“Time for Three trio dazzle at Blossom”

by Donald Rosenberg, Plain Dealer Music Critic

Monday August 11, 2008

Cleveland Pops Orchestra, Time for Three Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Sunday, Aug. 10

An audience should leave a concert high on the real thing -- the music and the performers. The electricity isn't sparked often, but it happened Sunday at Blossom Music Center .

There were three inspired debuts, or five, depending upon how you count. The Cleveland Pops Orchestra and music director Carl Topilow made their first Blossom appearances along with Time for Three, the ensemble of classically trained musicians who also bring zestful, affecting virtuosity to country, bluegrass, jazz, you-name-it.

The orchestra and the charming trio -- violinists Zach De Pue and Nick Kendall and bass player Ranaan Meyer -- gave equal time to an array of popular selections. Time for Three even showed its dashing classical inclinations in an impromptu (sort of) rendition of Bach's Double Concerto that took off into funkier territory.

And when was the last time you heard Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in seamless counterpoint to excerpts from "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Hava Nagilah"? The Time for Three guys were, to put it mildly, dazzling, especially when the daring violinists played two tunes on one instrument.

Elsewhere, De Pue, Kendall and Meyer (the group's imaginative arranger) poured endearment into "Shenandoah" and went blissfully up-tempo in Meyer's "Foxdown" and "Philly Phunk," complete with sassy bass riffs and bluesy flights.

Meyer sported orange shirt during the first half and blue during the second, and he brought a spectrum of colors to his bowed and plucked musings. De Pue, concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony when not crossing genres, and Kendall engaged in several fiddling duels to playful, exhilarating effect.

They were more laid-back in an arrangement of the Beatles tune "Blackbird," which abounded in subtle melodic transformations, and again went euphoric in "The American Suite" and an encore of a Gypsy tune in tandem with clarinetist Topilow.

The Pops sounded bright and engaged throughout the evening. Topilow's innate ear for pacing benefited John Williams' "The Cowboys" overture (played both during downpour and emerging sun) and "Raiders March." A medley of Irving Berlin tunes included the audience sonorously warbling "God Bless America ," and the crowd also got in on the act in Josef Strauss' "Feuerfest Polka" by yelling "hey" on cue and clapping in rhythm.

Topilow and company sizzled in Louis Prima's "Sing, Sing, Sing," which had captivating solos by the clarinetist-maestro and drummer George Judy . Orchestra trombonist Paul Ferguson 's sly medley of football tunes couldn't have been more cheerful, except for the doleful English horn solo in the Ohio State fight song.  The piece embraces quirky effects and intentional wrong notes -- and never fails to make a sonic touchdown.