We all have our Sunday rituals— sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee, peeling through the paper like it’s a massive onion, rereading your fave Danielle Steel novel for, like, the millionth time. And for many Western New Yorkers, these rituals include a few hours of polished, relaxing live jazz.

Sunday afternoon, a large, receptive crowd took in the final installment of the Buffalo News Jazz at the Albright-Knox series, covering the gallery’s front steps and lawn with collapsible chairs, picnic lunches and gently bobbing heads. The cause for the latter was tenor saxophonist Don Rice, the stalwart performer of these annual free concerts over the years.

After announcing that this would be his 19th consecutive year playing the series, the California- based artist leapt into his opening song, the Gershwin standard “Strike Up the Band.”

With the always-excellent Bobby Jones Trio behind him, giving everything nuance and form, Rice dished out a sprightly solo over the upbeat bop groove, which was as warm and breezy as the day itself (for the moment).

The trio (keyboardist Bobby Jones, bassist Jim Kurzdorfer and drummer Dan Hall) propelled everything from the very first downbeat, and when the spotlight shone on Jones, his gifts were laid bare to the delight of all within hearing distance. The guy simply held nothing back on a wonderful, blurry-fingered solo that arced across octaves with speed and precision, without ever losing its tender, melodic heart.

The keyboardist, whose recent recovery from a brain tumor was celebrated earlier this month at the first Jazz Series show, played with sharpness and passion as Rice’s right-hand man, providing the emotional flourishes to counterpoint the bandleader’s more reserved approach. But when given the chance to lead the band when Rice took a break, Jones opted to perform the Keith Jarrett ballad “My Song,” with an elevator-ready electric piano sound that wouldn’t sound hip if Herbie Hancock was using it.

This hiccup aside, however, Rice and the trio played one crowd-pleaser after another, most notably the Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers masterpiece “Moanin’,” the cool, sauntering blues of Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy” and the pulsing Latin backbeat of “Blue Bossa.”

In the middle of “Moanin’,” a groan passed through the crowd, as the promising early-afternoon weather dissipated into gray clouds and intermittent fat raindrops. Rice acknowledged the depressing turn of events with a shrug, finishing the laid-back, pentatonic tune with the subtlety and reverence it deserves. When he announced the next number, a slow, sleepy ballad called “ ’Tis Autumn,” it sounded like a put-on. After the disappointing summer we’ve had, one was tempted to yell, “It ain’t autumn yet, Cali boy!” But Rice wasn’t joking, and the tune possessed a solemnity that was a fitting soundtrack to the shades of gray that speckled the sky.

Although the weather wasn’t what people had hoped for, the music certainly was. So while the rain started to fall, the umbrellas popped open and very few people decided to leave. It seems that a pleasant set of standards from Don Rice and the Bobby Jones Trio is a mighty fine excuse to get a little wet.

Concert Review

Bobby Jones with Don Rice

Sunday afternoon as part of the Buffalo News’ Jazz at the Albright-Knox series.