What do you say when you know something is definitely wrong after five minutes? Such was the case Saturday night at Disney Hall. When Jason Moran appeared and began "improving" with his piano, you knew that he had never seen this instrument before let alone participated in a sound check or a rehearsal. After he "acquainted" himself with the instrument, he began to as remarkable as I knew he could. But then sound problems occurred, and his recorded interview with Fats Waller and Rochester was impossible to understand. Still he was worth the concert. Then the second half. Now I get a has been lounge singer, Steve Tyrell, to take the stage. A couple of songs to prove that he was minor league. Did he think we thought of Sinatra, of Tony Bennet, of Michael Buble or my neighbor singing in the shower? Again the sound wasn't mixed properly so the horn player had one solo that was impossible to discern. And a recorded string section?
Finally the class of the second half: Jane Monheit. Old enough to be her father, he sings a duet "I'll Take Romance" while pawing her. Finally she gets her stage. One song. ONE SONG. All her youth and talent and energy in ONE SONG. Back comes Tyrell to tell us about his Albums, compares himself to Sinatra, suggests he was only 3 when FS recorded Come Fly with Me, which makes him 70. Finally David Benoit plays. But only one song, brilliantly played, and then were back to Tyrell. To insult his audience again, he checks his watch to see if he has time to sing again (really to see if it is 10pm so he can quit). Audience response: polite. Disappointing indeed.