott, Eddie Metz Jr.

A lively jazz afternoon captured for posterity [updated 10-7-2014]

Mike Markaverich

(Note: Ernie Williford, a fine bassist and singer beloved in SW Florida for his soulful  version of "Georgia on My Mind), passed away on October 6, 2014. RIP) 

What do you get when you record before a live audience? In the very best instances - spirited music with no false starts, no retakes and no clams (bad notes). 

Such was the case Tuesday afternoon, June 10 when pianist and singer Mike Markaverich recorded his trio with bassist Ernie Williford and drummer Johnny Moore in the presence of about 50 of their fans at the Venice Art Center.

Metz-Parrott-Sportiello - jazz in Sarasota

Sportiello, Parrott, Metz

"Don't be fooled by the name of the band," drummer Eddie Metz Jr. said. "We're really just his monkeys."

Metz got a lot of laughs with that line at last night's Jazz Club of Sarasota concert by what was billed as the Eddie Metz Trio. In reality it was an artful trio of equals, teaming Metz with pianist Rossano Sportiello and bassist/singer Nicki Parrott. Each of them brings powerhouse strengths to the stage.