Peter Lerner

Peter, was no stranger to the Checkerboard having grown up in the Hyde Park area, wasted little time setting the mood for the evening as he opened the first set with Kenny Burrell's "Midnight Blue." It was during this number that Peter established the format for this gig as each of his band mates followed his initial solo with fine opening solos of their own. This would be another one of those "equal opportunity sets" with all having a chance to be featured.

Much of the music played on tonight was taken from Peter's 2007 CD entitled Cry For Peace, with "Billie"s Bossa", cowritten by Ryan Cohen, following the opening number. This was a beautiful ballad which allowed for solid extended solos by Ryan and Peter with nice complementary background bass from "Master" Larry Gray. That bass sound is always recognizable from Larry.

Peter's arrangement of "Beseme Mucho" allowed for drummer Raynor to showcase his skills with a nice solo. That number preceded arguably the highlight of the first set, "Back At The Chicken Shack." Ryan started things off by tickling the hell out of the 88s to the delight of the crowd. Not to be "upstaged," Peter jumped in with a rousing solo followed by some deep bass tones from Larry Gray. The audience loved this rapid fire action. They concluded the first set with "Inner Drum" taken from Peter's Cry for Peace They opened the second with Horace Silver's "Nutville," which again featured all ensemble members with solos. "Black Orpheus" was next which featured Peter during his best Wes Montgomery "imitation," while Ryan softly ran up and down on the keyboard. This was followed by another original, "Mean Mr.Green," dedicated to guitarist Grant Green . Larry Gray was again the featured soloist.

The second set closed out with another sultry ballad, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams." This song is perfect for an evening in front of a nice warm fireplace, cuddled up with that someone special. Raynor softly slid his brushes across the skins while Gray gently plucked the bass, producing some "oh so sweet "sounds.

The short third set was highlighted by a rousing rendition of Sonny Rollins'"Oleo." On this number, it was quite evident that these guys were having such a great time as they all took turns musically expressing themselves. This concluded another outstanding evening of "Checker Jazz" at the Checkerboard Lounge, sponsored by the Hyde Park Jazz Society. For detailed information on future Checker jazz sets, refer to their Web site at www.checkerjazz.org .