Last week, I had the pleasure of seeing not one but two world-renowned tenor saxophone legends, Larry McKenna and Robert “Bootsie” Barnes. These two men have made a name for themselves on the Philadelphia jazz scene and have been friends for more than three decades. They were also accompanied by Lucas Brown on the organ and Byron “Wookie” Landham on the drums.
McKenna has released three CDs and is frequently requested on other jazz artists’ recordings. Along with that, he has recorded with some huge names in music, like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, just to name a few. He is also the most sought-out saxophone and jazz theory teacher in all of Philadelphia.
Bootsie Barnes began his musical career at age 6 when he first played a piano. He moved to the drums at age 10 and knew he found his calling when he was given his first saxophone at age 19. Barnes has toured Europe, Canada and the USA and has headlined in large venues like New York’s Birdland and the Grand Hotel in Paris. Barnes has released three CDs and also one vinyl album.
Now both 80 years old, they took the stage at Penn State Abington in Sutherland Auditorium. With more than a combined one hundred years of jazz experience onstage, the audience was in for a treat. There was a very diverse crowd of both young and older fans. There were fathers with their sons, a crowd of young students, and everything in-between.
It seemed like everyone in the area who knew of these two legends wasn’t planning on missing seeing them perform together live. By my rough estimate, there were at least 120 people attending in this small theater.
The performance itself was spectacular. Each musician got his own solo followed by thunderous applause. You could see that all the players were in sync with one another and they were all smiles performing music they loved. The crowd could see the musician’s happiness, which made the crowd happy.
Looking back into the stands, I could see everyone smiling and having a wonderful time. Almost everyone in the crowd was swaying in their seats listening to the beautiful jazz music. McKenna and Barnes for the most part took turns playing the tenor saxophone sharing the stage light, but every couple of songs they would both perform together and the crowd got excited every time. Barnes even sang a little bit for us.
The show ended with a standing ovation and I can tell you at least with one more fan than they had before the show started. I’ll be keeping my eye out for more of their performances in the future.
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