Here is the latest on "Bono in LA" from the LA Times:
Live: B.B. King and Bono at the Kodak Theatre
They highlight the Thelonious Monk Institute benefit that includes a
saxophone competition and appearances by Herbie Hancock, Robert Cray
and others.
By Chris Barton
October 28, 2008
Invite Bono and the Edge to a night celebrating B.B. King, and odds
are pretty good there will be some "Rattle and Hum" in the air.
Lucky music fans who attended the Thelonious Monk Institute's annual
benefit show at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday watched as the 83-year-old
King, backed by a host of jazz and blues glitterati and half of the
biggest band in the world, delivered a spirited rendering of "When
Love Comes to Town," originally featured on U2's landmark album from
1988.
It was the highlight of a night dedicated to "The Blues and Jazz: Two
American Classics," a program the institute organized that centered on
its 21st annual saxophone competition and a potpourri of inspired live
collaborations.
The three finalists vying for a prize package that included a
recording contract and a $20,000 scholarship performed with a crack
house band. Spitfire Dee Dee Bridgewater then joined them, testing
their improvisational skills with high-flying vocal fireworks.
With his technically masterful if occasionally over-polished playing,
Jon Irabagon earned top honors from the judges, though the crowd
seemed most behind the rich tone of lanky Fort Worth native Quamon
Fowler.
At the start of the program's second half, Bono and the Edge took the
stage to accept the institute's Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award on
behalf of Microsoft chief turned Experience Music Project benefactor
Paul Allen. "We're not as smart, but I think we're better looking,"
the ever-loquacious Bono joked.
From there, it was all about the wildly influential sounds of New
Orleans and the Mississippi Delta. Soundtrack favorite Terence
Blanchard led an ensemble of Monk Institute students through a
spirited "Bourbon Street Parade," and blues birthplace (and recent
Monk Institute beneficiary) Dockery Farms was saluted in a three-song
tribute from guitarists Joe Louis Walker, Robert Cray and Keb' Mo',
who seemed to have stepped right out of history with a slim-cut suit
and a soulful rendition of "Walking Blues."
But the night belonged to Founder's Award winner King, who drew the
evening's entire lineup for the show's finale, including Hancock,
Wayne Shorter and George Duke. As the music swelled to a close, Bono
genuflected at the foot of the seated blues legend and his six-string
companion, Lucille; another loyal subject forever indebted to the King.
____________
Would you deny for others
What you demand for yourself?