Review: JON LAMPEY at Lincoln Theatre

Whether he’s playing with the Louis Cato and the Late Show Band on LATE NIGHT WITH STEVEN COLBERT, O.A.R. or the Huntertones, trumpeter Jon Lampley has never forgotten where his love for the trumpet came from.

When Lampley was in fifth grade, his mother Rebekah encouraged her son to pick up the trumpet.

“She was like, ‘This is an angelic instrument. You know, this is what Gabriel played in the Bible,’” Lampley said in an interview with BroadwayWorld.

Perhaps it’s not surprising the Ohio State University graduate's Nov. 15 sold-out performance at the 588-seat Lincoln Theater was a mixture of a jazz concert and a church service (with a really good selection of communion wine).

“I’m not concerned if you, like me, grew up going to church every Sunday, or if you’ve never been to church your entire life,” said Lampley, who was in town to promote his first solo album, NIGHT SERVICE. “I’m going to play some songs I’ve written, some songs I like, and some of the old church songs I grew up on. The whole point is for everyone in this room to feel a little bit lifted.”

By the end of the evening, the band had won over many converts. With a massively talented quintet of performers behind him, Lampley blew through a 11-song, two set concert that lifted his audience, leaving them stirred but not shaken.

Later Lampley had a bit of a warning, however. “The church I grew up in started at 9 a.m. and wouldn’t finish until 3,” Lampley said with a laugh.

Lampley is a masterful narrator. During his cover of Bill Wither’s “Grandma’s Hands,” Lampley sang about his grandmother playing the tambourine in church. “I was a fidgety child growing up,” he sang spoke. “But my grandma would reach down in her bag … and she would hand me a piece of candy. Not just any candy … she would give me a piece of that Werther’s Original Candy.”

You must pay attention to the performance because you never know what Lampley is going to add into a song. Throughout the evening, the trumpeter threw in snippets of “Revelry,” “Jesu, The Joy of Man’s Desiring,” and “We Don’t Give A Damn for the Whole State of Michigan” to songs.

A performer is someone who can stand in the middle of the stage and absorb the spotlight. As an artist, Lampley was like a prism. As the light shown on him, he spread it out to the other members of his band, Columbus’ own Josh Hill (guitar), Late Show bandmates Joe Saylor (drummer) and Louis Fouche (saxophone), Theron Brown (piano) and Barry Stephenson (bass). Often Lampley would stand to the side of the stage, hands on his knees, watching the band do their thing. At times, he would bring the trumpet up to his lips but suddenly halt to let an individual continue his solo.

Stephenson delivered a deep thumping solo on the show’s opener, a 10 minute version of “This Is The Day.” Saylor started off “Grandma’s Hands” on the tambourine and then added his drum kit. In a bit of irony, “Spit Yo Gum Out” featured a dazzling solo by Hill, who was frantically chewing a piece of gum.

The highlight of the evening, however, were the times when Fouche and Lampley would go head to head, matching each other, note for note.

After a strong first hour of the show, Lampley took a 15-minute break and then returned with a second hour-long set. The second hour was highlighted by renditions of “Sunny Side of the Street” and “Homeward” before the band closed out the evening with a spirited version of “Amen.”

Lampley’s second song of the evening  was “Glad You’re Here,” a song his church used to welcome visitors to the service. Lampley asked the crowd to turn to a stranger, introduce yourself and say one thing you are grateful for.

Had that question been asked at the end of the concert instead of the beginning, most would have said they were grateful they got to see a musician on the rise.

Top photo: Deanie Chen

Concert photos: Paul Batterson

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