When scoping out entertainment—whether it’s a football game, or a musical concert—people’s motive is often to get away from the reality of the world and have a good time. They want to escape from their sorrows and pains. Such escape was found in “Bird with Strings”, a Jazz special featured at the Jazz at Lincoln Center. From the opening entrance, Vincent Gardner—the musical director of the night—emphasized the fact that everyone in the audience would be having a good time. He called the venue “House of Strings” before establishing that the string instruments (violins, harps, etc) would not actually be featured until the second half of the show. This left the audience in expectation as to what to expect from the grand set list, beginning with the legendary pieces of Charlie Parker.

As the first song of the evening, “Charlie’s Wig” began to play; a great sense of the spirit of the 1950’s swam through the venue. This came as no surprise as the late composer’s music came from the swing of early ’50s and embodied the emotions of that era.

You could feel the vibrant rhythm in the thumping bass, played by Ben Wolfe. His quick fingers were a perfect match for the spry wrists of Victor Lewis, who tinkered against the drums with a calm coolness. The entire vibe reminded one of a Charlie Brown special at Christmastime. It was a warm and toasty feeling; quite refreshing from the usual commercial music that is thrown at us on the radio. The obvious high-light in the piece, as well as in the many that were to follow, was the spectacular saxophone playing that Wess Anderson executed so fluently.

The pieces to follow flowed in a similar manner. The musicians gave a very enthusiastic performance of “Dee Dee’s Dance”. Gardner joked in prior banter that Dee Dee must have been a very fast dancer, in reference to the fast-paced rhythm of the musical piece. The saxophones wailed like buzzing sirens, with the help of special guest Charles McPherson—who Gardner referred to as the ‘special weapon’. McPherson and Anderson played together in a mesh that was too harmonious not to notice. The horns were frantic, as if to alert the audience that this was not a performance you wanted to miss. Lewis’ drum solo in the piece sounded almost like a pile of heavy boxes falling against each other in a solid rhythm. It was riveting. It was exciting—it drove the crowd to cheerful applause.

The songs that followed in the second half featured strings, and was a pleasant change of pace. The violins fluttered softly and gave a very romantic vibe in the song “Easy to Love”, almost as if one were lounging elegantly on a cruise ship. Throughout the remainder of the night, the contrast of sounds against the mambo-like rhythm of the bass and drums provided and ended the show in a spectacular world of Jazz—sure to leave a lasting impression on its audience.