Mike Greensill Brings Trio for O1C Tradition

Late yesterday afternoon jazz pianist Mike Greensill returned to the altar of the Old First Presbyterian Church to present his annual Labor Day Weekend performance for Old First Concerts (O1C). Last year he was joined only by Ruth Davies on bass; and, as I put it at the time, the two of them “were separated by more than the currently recommended distance.” This year he led a trio with Davies on bass and Brad Buethe on guitar. The last four selections featured guest vocalist Gail Terminello.

The program consisted of the usual balance between Greensill originals and “high standards” to draw upon the title Greensill selected for the afternoon. This time around I was particularly struck by an interesting parallel with last year. On that occasion Greensill served up an intimate verbal introduction for the performance of Miles Davis’ “Blue in Green.” This time the “spirit of Miles” was right there at the beginning of the program, not with one of his compositions but with a take on a favorite selection from his “book,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” which Bronisław Kaper originally composed for the film Green Dolphin Street.

As usual, there was a generous number of Greensill’s compositions on the program. This time I realized that I probably had not heard any of those pieces at a previous Labor Day performance. Given the number of these gigs that I have attended over the years, I am beginning to think that Greensill’s catalog is much larger than I had ever thought!

Mike Greensill, Gail Terminello, Ruth Davies, and Brad Buethe performing the Old First Concerts annual Labor Day offering (screen shot from the video being discussed))

Once again, there were problems for those of us watching the streamed version. Fortunately, these did not involve the synchronization glitches that plagued last year’s program. This time the video matched the audio with clear accounts of all three of the instruments. The only problem was that the microphone for Greensill’s vocals and introductions was not mixed into the other sources. This made audibility difficult, more for his speaking voice, since his singing blended in well with his accompanying partners. Since Terminello delivered her vocals from the front of the altar with her own microphone, properly distanced from the musicians, the audio signal for her singing was perfectly satisfactory (even if her style was not one of my preferences).