I don’t know about you, but I listened to Jethro Tull a long time ago when the album, Songs in the Woods came out.
My friends loved the band. I was intrigued by Ian Anderson‘s flute playing.
Did you know that I played the flute in the High School marching band?
My husband reminded me that we saw Ian Anderson many times through our High School years, but he said to me last night, “I’m not sure why?”
“I think it was Jeff’s influence,” I said. My friend Jeff also played the flute in the High School marching band and he loved Ian Anderson’s style.
So there we sat, at the Beacon Theatre on 74th Street and Broadway in NYC, waiting for Ian Anderson to come out. When he finally did, I turned and looked at my husband and said, “is that him?” I didn’t recognize him. He was wearing a skull cap and looked like a pirate. I even commented that the stage looked like a pirates ship.
But the music had no pirate theme at all. It was all classical jazz. He played with an acoustic band. The sound was great. I felt like I was in a small jazz club in the village.
Anderson switched between his madolin and his flute. He also brought out special guest jazz musicians, who were also amazing musicians.
The concert was interesting I enjoyed watching good musicians play and as they played, they became their instruments and that I felt was compelling. You could actually feel their passion as they played and I found that exciting.
During intermission, I watched the people as they left the theatre. One woman who I didn’t know looked me in the eye as she was walking by and said, “Wasn’t that amazing? What a great concert!”
I didn’t say anything and she walked by. As I was watching dozens of people go by, I noticed my friend, Rich walking past. His eye caught my eye. “What did you think?” he asked me. I didn’t answer him. “What did you think?” I asked.
“It’s okay….” He said. “but if they don’t pick up the beat and play some of their old songs, I’m out of here…”
The second set was very similar to the first set. I actually didn’t even recognize “Aqua Lung” until the chorus. Although the concert kept my interest, I think this was the last show I will see with Ian Anderson…
