Bunny Brunel – Bass; Frank Gambale – Guitar; Mitch Forman – Keyboards;
Virgil Donati – Drums.
Years ago I picked up a guitar magazine called ‘How To Play Guitar’ which featured the Jazz/Rock guitar god - Frank Gambale. His instructional article was cheekily titled - ‘Sweep Picking for Ridiculous Speed’. So, actually watching Frank Gambale play his black signature Yamaha live and up-close, last Tuesday, was quite an experience.
Bunny Brunel and the All-Star Jazz Band’s performance was truly a revelation. Four enormously talented musicians, each legendary in his own craft, toured together and played live as a band for the first time ever.
Brunel played some mind-blowing bass guitar. His fingers seemed to magically glide along the fret board as if he was playing on smooth nylon strings.
Virgil Donati, advertised as ‘The World’s Greatest Drummer’ truly lived up to that title.
His drum solos were completely mind-boggling and unpredictable and this probably was the best drum performance I will ever see in my entire life.
This video file, which showcases mini clips from a solo performance last month, will give you an idea of what it looked like.
Download link : Virgil Donati
Notice his 'sweep drumming' style towards the end of the clip. He repeated that about five times during his magical performance.
Donati’s flamboyance and Brunel’s explosive bass may have overshadowed keyboardist Mitch Forman’s performance for the initial part of the show, however his glorious keyboard solo proved that he is a musical genius. The band even honoured his performance by stepping aside from the stage while he was playing so the audience could completely focus on his music.
As a band they managed to successfully expand and break through all boundaries of conventional jazz. Throughout they played with intense passion and originality.
Most of the compositions, including CAB and Ivanhoe, were from Bunny Brunel’s albums.
Despite their credentials and all their glory they were in no hurry to get away from the crowd once the show was over. Consider this: Gambale has toured with virtuoso violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and played with the Chick Corea Band for 6 years, Donati has drummed for the Steve Vai band, Brunel has played with the greatest Jazz musicians including Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Larry Coryell and Al Di Meola and Forman has played with John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra!
Each one of them patiently signed autographs for fans and even posed for photographs!
