Trombone master Wycliffe Gordon is always a crowd pleaser. Leading a top flight quintet at Centrum's Jazz Port Townsend festival this summer, Gordon seemed as pleased as the crowd was. Joined by Australian Adrian Cunningham on clarinet and saxophone, Allison Miller behind the drums and Seattle-area friends John Hansen and Chris Symer on piano and bass.
Blues was the main course, and Gordon sang to the exuberant crowd with his voice and his horns. The adorably small soprano trombone, looking like a trumpet with a slide attachment, earned plenty of attention. Cunningham, though, was Gordon's equal with each passionate solo. Space was given for each player to solo on a beautiful medley of ballads before the quintet turned up the heat on a blues-soaked finale.
