It has been over a year since my wife and I moved away from Portland and the wonderful music of that place. We have missed our friends and the places we visited weekly in order to see them perform. Every Sunday afternoon-evening saw us at the Paragon in the Pearl District of Portland to see Toshi Onizuka's trio of Toshi, Jon Hughes and Reinhardt Melz.

The pain of being away from them has been excruciating. We have come to a place where there is limited live music and none of it is the jazz and soul that we so enjoyed in the Rose City.

Fortunately for my wife and I, our dear friends have not forgottten us and they have reached out to us in a wonderful and meaningful way.

We have made it a ritual of affection to always send a text message greeting before a performance of our beloved SoulMates and Toshi Onizuka Trio. This means that every Sunday afternoon, we are texting a greeting for a good show to Toshi and Reinhardt and Jon (through Toshi and Reinhardt). Today, they sent us the best greeting imaginable...

I had left my iPhone in the other room and did not hear the Facetime request call from Reinhardt. Nor did I immediately receive the above photo from Toshi with his greeting of love. I couldn't believe that I had missed Reinhardt's call so I called him and he answered! While they were in their third and final set! While he was playing drums!

There was only 20 minutes left in the third set but Reinhardt set up the Facetime call and placed his phone on the front and center table that Chieko and I occupied every Sunday at the Paragon. Oh, my God... we were home again, if only for 20 minutes. We were home!

Separated by 1700 miles and two times zones, we were able to attend the music of dear, dear friends live and at our special seats. We got to hear two songs and one of them was "Light in Shade." If you have read this blog at all before, you must know what that song means to us. In fact, Toshi calls it "our song." So do we.

As soon as Toshi played the opening notes, tears started to flow. Reinhardt's incredible rhythms joined in as well as Jon's jumping bass line. It was all so familiar and all so warm. Their smiles were so wide and their cheerfulness so lively. Chieko said that this dose of being with these friends we love was enough to energize her and give her strength when energy and strength have been so hard to find.

Jon was his usual wonderful self. His laughter is contagious. His humor touched us. There are so many stories to tell about Jon.

The amazing Toshi thrilled us again with "our song." In his quiet way, he spoke so much with so few words and a healing smile.

Our beloved friend Reinhardt. He showed us love in such a profound way. He always stays in touch with us. And tonight he brought us home.

We really love you guys.

What a delight to share music you love with people you love, especially when the music is heart-warming and the product of great musicians. Such was the day on Sunday, May 20, 2012 at the Paragon.

We had taken friends to see Toshi, Reinhardt and Jon, with the added treat of knowing that Geli (Angelica) Wuerzner was going to be there. Geli is a versatile violinist who knows how to listen and when to speak. She was visiting from Seattle and we were privileged to hear her play with Toshi's Trio.

The set opened with Go With the Flow and this certainly must be bassist Jon Hughes' theme song by now as it is required of him week after week. The song begins gently and then becomes laid-back romp. Our dear friends who accompanied us were taken right away. And who wouldn't be? The piece highlights the vituosity of all three musicians and is well-named because that is all that is left the listener--just go with the flow.

Moliendo Cafe follows next with its punchy opening that expands into a truly intriguing work of alternating rhythms and cut-current melodies. Drummer Reinhardt Melz is allowed great room for percussive exploration and he never leads one astray.
In fact, Jon Hughes has said that he has worked with drummers who departed from the rhythm because they were lost. "But with Reinhardt," he says, "you just follow him because he is never lost."

From the sturm und drang of Moliendo Cafe, the mood retreated to the pastoral feel of Banfa's Gentle Rain. It is one of the most easy-going pieces of the set list. It is reflective and sentimental, in a good way. But the finale is a raucous wind-up which settles back to a slow, cool conclusion.

On the article of May 13, I wrote the following:
"But the most intriguing moment of the day came with the bossa nova standard Agua de Beber. When Toshi called the tune, Reinhardt opened with a totally unexpected beat and Toshi excitedly said, "Yeah! Let's go wtih that!" Reinhardt cocked his head and said , "Really?" Toshi was convinced that Reinhardt was on to something. And he was right.

This groove was the rhythm to top all rhythms. This funky-meter pattern was intoxicating. You wanted more and you didn't care what the results were. Toshi and Jon were onboard all the way. Composer Tom Jobim could never have envisioned this! Jobim's bossa nova had run headlong into a Robert Glasper groove and Agua de Beber will never sound the same."

I am happy to say that such is the case. When the trio played the piece again this week, it was with the now-entrenched "Glasper beat." It was as breathtaking as the first time I heard it.

The first set concluded with Black Orpheus which just never gets old. In fact, it is not allowed to age because Toshi, Reinhardt and Jon keep changing it up from week to week, creating a new song every time. This week Toshi added the palmas to Reinhardt's brilliant solo. The rhythms created by Reinhardt are like your heartbeat if you are running through the lightning while being chased by a tiger.

The first set ended with everyone present definitely wanting more. Our friends were wide-eyed. We had told them that they would enjoy themselves but they had no idea just how far over the moon they would be taken. 

The second set began with Geli now sitting in with the Trio for a cool cover of Samba Pa Ti. As I stated, Geli is a good listener. She did not know the song but took the time to play along with the chords and pick up the movement so that, when she did contribute, she nailed it.

She is funny, she is smart and she knows how to move within the structure of the music. She has great harmonic intuition that can take a song unknown to her and make it sound as if she has played it for years. She did it again for the 6/8 Blue Bossa and she repeated it all evening long.

When Blue Bossa concluded, Jon called for Dust in the Wind which brought guffaws from the audience. Fortunately, that was not what followed.

What did follow was When You Passed By. Again, Toshi made room for Geli's interpretive addition and it was rewarding. Even if she did not know the piece, Toshi simply encourages with "You can do it."

Toshi encourages with words and with his music.

One of our friends was tired when we arrived and we were not sure if she would be up to staying for the whole three hours. By the end of the second set, she had renewed energy and announced that we were going nowhere.

The Andalusian 6/8 Improvisation was so fascinating that even the comatose could find enough energy to stay on. The mighty groove of the improv found Reinhardt and Toshi in complete cooperation with Reinhardt's drumming and Toshi's thumping on the guitar's body. Intoxicating.

The applause was thunderous.

The old standard Besame Mucho slowed everyone's heart-rate down and Bitter Smile was a fine set-up for the evening's finale.

You have read it from me over and over. Light in Shade is just amazing. Happily, it will be on Toshi's next CD. He has just begun recording it and already I cannot wait. I have never had a piece of music so easily move me. Before now, it was the YES song Awaken that had that claim on me. While both songs are introspective and emotional, Light in Shade is purely instumental without the interpretation of lyrics.

It is like a long gaze into a clear pool of water. On the surface is one's own reflection, but looking past that, one can see straight to the bottom with all the wonders so clear for observation. That is the light in the shade--to see what is usually obscure, especially to ourselves.

Toshi, Reinhardt and Jon create just such an environment, that we can see beyond what is on the surface and look to the truth that is so deep within ourselves.

One cannot hear the music of Toshi Onizuka and remain unchanged.