Rhapsody in Blue
Two virtuosos return to Montalvo Arts Center for a sold-out concert Sunday night.
1.10.2011
By Meg Nelson
Angela McConnell, executive director of Montalvo Arts Center, opened the sold-out performance Sunday evening explaining the significance of musical giants David Benoit and Jon Nakamatsu, appearing together for the first time.
“David Benoit has been performing, writing and composing jazz for two decades," she said before the concert. "He was nominated for five Grammies. He is also former Montalvo Artist in Residence.”
The other performer is a native son, she said.
“Jon Nakamatsu grew up in Saratoga, graduated from Prospect High School and Stanford. He was the first American to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Jon quit his teaching job and has been performing ever since, several times at Montalvo.”
Benoit opened with Elton John’s Your Song, transformed into a jazz improvisational piece. The man was just off the plane from New York, but you would never know it by his piano style. Robust was the adjective that many concert-goers used to describe his rendition.
“I wrote a lot of music here,” Benoit said of his time at Montalvo. Included in his Montalvo pieces were Journey in a Rental Car, I Miss You and Sneaky as a Cat —all performed with skill and gusto.
Benoit really got it going in the last set when he paid tribute to jazz greats Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck and Vince Guaraldi. The Guaraldi piece, Cast My Fate to the Winds, in particular, seemed to engage Benoit and the audience. His fingers flew across the keys.
Benoit, friendly and relaxed, relinquished the stage to Nakamatsu, reminding the audience that Nakamatsu had to catch a plane at 10:30 that evening. He quipped, "This might be the fastest Rhapsody in Blue ever."
Nakamatsu looked and acted like he was home, relaxed and casual. “I grew up listening to David Benoit,” he said. "I always wanted to play like that—improvisation, in the moment of the music."
Nakamatsu performed Franz Liszt’s three Petrarch Sonnets with precision. The program worked on several levels. Liszt was possibly the most innovative composer and pianist of the 19th century. The Sonnets are challenging, perfect for Nakamatsu's skills with complex fingering.
The Petrarch Sonnets are about love in all its moods and moments, and Liszt coaxed much emotion from them. The sonnets soared and softened like putty in Nakamatsu’s caressing hands, a perfect choice.
The evening glowed with the warmth of a fire by the time the master pianists had each finished their sets. The two big Steinways filled the stage of the Carriage House Theater, and the audience waited in anticipation for the finale—George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Was there ever a sexier piece of music? It soars, it swoops, it rollicks, it struts—it has everything. Benoit and Nakamatsu lit off all the fireworks the Gershwin composition offered by rubbing classical and jazz together. What an appropriate piece of music to showcase their talents.
Gershwin said it best when he told his biographer that Rhapsody in Blue was “a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America.” The audience members loved it all. They were on their feet by the last chord in the composition.
Benoit said he began his day with a piano duet with smooth jazz favorite Brian Culbertson. He thought it fitting that he should end his day with another duet.
Appearing as part of Montalvo’s Piano Masters Series, Nakamatsu and Benoit followed Alfredo Rodriguez, Simone Dinnerstein and the Taylor Eigsti Trio. Next up is Lang Lang on Jan. 23. That concert is sold out, as was Sunday night's.
Editor's note:This story has been revised. An earlier version incorrectly quotedAngela McConnell, executive director ofMontalvo Arts Center, on Grammies musical giant David Benoit has been nominated for. He's been nominated for 5 Grammies.Everybody makes mistakes ... even us! If there's something in this article that you think should be corrected, or if something else is amiss, give Local Editor Sheila Sanchez a ring at 408-391-8725 or shoot her an e-mail at .