John Daversa: Kaleidoscope Eyes-Music of The Beatles - Jazz Weekly
There have been a lot of tributes to the Fab Four in jazz circles lately, but I don’t think any have swung harder than this one by John Daversa’s Band. He’s caught in performance at Alva’s Showroom, and the 30+ collection of horns, strings, percussion, rhythm, vocalists and guests makes for a wild night. Only a couple of the tracks include vocals, such as Renee Olstead on “Good Day Sunshine” and “Do You Want To Know A Secret” with the former featuring a prismatic use of the horns around Tom Peterson’s raucous tenor, and the latter being a delightfully hip piece with Joe Martone’s bongos and Tommy King’s deft piano. Otherwise, you get Daversa’s trumpet cooing along with velvety clarinets on “And I Love Her,” and then his horn searing (along with hip vocals) on a fever pitched “I Saw Her Standing There” with the horns waving back and forth like a medieval battlefield. The delicate droplets from Tommy King’s piano and Peggy Baldwin’s cello make a rich pastoral atmosphere for “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and the evening ends with a Sgt Peppery hint of George Martin as Daversa’s horn gasps on the “Kaleidoscope Medley” with “A Little Help” before the vocal chorus joins in just before a wild and passionate closing with a thunderous “I Am The Walrus.” Goo Goo Gatchoo indeed!
George W. Harris