I felt myself lucky to be invited to a special corporate party at the beautiful Westin Harbour Castle on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2002. The people who booked this corporate gig had originally become acquainted with the saxy star of the evening�s festivities, Johnny Pennino, when one of their corporate get-togethers took them to New Orleans, home of the world�s best Dixieland Jazz.
Jazz greats like Louis Prima and his long-time sax player, the one and only Sam Butera, who grew up in the Latin Quarter of New Orleans (then the Italian Quarter - a remark quoted from a friend of Louis Prima), were some of the hands-on music idols of Johnny when he was growing up there himself. Butera laughed when he first saw Johnny (now approaching 50) as an eight-year-old, playing an alto sax that was almost as big as he was. Ten years later, Sam wandered into a New Orleans jazz club, pleasantly surprised to see the "kid" all grown up and wailin' away on sax in a way reminiscent to Sam of how he himself evolved as a world-renowned sax player. "Is this little Johnny -- the kid I used to see playin' sax in the barber shop?", Sam is reported to have uttered.
Decades have passed since those first few brushes with musical greatness, but Johnny is every bit as down-to-earth as the barber he played next to as a kid, the difference being that Johnny now can give Butera a definite run for his money, with his ease as a seasoned, imaginative and highly talented sax pro. Johnny's renditions of several well-known tunes of the Jazz, Big Band and '50s & �'60s Pop music genres guarantee him a place in the hearts of music lovers wherever he's played the world over.
Accompanying him as a trio the night I saw him was his long-time keyboard player, Richie Ladner, whose keys rippled and chorded to perfection all night long. His rough, raw vocals on "When You're Smilin'" and "Hello, Dolly" were reminiscent of Louis Armstrong's. Pennino's drummer for the event was Toronto Sound's own Robin Boers, original drummer for The Ugly Ducklings (soon to have a new Ducks CD out.) Robin told me later that evening about a concert he played in 1966 in Peterborough, Ontario, at a large hall, opening for Wilson Pickett. After The Ducks had played, and Pickett's band was really getting into their own Funky thang, Pickett asked The Ducks to sit in with his band, which they did. Robin, on the second drum kit, was playing inches away on stage from Pickett's guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, only a year away from The Summer of Love and guitarist immortality. Johnny himself has had a few brushes with greatness, like the time Jazz legend, Duke Ellington came down to hear Johnny perform, intending to offer him a job in his band if he was up to par. Johnny was more than up to par -- Ellington offered him the job, but Johnny refused, not wanting to compromise his own style and musical message to the world playing someone else's style, even if it was for the great Ellington himself.
Integrity and belief in his own unique style and ability as a musician is what Johnny Pennino delivered to the lucky audience at the Harbour Castle the memorable night I was there. Some of the beautiful tunes played by him and his trio were "The Girl From Ipanema", a very sweet "The Shadow of Your Smile" and a request from me, Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You". (Chris Whiteley plays trumpet and sings vocals on his own beautiful version of "Nearness�" on his very well put-together ballads and blues CD.) The sax solo on Johnny's version is also a real winner. Richie sang smooth, mellow vocals on the classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", accompanied by a very emotional sax solo from Pennino. Johnny's vocals on "Oh, Marie" sounded like a cross between Louis Prima and Tony Bennett.
A right-from-the-heart sax rendition of "Ebb Tide" started the third and last set, followed by timeless "Time After Time". Another request of mine, "Misty" was played with all the heart and soul anyone could ask for. For the encore, a request was made by Johnny's Toronto host, Myles Tangedal, for a repeat of Santana's "Europa", featuring Johnny again in Sax Heaven. This was followed by another request for the final encore and, as it happens, the late Louis Prima's own famous encore, "When The Saints Go Marching In". All the beautiful music that very special night was comparable to a good night in a Jazz club anywhere in the world. I'm sure everyone present that night will be looking forward to the next time Johnny and Richie bring their musical magic back to Toronto from the town where Mardi Gras and New Orleans Jazz got its name.
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