It is with ridiculous excitement that I wait to see the legendary sessionman, tenor sax player Bobby Keys, at the Highline Ballroom, July 28th. I am nearing the end of Keith Richards excellent memoir "Life" (I know I said he sucked but it doesn't) and Keys, the Stones sax player of choice for decades, plays a major role in the recording of Exile On Mainstreet. And an even bigger role in raising hell with Keef in the junk filled 1970s.
Singer and fellow Stones fanatic Irene Diamond Facebooked me with the news and I immediately bought a tix. Keys would be a legendary figure if all he did was play with the Stones, that's him on "Jumping Jack Flash". But as a 15 year old kid, he played with the Crickets (yes, Buddy Holly's band, while Buddy Holly was alive) and he has also worked with George Harrison (All Things Must Pass), Delaney & Bonnie, Eric Clapton, Humble Pie, the Faces, Carly Simon, Nilsson, Joe Cocker, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Lynyrd Skynyrd, B.B. King, and Barbra Streisand.
In the shadow world of session players that goes beyond credentials.
Indeed, this is an "and friends' gig and all the friends have pretty tremendous creds as well. Guitarist Will Lee of the David Letterman Band as well as the Fab Faux. Jazz vocalist Bernard Fowler who has worked with Charlie Watts jazz band, INXS, And Saxophonist Tim Reis? His resume? Long breath: The Rolling Stones (touring from 1999 to the present), Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Donald Fagen, Michael Jackson, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Lyle Lovett, and jazz greats Red Garland, Donald Byrd, Hank Jones, Phil Woods, Tom Harrell, Chico Hamilton, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Tony Bennett, Dave Liebman, Al Foster, John Patitucci, Danilo Perez and Maria Schneider. And others…
Which seems to make the Keys gig a mix of uber-sessionmen and the Stones instrumentalists. And at $20 a tix? A must see.