Five Ten at Catalina’s Jazz Club

Entertainment — By Buddy Sampson on May 10, 2023 at 5:21 pm

A Reunion Night of Fantastic Music- A Cultural Prism of Artistry

By Buddy Sampson

The Catalina Bar and Grill (Catalina Jazz Club) in Hollywood, California was the locale of a night of fantastic music that featured Five Ten, an ensemble from Northern California that featured Jeff Narell on Steel Pans, Dennis Smith on Bass, Steve Carter on Keyboards, Marquinho Brasil on percussion and Philadelphia’s Billy Johnson on drums.

On a cool night in Hollywood, the ensemble was the epitome of cool, starting out with a mellow groove designated for those relaxing after a tough week at the office. The main spokesperson of the group, Bassist Dennis Smith’s fluid playing featured a solid, dynamic tone, that kept the ensemble moving all evening. Their next tune, dominated by percussionist and Steel pan player Jeff Narell “El Jefe,” (affectionally called by Dennis) had a Caribbean feel that demonstrated Narell’s amazing proficiency on his instrument.

Their third piece started with claps and drummer Billy Johnson and percussionist Marquinho Brasil executed great solos, as did Dennis Smith on bass. The piece had a Brazilian- tinged groove and a Brazilian feel to its vocal parts. The 4^th song, one of my personal favorites of the set, had a solid bass line, and featured sensational playing from keyboardist Steve Carter. Their 5^th song started with an eclectic feel to it, then morphed into a reggae-influenced groove. It also featured Jeff Narell, who was awesome on the steel drums, going in and out of several modal patterns.

The sixth song of their set, in my estimation the most interesting song of their set, experimented with meter, using an unusual time meter rarely used in contemporary music, a meter called 7/8 time. It is very difficult to make 7/8 time groovy, but bassist Dennis Smith had it down. To be able to play that unusual meter with rhythm and feel made this amazing piece come alive.

Ambient would describe the beginning of their next piece, with sound effects that were reminiscent of villages of Africa. The song featured Steve on piano at the end of a torrid groove, which led into a progressive song that featured a minor 7^th motif. Drummer Billy Johnson, who has played with Santana, Tower of Power and Joyce Cooling was the epitome of taste, controlling the rhythm of the song, keeping it moving with timely hints of flair, which he has been known to do for years, as one of Philadelphia’s top drummers of all time.

Their next song had a Chick Corea feel to it, with lots of chord changes. It also featured a brief solo by Billy Johnson and sensational work on percussion by Marquinho Brasil, who not only played percussion, but added flair with his singing and chanting in rhythm. One of their last songs featured Dennis Smith on bass, who did a very tasty wah wah solo on the bass.

Five Ten is an amazing ensemble. Listeners were treated to a wonderful journey that traveled through a cultural prism of music and artistry.

The event was a Philadelphia reunion of sorts. A group of bass players, including myself from Philadelphia decided to meet up and support our longtime friend from Philadelphia, Billy Johnson. Each of the bass players there are monsters of the bass in their own right. Affectionally calling ourselves Bassmania, Steve Green, from Philadelphia, has graced the stage and recordings with Chuck Mangione,  Lou Rawls and Dexter Wansel and many others. Peter Lloyd has played with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but he and Billy Johnson were part of a sensational Philadelphia group called Sundown, which were one of Philadelphia’s most popular local bands. Derrick Murdock an amazing bassist has worked with Sheena Easton, Michael Bolton and Patti Austin, among many artists. John Hart has worked with Gladys Knight, Jon B and Ronnie Laws among many others. And myself? I’m a journalist, but bass has always been first. I’ve been blessed to grace stages with Edgar Winter, Steve Cropper, The Marvelettes and many other artists. We all don’t have jealousies of each other, pass gigs on to each other and are dear, dear friends.

The Catalina Bar and Grill has been a friend to The Scoop Newspaper, now The Scoop LA for many years. We’d like to thank Manny Santiago for letting us get The Scoop in Los Angeles.