Sunday, August 29, 2010

William Hooker @ Yoshi's, San Francisco 8/24/10

I needed to get the "lay of the land" before the upcoming 4 sets of Zorn the following weekend. I already bought open seating willcall tickets for the Zorn shows, thinking it's unlikely there is a bad seat in the house. While that's true, there are some better seats than others. There is a balcony as well. I’m not too keen on balconies, usually. The tables right up at the stage don't seem too close. I was able to pick a good seat for myself for this show. I also learned that if I come before 6:30-7 and I spend money in the dining room or lounge, I will be able to get a better seat than if I just walked in for the show later. The moral is buy reserved seats for the more popular shows and buy open seating seats for the less popular. Being a solo helps get a good seat as well.
This show was fantastic. It was something you might see at Tonic. It started before William came onstage. We heard his poetic vocals. He came out and did a great solo drum piece. He then left the stage and Oleyumi Thomas came out at first doing a talking drum solo. It was a little drum he had strapped around his shoulder and played with a curved stick. It was as little as that little armpit drum, the taku, that I've seen Baye Kayote play. He then picked up the bass clarinet to continue the piece. William came out after a bit as they continued the duo piece. alternated between the bass clarinet and the soprano sax for the duration.

Next it was time for the trio piece. Out came Darren Johnston on trumpet and Aaron Bennett on saxophones: tenor, baritone and soprano. They kicked butt. I enjoyed the tenor and soprano the most but it was all great.

The set finished with one more solo piece from William.

It was a great show!

William Hooker: Three Sides of Now
August 24, 2010
Solo/ Duo w/ Oleyumi Thomas/ Trio w/ Aaron Bennett & Darren Johnston

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