The Wilmette Public Library hosted trumpeter Bobby Lewis, vocalist Petra van Nuis and guitarist Andy Brown to a packed crowd on June 10. The trio brought in a crowd that overflew the library’s auditorium, forcing library staff to open the doors and set up chairs in the stairway atrium.
“The trio is fabulous and the main lead, the trumpeter, is phenomenal,” concertgoer Phyllis Rothschild said. “He has given concerts pre-New Year’s Eve. Over time I’ve attended one or two of them and enjoyed it so much that I bought one of his discs. I saw his name advertised and [now] I’m here.”
The trio played tunes like Johnny Mandel’s “A Time for Love,” Jule Styne’s “Make Someone Happy” and more. However, the main attraction didn’t appear to be the pieces of music, but rather the performers themselves.
As the audience waited for the show to begin, the trio joked around with the audience members and engaged in conversation about topics such as different types of guitars, making it a personalized experience for library-goers.
Van Nuis loves performing at libraries, something she has missed since the March 2020 lockdowns began. During the performance, she recognized the Wilmette Public Library for opening their performances back up, which she said not all libraries are doing.
“I feel like the library concerts have been one of the slowest things to restart and reopen,” van Nuis said. “And because I used to do so many of them, it’s been kind of sad for me to feel like that hasn’t been happening.”
“I really hope that it resumes,” she continued. “It’s just really great to bring it back.”
Other than getting back to the library, van Nuis enjoys performing with her two colleagues. Brown is her husband and Lewis is “a local legend,” making it a positive experience for van Nuis.
Lewis has played with many household names, such as Tony Bennett — who he played with for 15 years — and Peggy Lee.
“Peggy is one of the great singers ever in entertainment and music and I started playing with her in 1967 … [at] the Sherman Hotel in Chicago,” Lewis said. “It was a magical performance, the band was great, her show was great. It was right after she had recorded ‘Is That All There Is’ her famous tune. And I played with her every time she was in Chicago after that. And I got to be good friends with her.”
Eventually, Lewis’ journey with Lee evolved into being a music director and conductor, even taking him on the road to cities like St. Louis and Toronto. Despite every performance with Lee being “magical,” he will never forget one specific memory.
“She was sitting in this chair and we were hovering around and Champagne and so on so forth and she says, ‘I have a fly that travels with me,'” Lewis said. “[To that] we said, ‘yeah sure.’ She [then] stuck out her finger and held it out for a couple of seconds. And once you know it, a fly landed on her finger.”
The Wilmette Public Library puts on several concerts a year, which Rothschild has been attending since before the pandemic hit. The library lists these events on its website.
Corey Schmidt is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.