We were not allowed to dance. This was bound to cause trouble. The band said dance, the theatre said don’t dance, there was some negotiation, and in the end, those who simply had to dance got away with some fairly boisterous in-chair self-expression. It was a typical compromise that way. What was also typical were the couple-or-three oblique references to international politics that are harmless enough if you agree with their gist or are able to ignore them, but are nonetheless graceless.

With Dave Wall on vocals, Tania Gill on piano, Victor Bateman on bass and Max Sennit on drums, and guest appearances by Rick Lazar among others, the ensemble was heavy with skill and locked together beautifully, but the stand-out performance for me was from Peter Lutek on clarinet. The range and dexterity of his playing, as well as its idiomatic authenticity, was truly thrilling and his every entry raised the intensity of the tune in play.

Buchbinder, a real trooper, took the stage and performed well despite a raging fever, and with an audience peppered with former band members and family (“Daddy!” the little-girl’s voice bubbled up from the reserved section), it was a celebration and an inside joke and a skillfully played concert rolled into one.