AN EVENING WITH JERRY DOUGLAS featuring TIM O'BRIEN AND MAURA O'CONNELL, May 26, at Abravanel Hall; one performance only.If there were laws limiting how much talent you can pack onto one stage, the Evening With Jerry Douglas concert Wednesday night at Abravanel Hall would be an open-and-shut anti-trust case.
From the moment Douglas unleashed his electro-dobro sound on the rhythmically pulsating opener "Passing the Bar" until Maura O'Connell delivered a powerful encore rendition of "Crazy Dreams," the almost-acoustic concert was a spectacular display of instrumental and vocal virtuosity.
For good measure, there was the always amazing versatility of Tim O'Brien -- vocalist, songwriter, mandolin monster, fiddler and guitarist -- and the flatpick guitar artistry of Russ Barenberg.
With that much musical ability crammed into one concert hall, you couldn't help but sit there and wonder why fewer than 500 people forgot Star Wars and Jazz Wars long enough to spend a night with Jerry and Friends.
But those who did come out were well-rewarded with two powerhouse sets that combined tasteful arrangements, tasty licks and fiery picking showcased within a panoramic array of musical styles.
With O'Connell and O'Brien featured on the playbill, there were plenty of Irish and Bluegrass influences in songs like "River of Blood," "Poor Wayfaring Stranger," "Ireland's Green Shore" and the more traditional "Things in Life."
But there were a lot of nice musical twists and turns in the show, ranging from Douglas' Middle Eastern-influenced "From Ankara to Izmir" to his spicy Cajun-style "Emphysema Two-Step."
If you like your acoustic a bit bluesy, O'Connell's powerful and wide-ranging voice delivered the goods on "I Still Hurt Sometimes."
And O'Brien gave you a little taste of his Red Knucklish sense of humor on his Western swing opus "If I Can't Live Without You, How Come I Ain't Dead?"
But no matter where the musical material wandered, all the roads eventually led back to Douglas on the dobro or lap steel guitar.
Pacing a show with so much diverse and wide-ranging talent is no small feat, and Douglas The Record Producer demonstrated that his ability to put together a solid show is second only to his skill as Dobro Master.
Byron House, an up-and-coming young bassist on the Nashville scene, proved to be an audience pleaser, and John Gardner reminded the audience that drums, too, are acoustic instruments.