Guitar Summit Negotiates Swing at the State Theater in Falls Church

Swing was unquestionably the thing at the State Theater in Falls Church Saturday night, as the New Guitar Summit glided through a repertoire of classic big-band and small-combo tunes.

Indeed, one of the first pieces performed by the Summit, a quintet featuring guitarists Duke Robillard, J. Geils and Gerry Beaudoin, was Charlie Christian's “Seven Come Eleven."

Originally recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet in the late '30s, the tune later became a staple of the Great Guitars, the trio featuring Charlie Byrd, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis in the '70s and '80s. The Summit's arrangement fused Christian's early single-note innovations with the kind of deftly exchanged, dovetailing choruses associated with the Great Guitars. Like much of what followed, the performance evoked seminal jazz sounds without sounding the least bit dated.

Throughout the night, the guitarists took turns soloing over chunky dominant chords and in sync with the neat, rhythmic propulsion provided by bassist John Turner and drummer Gordon Grottenthaler. At first it appeared that each of the guitarists might hew to a particular approach to playing an acoustic, arch-top guitar--Geils favoring a bright, popping tone, Robillard preferring something cooler and more elegant, Beaudoin accenting his choruses with swift chordal runs. But as the group breezed through tunes associated with Goodman, Count Basie and other jazz greats, it became clear the guitarists were merely making sure that each trade-off introduced subtle differences in dynamics and interpretive slant, so that arrangements remained fresh and vital.

The program also allowed Robillard a chance to indulge his passion for blues that swing. After dedicating “Lonely Boy Blues" to his friend and recent collaborator, the great Kansas City pianist and bandleader Jay McShann, he framed the melancholy lyrics with some wonderfully expressive guitar work reminiscent of T-Bone Walker.

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