Front Row, Center, October 22! What a night with sax man Andre Delano & his world-class band!

Thanks to Barb Susan for letting me borrow a snippet of her beautiful professional photography (picbyBarb.com).

Friday, October 22, 2010
Spaghettini, Seal Beach, CA
Andre Delano Event

Saxophone & vocals: Andre Delano
Guitar: Yarone Levy
Keyboards: Darrell Diaz
Bass: James Strong
Drums: Kerry Griffin

Saxophonist~vocalist Andre Delano~
“Can we have a little more sax?”
He locked down his ultra-smooth sax vibe, then hit his vocals. Talk about the perfect Friday chill. He delivered. Andre Delano is one cool cat. If this sound-check snippet is any indication of tonight’s show, wow! We’re in for some fun!
Delano to sound director Q~
“For James, more guitar. Are you getting enough bass out there?”
Yarone Levy~
“Q, on the keyboard, I’m only getting one channel. I hear you on my wedge.”
Q~
“No, I’m coming straight out of your G-boards.”
Keyboardist Darrell Diaz~
“Yarone, are you good now?”
Darrell~
“Let’s take it from the top!”
More smooth, smooth, smooth flooded the stage.
Andre~
“Q, can we get some bass on the drum wedge? Hey, Q, we’re gonna try Yarone in the vocal. Are you guys in the same mix? More vocal, more vocal.”
Andre weaved his sax through a trial run in the pre-show audience.
Delano~
“Here we go! I think we’re good, man.”
They took a dinner break. Stay tuned.

Lights up!
The band took the stage and settled in.
Vienna followed~
“Hello! Good evening, Spaghettini! TGI Friday! Can’t to much better than that! My name is Vienna and I’m the music director of KSBR radio. I’m also known as jazzie girl. The artist I’m about to bring on stage is not only a phenomenal sax player. He’s a vocalist who’s toured with Lionel Richie in Japan! He’s played with Christina Aguilera in LA. Tonight he’s here playing just for you! Please put your hands together for Andre Delano!”
Andre entered side stage sporting a full-overhead clap. Bassist James Strong edged up from the corner pocket and slapped down some stellar licks. They dished out an incredible sax~bass Funkborne collaboration. James’ held down the bump while Andre wowed ‘em with his throaty sax. Delano is energy personified! And man, can this cat blow! Plain and simple, he’s a contagious dynamo. Andre continued to blanket the stage with his overhead clap. An unspoken high sign to keyboardist Darrell Diaz lit his corner up like the forth of July! Their chemistry was off-the-hook!
Andre~
“Com’on, put your hands together for Darrell Diaz! Com’on, give me some bass!”
Bassist James got down and dirty with his bad self. He took exclusive ownership of the crowd, resistors, none! Wow!
Delano~
“Okay, can I take you back right now and give you a little of this?”
Andre whisked the crowd into a frenzy while we bit into each tasty morsel of Got to Give it Up, savoring every nostalgic note.
Andre~
“Give it up! How ya doin’? Alright, alright, this is from my very first CD called Night Rider.”
Delano thwacked the sax to wailin’ while the cool vibe of guitarist Yarone Levy carried this one home to ‘mama’. Strong slipped in on bass and did it to it! Another stellar piece of work from James, then it was back to Andre’s masterful swing, rock and roll!
James continued to envelope the groove.
Andre~
“Go James! Go James! Go James! Bass!!!”
Delano addressed the finale with one hell of a blow!
Andre~
“We came out wayyy too hot! Can I have a towel? Thank you, sugar. She read my mind! You know how you sweat so much your eyes burn?! I give you the liberty to act a fool, ‘cause I’m gonna!” He reiterated the previous song titles, Funkborne and Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give it Up. “What I wanna do is keep it real. I wanna play a song from a cat I really, really respect. Y’all know Jr. Walker?! We gonna come on hot and we’re gonna stay hot! Catch this one, y’all!”
I swear Jr. Walker slipped in toting Andre’s vocals. With one foot on the stage edge, Delano tap, tap, tapped to the music. Darrell’s keyboard clicked perfection.
Andre~
“Hold up! Hold up! Hold up!”
He picked up a chair, slung it over the stage front and proudly plunked it down.
Delano~
“Somethin’s wrong here! I need a volunteer!”
Anonymous audience members~
“Me, me! It’s my birthday!”
Andre~
“Everybody, put your hands together for Roselyn!” Delano directed his attention to Roselyn’s husband. “I don’t know who’s more nervous, her or him?!” The audience roared.
Roselyn’s husband~
“I gotta take her home now!”
Andre~
“And if I was livin’ in the Jr. Walker era, I would do somethin’ like this.”
Andre draped the sax across the woman’s lap and opened with a heartfelt vocal. Suddenly, he relinquished his sax and rocked it to the moon! Roselyn soaked up every drop of his charisma like a jazzy sponge.
Delano~
“Put your hands together for Roselyn! Photo op! Photo op!” She floated off the stage on cloud nine. “So, where are my dogs at?” Audience members began barking, howling and carrying on. The magnetic Delano vibe had the entire group eating out of his hand as he led a group sing.
Andre~
“Here we go, fellas!”
Hootin’ and hollerin’ echoed through the venue.
“Ladies?!” The women sang and won hands down. “Everytime, ladies, everytime!” Andre’s falsetto led a full-room sing fest of fa-la-las which led to an amazing finale.
Andre~
“Oh, oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah!” He caught his breath. “You guys enjoyin’ yourselves. Y’all eatin’ up?! All of my CDs are original! The radio stations wanted me to do cover songs. This is one that I happen to be passionate about. I’m not even gonna tell you the name of it!”
The band cracked the ‘jazzy coconut’ wide open with their unplugged version of Pick Up The Pieces. What a drummer! Kerry Griffin showed us what he was made of with his expertly-synced drumbeat. The handoff to keyboardist Darrell Diaz gifted his clickity invite the bassist to dig deep. The drummer was still at it, weaving the thump while guiding the pack. Arch-backed Andre trilled to the band beat! Chair dancin’ fools were we! It was impossible to sit still! Shining-star Yarone took ownership of the song with a solo that had wings!
Andre~
“Give it up for, Yarone! Yarone, y’all! Put your hands together, y’all! We’re gonna have a party. You remember back in the day?! You gonna say ho-o-o, ho-o-o, somebody scream!”
I can honestly say there was not a ‘piece’ to ‘pick up’ after this jazz demolition crew put their ‘John Henry’ on the tune!
Andre~
“Can I take my time at this point y’all? ‘Cause I’m tired of sweatin’! Thanks to Q in the back and to Vienna.” He gave some background information on his CD. “I wanted to see how sexy the sax can be. I wanted to give my interpretation of it in More Than Words Can Say. “This is how I’m gonna take it, my wife, my love. His slow and easy took over when Delano slipped one foot on the stage edge.
Delano turned to Yarone~
“If all that you had was stripped away and all you had is that guitar in your hands.”
The audience gasped at Yarone Levy’s heartfelt interpretation.
Andre~
“Put your hands together for Yarone Levy! The one with the black-and-white keys in front of you, you can keep the shades on your head, but you can’t say anything verbal.”
Darrell’s buttery keyboard translation emitted wordlessness.
Andre~
“Mr. Darrell Diaz on keys, y’all! Now this instrument you’re used to hearing this from! How often do you hear a sexy bass solo? You wanna hear a sexy bass solo?”
James laid it all out, soul naked to the world coupled with a slice of his heart.
Andre~
“Put your hands together for James!”
Andre and Darrell teamed up for a pulse-racing’ duet.
Delano~
“In rehearsal the drummer said, “What bout me, man? When he finished, I packed it up and went home!”
Kenny spun a cocoon of romance around his drum corner. Wow x’s three drifted across the cymbals! That was one sexy drum vibe.
Andre~
“More than words can say! Ah! So, do we have anyone out there in love? Any married people? Single people? We’re gonna play somethin’ called I Do. While you’re standin’ at the alter, he says this!”
Stellar vocals showcased the genius Andre Delano. His musicianship came full circle on this cut.
Delano~
“You know what I’m talkin’ about? You guys that are married know what I mean! You give it all to her! Thank you! You know how a certain song can put you in a certain mood? I’m feelin’ my feminine side. Now I want to play the one that started it off for me. It goes something like this, y’all.”
Bassist James Strong exploded from the corner pocket with a heady thump. Guitarist Yarone took over opening the tune to sheer insanity. A round robin of bass, guitar, sax, keys, drums swirled the stage like a cyclone! Andre capped it off with an uncorked sax blow at stage edge.
Anonymous audience member~
“That’s it! Talk to me!”
“Thank you, guys. We’ll be back for another set! In the meantime, we got hugs and we got CDs!”
I cannot leave this narrative without mentioning Andre Delano’s second-set performance of I Believe I Can Fly. To a pin-drop quiet crowd, he shared personal story about cutting short a proposed Lionel Richie Virgin Island tour to visit his ailing father. Fatherly love pierced every awestruck audience member as they listened intently. His passionate bunny hop sealed his tribute.
Thank you to Andre Delano and his band for an unforgettable night of jazz. I, for one, am hoping you’ll be back soon! © October 2010 Lynn M. Olson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED