May 6, 2007 Equinox Rocks the House
It was a wild night in the WCOM studio. In the tiny space, I had four musicians, a singer, and all the equipment of the Chapel Hill-Durham based jazz group, Equinox. Most of the band has been together for many years, but Terri Houston, their vocalist, only joined the group a few years ago. Other Equinox members are Steve Allred on bass, Scott Emmerman on guitar, Spence Foscue on drums, Lou Sawyer on saxophones, and Holden Thorp on keyboard. They have just released a new CD, The Peace of Wild Things.

During my show, Melva's Musings on Jazz, we switched back and forth between the band playing music live in the studio, our talking about jazz and musical roots, and then playing songs from their new CD. They performed - Lost Without You, God Bless the Child, How Tender the Moment, and Guilty. All the songs on the CD are written by Equinox members except for God Bless the Child, which Terri did a beautiful job on and definitely pulled on her Chicago Gospel roots to add a tender tone to this beautiful song. From the new CD, we heard the songs The Peace of Wild Things, Gonna Burn a Hole, True to the Blues, Top of Mind, When Love Unfolds, Saladelia Swing and Mastergame. It was a swinging, rocking time as their music shows lots of eclectic influences.

On the liner notes, Equinox included a favorite Wendell Berry poem, The Peace of Wild Things.

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief,
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Friends dropped by during the show to catch the band live in the studio - Marion and Franklin Hirsch, Melissa and Tristan Caminiti, and Susan and Richard Neulist. Please join me every Sunday night, from 7:00 - 9:00, on WCOM, the 100 Watts of Wonder community-powered radio at 103.5 fm on your dial and at www.communityradio.coop on the web. My radio show features the sounds and music of NC jazz musicians - both the currently performing musicians and those greats of the past.