Jazz music by Frank Morgan Duo is well worth the extended wait > Saxophonist plays `lovesome’ riffs

Latecomers to the Maine Center for the Arts concert with Frank Morgan on Friday night might have wondered whether they were there to listen to jazz or to watch a new two-person comedy routine. Morgan himself was late, too late to perform a sound check in private, so when he walked onstage nearly 30 minutes after the scheduled starting time, the already skeptical audience was treated to an opening act of technical difficulties.

In the meantime, Morgan’s pianist, George Cables, began playing, and Morgan kept saying “testing” into dead mikes. It’s doubtful that many in the back rows heard the saxophonist say “God bless you and peace and love to you all.” But his smile shined with sincerity, and the audience was patient. Morgan fumbled with the mikes, rearranged speakers, hollered instructions to the technical staff, and finally shuffled off stage in search of a sound solution. Cables, all the while playing the piano, turned to the audience with a wide grin. Seated before a concert piano and 500 ready listeners in a classy performance arts center, Cables must have glimpsed a bit of soloist’s heaven in that moment.

Despite the opening excitement and delays, however, the Frank Morgan Duo turned out some of the loveliest, mellowest music you could ever hope to hear. And apparently, many of the listeners, whose heads tilted back upon their seat, or whose chins rested motionless upon their chests, were dreaming. The tranquil melodies, mostly from Morgan’s 1990 release “A Lovesome Thing,” serenaded these folks right to sleep. At least half of this snoozing crowd left at intermission, missing a second set of serene saxing.

But even the most alert listener was lulled by Morgan’s smooth, lilting tunes, which evoked lyrical scenes of soaring birds, undulating waves, and windswept mountain sides. Morgan’s luminous and full-throated playing wandered in and out of classical, bebop, blues, folk and gospel styles. Some strains were reminiscient of smokey Harlem jazz joints and sexy blues crooners. Some songs slid even further back in time to primal rhythms and wild disharmony.

The duo performed more than a dozen numbers, including “Pannonica” by Thelonius Monk and “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing” by Billy Strayhorn. “Helen’s Song” and “Lullaby,” original compositions by Cables, were memorably dreamy tunes which featured Cables’ skillful and energetic talent. During Cables’ piano spotlights, Morgan would back into the blue and red shadowy stage lights and sway meditatively while the music seemed to enrapture and delight him.

Between songs, Morgan, who wore a knee-length white tunic, loose-fitting white trousers, and sandals, frequently held his right hand in a peace symbol. “We love you, and we need you, and thank you for coming,” the lovesome Morgan said at the end of the concert. “Take the love home with you, and kiss the kids when you get home.” The remaining crowd slowly rose and offered its applause. “Let’s try to have world harmony,” were Morgan’s final words. This jazz saxophonist, considered one of the best in the world, might have been a bit too hip for the concert-hall setting, but his sophisticated, soulful music was unabashedly and prayerfully charmed and charming.