Sounds of New Orleans!

Conductor Jeff Tyzik Featured Performer Byron Stripling

Dates 10 & 12 November 2006 Venue Orpheum Theatre

Reviewer Ed Farolan


Boy, what an entertainer! Byron Stripling just wowed the crowd and made the dreary rainy evening of Vancouver a sunny one with his trumpeteering style and his jazz singing a la New Orleans.

Stripling has the reputation of "igniting" audiences with his charisma and charm, and that's exactly what he did. He got the audience to sing "hi dee, hi dee ho" with him, and we all just enjoyed him so much that he came back for an encore and a quick lesson on how to say "Oh, yeah!" at the end of his song, Louis Armstrong style. Standing ovation, cheers and extended applauses were all in order for this internationally known trumpet virtuoso who has earned stripes as lead trumpeter and soloist with the Count Basie Orchestra, and played extensively with such jazz greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Herman, Dave Brubeck and Buck Clayton.

Conductor Jeff Tyzik started off the first part of the show with his unique arrangement of Ellington tunes before introducing Stripling. And as soon as Stripling was introduced, he just took over the show. He made a few quips about Vancouver and
Toronto before he started singing a really touching song, "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans", and ended the first half with "Sweet Georgia Brown".

The second half was really wild, starting off with Tyzik's arrangement of Ellington's "Caravan" with an innovative rendition of this piece by drummer Dave Mancini. Stripling came back and all the fun started again with his version of Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and Tyzik's arrangement of "Minnie the Moocher", getting even wilder with Gillard's "Flat Foot Floogie" which he dedicated to his mentor, Maestro Jeff Tyzik. And the wonderful medley of Louis Armstrong songs, "Hello Dolly!", "When the Saints Come Marching In", "What a Wonderful World", and a few others ended another exciting and energetic VSO Pops event.

 

© 2006 Ed Farolan