Return of the Guitar Man - The New York City Jazz Record

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22 October 2011 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD The Drop and the Ocean Rob Garcia 4 (BJU Records) by Terrell Holmes Rock, Paper, Scissors Michel Gentile/Tony Romano (Deep Tone) The borough that’s given us Peter Luger, Ralph Kramden and Spike Lee is now a hotbed for modern jazz, not least because of the Brooklyn Jazz Underground collective. Two fine new releases from Brooklyn residents underscore its reputation for vibrant musicians. It would be well-intentioned but off the mark to describe the Rob Garcia 4 as a straightahead jazz group. Garcia’s compositions and arrangements are inspired by classic jazz but this talented drummer adds some elements that give the music a character that requires listeners to fine-tune their frequencies. This challenging quality is evident throughout the quartet’s new album The Drop and the Ocean. This group works together to produce a dynamic tension that Charles Atlas would envy. Garcia’s driving polyrhythm on “Will” provides a cyclonic center for Dan Tepfer’s carefully wrought piano and Noah Preminger’s demanding tenor. The ironically titled “Boundaries” is a delightful mélange of tempos, tones and colors. Preminger’s harmonically opulent solo and Tepfer’s clever keyboard explorations exploit the Monk-ish underpinnings of “The Drop, Pt. 2”. “Humility” starts as a ballad and then accelerates with Preminger’s furious harmonics, Tepfer’s splintered atonality and bassist John Hébert’s energetic pizzicato. “The Return” draws a straight line to Ornette Coleman with a harmonic independence that provides freedom and structure simultaneously. If the excellent debut Perennial moved the Rob Garcia 4 among the vanguard of modern jazz, The Drop and the Ocean has solidified its place. Throughout their album Rock, Paper, Scissors, Michel Gentile and Tony Romano, on flute and acoustic guitar, illustrate how the key to a successful duo - with any instrumental pairing - lies in the variety of songs, tempos and sound textures. Gentile and Romano play a roster of originals with a technique, humor and imagination that unfailingly keeps the listener involved. Romano punctuates the languid metronome of “Ronde pour Rota” with winking, single-note plucking as Gentile sings through his flute. Romano’s excellent percussive manipulation of the guitar enhances the Middle Eastern feeling of “Truth Serum”. The duo plays “Tango” as a slow, sensual seduction, not a breathless dash to the boudoir, and Romano puts a soft flamenco touch on the lovely “Matter of Perception”. The best moments, though, are the ones that trump predictability. Romano’s guitar sounds like a piano on “Reassess”. Gentile and Romano scamper along the scales on the comedic “Make Practice Perfect”. The sounds of tearing paper and Gentile’s manipulation of the flute announce the adventurous title cut, with Romano answering deftly on guitar with muted plucking. If this song was actually written, then it certainly has an improvisatory urgency, with brilliant telepathic interplay building to a fever pitch. These arresting improvisatory elements are what make Rock, Paper, Scissors truly memorable. For more information, visit bjurecords.com and deeptonerecords.com. These projects are both at Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Oct. 1st. Garcia’s group is also at Cornelia Street Café Oct. 27th. See Calendar.
The Point of the Moon Falkner Evans (CAP) Frame of Reference Ben Van Gelder (BVG Music) Duotone Ken Fowser/Behn Gillece (Posi-Tone) Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years Virginia Mayhew (Renma) by Ken Dryden Oklahoma native Falkner Evans has been playing jazz in New York for over a quarter century. The pianist’s The Point of the Moon features his regular rhythm section of bassist Belden Bullock and drummer Matt Wilson, expanded to a quintet with the addition of tenor saxist Greg Tardy and trumpeter Ron Horton, with keyboardist Gary Versace added on two songs. With the addition of the horns, Evans is more interested in focusing on the sound of the ensemble rather than putting the spotlight on himself. He penned seven originals including two terrific postbop works: the boisterous, intricate “Altered Soul” and hard-charging “Cheer Up”. Versace is added on organ for Evans’ playful “Off the Top”, a snappy number featuring Tardy. The pianist’s title track is hard to classify, as Versace’s accordion gives it a French cabaret flavor while Wilson’s percussion suggests a march, yet the colorful ensembles and Horton’s potent trumpet leave a lasting impression. Evans’ shimmering setting of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “O Grande Amor” features Horton’s rich trumpet and his own understated solo and while Alec Wilder’s happy ballad “While We’re Young” has long been a favorite of jazz instrumentalists, in his arrangement Evans uses the horns to fill out the unison passages and as sporadic background color. A native of the Netherlands, alto saxophonist Ben Van Gelder moved to New York City to continue his jazz education at the New School and has studied with Lee Konitz, George Garzone and Dick Oatts. For his debut CD Frame of Reference, he uses several musicians with whom he has worked regularly: vibraphonist Peter Schlamb, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Craig Weinrib. Unlike many young musicians obsessed with presenting an all-original program their first time out, Van Gelder is willing to put himself to the acid test of playing well-known jazz standards. A duet with Parks on “‘Round Midnight” avoids being overly dramatic, Van Gelder’s dry-toned alto conveying the piece’s lyricism in a refreshing manner. John Coltrane’s “Countdown” isn’t performed nearly as often and Van Gelder tackles it in a free-spirited manner, joined only by Rosato and Weinrib. His originals show promise as well. “Peter and the Wolf” has no relation to the famous Prokofiev composition; instead it has the feeling of ‘60s free jazz. The original title track is a brooding work for brass, reeds and the rhythm section, adding the sensational young trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, trombonist Corey King, bass clarinetist Joris Roelofs and tenor saxophonist Kylie Wilson. Tenor saxophonist Ken Fowser and vibraphonist Behn Gillece have been working together for several years, building upon their chemistry as familiar faces to Smalls regulars. Duotone is their third release for Posi-Tone, with a new rhythm section consisting of pianist Donald Vega (who has made recordings with Claudio Roditi, Anthony Wilson and Bennie Wallace), bassist David Wong (who has worked with Roy Haynes, the Heath Brothers and Russell Malone) and drummer Willie Jones III (veteran of the bands of Sonny Rollins, Phil Woods, Eric Reed and Roy Hargrove, among many others). The co-leaders are comfortable sharing the spotlight, often improvising together over the rhythm section and soloing with gusto. Gillece’s four-mallet technique is formidable while Fowser’s melodic, bigtoned approach to soloing is often spacious. Gillece penned eight originals, starting with “Overcooked”, a breezy hardbop vehicle. “Spontaneity” has an underlying tension at first before evolving into another uptempo workout while “Low Ball” has a funky, hip attitude. Fowser wrote two songs, including the easygoing Latin-flavored “Bongo” and the playful, catchy “One For G”, a natural set closer with enthusiastic solos from the co-leaders and Vega. Since entering the jazz scene, tenor saxophonist Virginia Mayhew has excelled in every setting. She has recorded with the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra, Clark Terry, Kenny Barron, Al Grey, Terry Gibbs, the Sahib Shihab big band and DIVA but has focused on her own bands in recent years. Mary Lou Williams, one of the most versatile pianists stylistically and a prolific composer and arranger, has been unjustly neglected since her death in 1981. Mayhew offers a different perspective by making her salute to Mary Lou a pianoless affair. She is joined by an excellent rhythm section of guitarist Ed Cherry, bassist Harvie S and drummer Andy Watson, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon guesting on several tracks. Mayhew surveyed a wide range of Williams’ work before choosing material for Mary Lou Williams - The Next 100 Years, mixing well-known works and less frequently performed songs. The bluesy, melancholy “What’s Your Story, Morning Glory?” begins as an intimate duet for the leader and Cherry, her robust tenor supported by the guitarist’s spacious, soft backing. Gordon’s growling muted trombone adds a sense of humor to this normally somber piece while a whimsical take of “Waltz Boogie” includes a potent bass solo. The driving rendition of “Medi II” packs a powerful punch while the unusual “Cancer” (from The Zodiac Suite) is a multifaceted number, part tone poem, with a dash of bop and a bit of Latin flavor as well. The leader’s originals also shine. Mayhew’s blues “One For Mary Lou” starts with her blistering solo, though the versatile Gordon nearly steals the show with his expressive offering. Wrapping up the CD is her deliciously loping blues “For Mary Lou”. For more information, visit jazzbeat.com, benvangelder.com, posi-tone.com and renmarecordings.com. These leaders celebrate the release of their CDs at Smalls on Oct. 1st (Falkner Evans), 5th (Ben Van Gelder), 13th (Ken Fowser/ Behn Gillece) and 28th (Virginia Mayhew). See Calendar. GLOBE UNITY: HUNGARY Live at the Budapest Jazz Club Béla Szakcsi Lakatos (Budapest Music Center) Quintet (feat. Miklos Lukacs & Ferenc Kovacs) Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher (Budapest Music Center) Returning Sandor Szabó/Kevin Kastning (Greydisc) by Tom Greenland Hungary, ancestral home of Franz Liszt, Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók, has also had an impact on jazz and free improvised music through György Szabados, Károly Binder, Mihály Dresch, Rudolph Tomsits and expats like Attila Zoller and Gábor Szabó. Historically, Magyar musicians have mined regional folk idioms to forge a distinctive style, evident in the three releases reviewed below. Béla Szakcsi Lakatos fuses classical, jazz and folk into a unique hybrid. Live at the Budapest Jazz Club is a solo piano set alternating originals and standards, beginning with expansive gestures that plunge and soar across the keyboard, replete with plush harmonies that ooze and surge in endless cycles, intricate yet effortless, impressionistic yet focused. By “I Don’t Know”, the third track, Lakatos hits breathtaking climaxes, hands intricately in sync while retaining uncanny independence, like a lyrical Cecil Taylor or a skronky Keith Jarrett. “Body & Soul” is barely recognizable, perhaps because the pianist seems to get sidetracked by each and every harmonic opportunity. “Hail”, muscular and intense, is followed by “Stella by Starlight”, more ‘jazzy’ for its driven pulse, broken phrases and de-clichéd bop, concluded by an exuberant blues that manages to swing without grinding the beat. Pianist Michiel Braam, close compadres Wilbert de Joode (bass) and Michael Vatcher (drums), plus Hungarian guests Ferenc Kovács (violin/trumpet) and Miklós Lukács (cimbalom), comprise the Trio BraamDeJoodeVatcher Quintet, whose album employs Braam’s compositions as skeleton sketches for a free-blowing session. The music is of a texture, less a succession of solos than an assembly of revolving conversations. The lock-up between the piano and Lukács’ hammered dulcimer on “Q16”, “Q9” and “Q13” is echoed by similar simpatico between bowed bass and violin on “Q19” and elsewhere. Magyar soul is laid bare on “Q16” and “Sziklarajzok” in Kovács’ Roma-drenched violin and on “Q2”, a Danube-meets-the-delta blues. On Returning, Sándor Szabó duets with fellow guitarist Kevin Kastning, their acoustic 12-string baritone models blending with deep, rich resonance. Szabó has studied classical, jazz and Far Eastern music, but his approach is highly abstract, creating harmonic canvases defying identification, suggestive of a parallel tonal universe. In spite of his uncompromising modernity, Szabó seems to be in love with the sound of sound, lingering over each eerie chord as if afraid to hear it fade. The session suffers a bit from sameness, but “Engelschreit”, “Over the Hills”, “Sempiternal” and “Vanishing Point” all contain mesmerizing musical moments. For more information, visit bmcrecords.hu and sandorszabo.com THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | October 2011 23
Page 1: October 2011 | No. 114 George Benso
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Page 6 and 7: Photo by Alan Nahigian INTERVIEW Vi
Page 9 and 10: ON THE COVER GEORGE BENSON Return o
Page 11 and 12: MEGAPHONE Allowing for Vibration by
Page 13 and 14: Jan Granlie/Jazznytt FESTIVAL REPOR
Page 15 and 16: I Remember Django Howard Alden (Arb
Page 17 and 18: UNDENIABLE Before he became a renow
Page 20 and 21: Keep The Faith Mike LeDonne/The Gro
Page 24 and 25: 24 October 2011 | THE NEW YORK CITY
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Page 29 and 30: Tree of Life Francisco Mela & Cuban
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Page 33 and 34: Can’t We Be Friends Jerry Costanz
Page 35 and 36: 24.13Lx15.24H_NYC Jazz Record:Mise
Page 37 and 38: Tenoration (From Jazz to Funk and B
Page 39 and 40: Intégrale 9: Jeepers Creepers (193
Page 41 and 42: (INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6) m
Page 43 and 44: Tuesday, October 4 êMonk at 94 Pia
Page 45 and 46: Monday, October 10 • Francisco Me
Page 47 and 48: Thursday, October 20 êFestival of
Page 49 and 50: CLUB DIRECTORY • 5C Café 68 Aven
Page 51: IN MEMORIAM By Andrey Henkin ALAN A

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