Tony Lindsay At Keys Jazz Bistro 2024

Tony Lindsay
Keys Jazz Bistro
San Francisco, California
November 27, 2024

Prolific San Francisco Bay Area vocalist Tony Lindsay (Santana, The Soul Soldiers, MAZE) and his powerhouse group provided a last-minute holiday treat at Keys Jazz Bistro with a relaxed evening of cool sounds the day before the hectic Thanksgiving weekend. Located on Broadway in San Francisco's famous North Beach neighborhood, it is one of the relatively new music clubs in the city. The building was formerly the home of the El Matador jazz club run by Barnaby Conrad. There are historic black-and-white photographs from those heady days in the inviting lounge. KJB is a relatively new venue at "Two years and seventeen days," according to the friendly waitstaff member.

Lindsay's band consisted of saxophonist Tom E. Politzer (Tower of Power), pianist John R. Burr (Mads Tolling,Maria Muldaur),bassist Gary Brown (Pharaoh Sanders,Steve Winwood) and drummer Deszon Claiborne (Les McCann, John Handy, Paula Harris).

After cordial club owner Simon Rowe provided a brief history of KJB, he introduced the musicians, lead by Politzer. They promptly proceeded to warm up the spot with some funky instrumentals. Lindsay then took the stage and opened up with Bart Howard's 1954 staple "Fly Me To The Moon" popularized by Frank Sinatra in 1964. Lindsay discussed what happened when he asked Rowe about going on the day before Thanksgiving. His immediate response was an emphatic "You got it!" He also mentioned Politzer had just come off a plane after playing with Tower of Power and came straight to the gig. Politzer added, "It's Tony's world and I'm just living in it." Lindsay discussed the next selection with the band and they decided to perform his moving arrangement of Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic "What's Going On." Some audience members sang along to the composition. Politzer contributed a strong saxophone solo and pianist Burr's work was engaging. There were background vocalizations of "Oh yeah, Oh yeah" quietly repeated during the song. A large round of applause followed the tune's conclusion. They followed with the 1930 jazz standard "Body and Soul." Since this was the holiday season of giving, Lindsay chose this number, "So everyone can have a solo." All the band members took their respective turns.

Lindsay said a Thanksgiving Eve performance was exactly what he wanted to do. He asked the room who was doing the cooking and heard different answers. The singer/chef prepared his bird two days ago and stored it in the refrigerator until grilling time. A patron asked if that would dry it out. "I put oil on it," was his quick reply. Another voice clearly asked what kind of oil. "It's a secret sauce," was his smiling answer. Lindsay wanted to do a ballad and talked it over with the fellows. It came down to the Johnny Mathis hit "When Sunny Gets Blue" and Reid and Shamblin's "I Can't Make You Love Me" recorded by Bonnie Raitt in 1991. The house strongly favored Raitt's tune and he obliged while Politzer laid out for this one. Lindsay said, "I haven't done this tune since 1992" and the vocalist noted he had to squeeze his cheeks to sing in the higher register. Everyone was laughing at this comment. Rowe and his wife Kylie were acknowledged for their dedicated support of the music and opening Keys Jazz Bistro. Tony Lindsay and Co. closed their initial session with Stevie Wonder's 1995 two-time Grammy-winning ballad "For Your Love" with ample saxophone and bass time.

This midweek first session was a refreshing way to initiate the Thanksgiving/Christmas season for all the enthusiastic attendees. First time guest Kimberlye, a local musician, enjoyed her visit. "Keys Jazz Bistro is an utterly charming spot to enjoy old San Francisco ambiance, while listening to great music in a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere where you immediately feel at home. Great sound, vibe and service." She appreciated the band "bringing their magical Thanksgiving Eve thang to the Keys Jazz Bistro stage. Proprietor Simon and his friendly staff treated us like family." As the club was preparing for the second set, host Rowe invited everyone to stay for the nightcap and a lot of people accepted the surprise gift. Seemed like the holiday spirit was very much alive at Keys Jazz Bistro.

Comments