Jazz lovers already know what a terrific show local band Glows in the Dark puts on. Last night’s set at Commercial Taphouse was especially enjoyable because it featured seasonally-appropriate music from the movies of director John Carpenter: Halloween, Escape from New York, The Fog, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween 3. If you know Carpenter’s movie music at all, you know most of it is written for keyboards. So the trick here was that there’s not a keyboard in sight in Glows in the Dark. All of the music had been amazingly rearranged by Scott Burton for guitar, bass, drums, trombone and saxophone. The treat here was how superbly all of Carpenter’s music worked without keyboards.

As impressive as the music was, it was hard not to notice how much fun these guys were having playing it. A friend commented how great it was to see the musicians trading smiles as they played, clearly enjoying every minute of Carpenter goodness. Or maybe the band was just taking their cue from the audience, as we all relished the best possible ending to the Halloween weekend.