The room was packed for the second set of the Jim Hall Trio at the Village Vanguard. Upon hearing the first notes, it was no mystery why this trio filled the club each night during their 3-night stay at the Vanguard. Throughout the evening, Jim Hall, who is now 73 years old, played his hollow-bodied electric guitar with great taste and sophistication. The amazing Scott Colley and Lewis Nash were on bass and drums respectively. This was my first time hearing this trio live. They were truly amazing.

They started off the set with a Jim Hall original entitled Bent Blues, which was a great springboard for some tasteful chordal guitar solos. Next, Jim jokingly announced that the band was going to play "The Eyes of Texas are Upon Us-Unless We All Vote, " and went into an original Latin groove in 7/4 called Siete Quatro. Jim’s guitar sound is very modern, with lots of chorus. He really plays the right notes for each piece of music, sometimes soloing with slow and reserved lines, while at other times playing with quick flurries of notes. The standards How Deep is the Ocean and Body and Soul came next, with the later dedicated to Lorraine, one of the hostesses at the club.

Scott Colley is one of the most talented bass players on the New York scene. Throughout the evening his improvisations were filled with power and soul. He and Lewis Nash definitely make up one of the most solid rhythm sections around.

The last composition, Blackwell’s Message, was written by Joe Lovano. This was a tribute to the late, great percussionist Ed Blackwell. It was the perfect piece for Lewis to stretch out with mallets in the classic Blackwell style. This was probably the most swinging tune of the evening with intense solos from the entire trio. It was announced that selections from the 3 nights at the Village Vanguard would be released soon and available at Jimhallmusic.com. I recommend picking up some of these recordings if you can. Jim ended the evening by saying: "the most upbeat thing I can say is, please, please vote this year." I couldn’t agree more Jim.