Paul Keller’s Wizardry
With lots of natural light streaming in the big front windows of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library on a Sunday afternoon, the young at heart of all ages enjoyed the Paul Keller Quintet’s jazz arrangements from the World of The Wizard of Oz. It was a wonderful chance for anyone to listen to excellent jazz musicians, at no charge, play well-known tunes for eager listeners. Our public library has offered these concerts for many years and Paul Keller has joyfully presented several of them. He arranges the tunes so all are involved and plays his bass with a smile on every tune.
Opening with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Sarah D’Angelo’s soaring voice filled the lobby, along with Keller, Ralph Tope on guitar, Adam Mosley on electric piano, and Cary Kocher on vibraphone and a few vocals. We all became young again, hearing these lively renditions of “Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are,” “Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead,” “Follow the Yellow Brick Road,” with Tope and Kocher serving up some great swing in the library lobby! Cary Kocher brought a smile to many with his droll rendition of “If I Were the King of the Forest.” What a fun way to kick off the holiday season with many happy residents.