Vic Juris in concert

FAYETTEVILLE-The Summer Jazz Concert Series concluded with a performance by legendary guitarist Vic Juris Saturday evening at the Starr Theater.

Juris was accompanied by Darren Novotny on drums and Dr. James Greeson, a well-known local composer and music professor at the University of Arkansas, on bass. After only one rehearsal, the trio performed a variety of old favorites, cover songs from the jazz greats and original works.

“Juris has played alongside the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Jefferson, Sarah Vaughn (and many more,” said Robert Ginsburg, president of the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society.

At age 59, Vic Juris doesn’t seem to be slowing down one bit. He plays music with his whole body, getting up on the tips his toes at different points of the song, almost as if he’s physically striving to reach the next note. His shoulders squeeze, stretch, arch and recede. You don’t see him play so much as sense him playing. Watching him perform is an enigmatic experience that makes you feel as if you’re peeking into a private practice room because when the song ends, it’s as if he suddenly realizes that other people are in the room. He looks up and smiles as if spotting an old friend and thanks you for being there, as if it wasn’t already a treat for the audience.

Novotny, Greeson and Juris made quite the team, moving in perfect parallel, the music seamless. Songs ended without the tell-tale signs of guitar strings catching on stray fingers. Instead, the trio intuited each others’ moves, complimenting them. The bass and the guitar seemed to play such vastly different roles, as if they were in different spheres, playing the song in some sort of universal way, letting waves of familiarity and fresh riffs pass in sync.

As Juris introduced his Novotny and Greeson for the evening, he talked about the experience of being an on-the-road musician, whose accompaniment is always changing. “Sometimes you play (music) with people...” he said, skeptically trailing off to imply that he’s seen some lacking performers in his day. “But man, (James and Darren) they’ve been great.”

Juris's sense of humor shone through his way of giving songs titled, a practice especially made clear by performances of his original songs “Victim” and “Sweet 16.”

“The song I’m going to play next is one I wrote about my current girlfriend,” Juris said about the song Sweet 16. “The song has 16 bars.”

Similarly, “Victim” was named after himself (Vic) and the trumpet player in his band, Tim.

Using distortion pedals and looping his music, the tones coming from Vic’s guitar are as smooth as an electric keyboard, but the overall effect is somehow big, even in a song as quaintly titled as Sweet 16. It’s a large force-to-be-reckoned with sound and still smooth around the edges.

Juris played theme and variations on Homeward Bound, paying homage to his childhood influence, Paul Simon; a Django Reindhart song “Nuages” and “Wave,” a Brazilian song which had a hidden little riff of “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Styles tossed back and forth from traditional jazz to folk songs, straying for an occasional bossa nova, and cover songs derived from Bill Evans and Miles Davis repertoires.

The nearly two hour performance coasted by gracefully with his effortless transitions from cozy to grooving. The curtains fired up red during his solo pieces and rained down blue during trio performances. He kept tones so pure that the audience squeezed closer together, couples held hands and inched their chairs closer, and no one seemed ready to leave when it was over.