Jersey Jazz - New Jersey Jazz Society

JerseyReviewsJazz
celebrate the music of Mary Lou Williams with special guest pianist
Geri Allen. If you should attend that performance, I would love to hear
from you. (fmulvaney@comcast.net)
William Paterson University February 28
The George Cables Quartet with Gary Bartz
Three days after the biggest snowstorm ever to hit the Wayne campus
and close the school for two days, we had a fantastic experience of
student and professional jazz. The opening student quartet is known
as the Vincent Herring Ensemble and they were on fire this afternoon.
On piano we had Oscar Williams from Kansas City; on drums Anthony
Benson from Creative Arts High School in Camden; on tenor, grad
student Steve Gokh, and on bass, Leo Sherman from D.C. I hired Leo
three years ago to fill out our scholarship band and it was great to see
how nicely he has matured. The first tune of the set was a highly
percussive and rhythmically complex original from Oscar called “End of
an Era.” If you closed your eyes, you could not believe you were listening
to a student combo. It was a little overwhelming as each of the members
showed exceptional chops on a very challenging piece. In the same vein,
we next had a creative composition from Leo, which he calls “Sure Shot.”
I found it intellectually stimulating even though the melody line seemed
somewhat obscure. Closing out the set we had everybody’s favorite,
“Invitation,” with an unconventional cerebral arrangement by Oscar.
The boys continued to amaze with their maturity and dynamic shading.
Steve delivered inventive lines which verged on fee jazz that only a
confident master of his instrument would even attempt. It’s difficult
to control myself in writing about these incredibly talented dudes. I
so look forward to seeing them again.
The brilliant pianist George Cables should be more well-known to jazz
fans after playing with most of the living and recent past legends and
recording a dozen albums as leader. The 66-year-old native New Yorker
brought in a trio of heavy hitters for this Jazz Room performance: Gary
Bartz on alto, James Genus on bass and Tain Watts on drums. He
opened the set with a satisfying mainstream version of “I Should Care,”
quickly putting the audience in awe of his dazzling, lyrical style that
features marvelously fast, though relaxed keyboard runs. Gary quickly
established his presence with the kind of playing that makes him a
favorite of alto fans. Drummer Watts was assertive, as he would be
throughout the set, and took a long solo that was somewhat outrageous.
George then gifted us with a beautiful jazz waltz that he calls “Looking
for the Light” that saw Gary switching to the soprano horn and featured
an impressive bass solo from James. George said that he wrote “Helen’s
Song” for his best friend. I would say this is a modern contemporary
piece with a Brazilian flavor and I enjoyed his long melodic piano intro.
On this one Gary gave as a masterful alto solo as Tain provided an
underlay of driving percussive effects. “Mr. Baggy Pants” was an
interesting up-tempo tune on which we had yet another exciting, but
perhaps too strong drum solo. The ensemble took a break for George
to play solo on a sumptuous rendition of Monk’s “’Round Midnight,”
showcasing his fabulous improvisational talent as he seamlessly varied
tempos and rhythms. Concluding this wonderful afternoon of musical
art was the unusual choice of an up-tempo “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”
with George’s hands flying across the keyboard with astounding
dexterity. The rest of the cast made vital contributions as expected with
an excellent bass solo, Gary’s wondrous alto improvising pushed by
Tain’s creative drumming and still yet another astonishing drum solo.
The audience certainly had their intellects well exercised this afternoon
and they rewarded the artists with tumultuous applause.
Rutgers University March 1
A Salute to Buddy Rich
From 1966 to 1974, and then for a few years in the 1980s, legendary
drummer Buddy Rich led a very popular pile-driving big band. This
evening the RU Jazz Ensemble Too raised the roof at the Nicholas Music
Center with a great selection of standards from Buddy’s big band book
by several different arrangers. RU has two terrific jazz ensembles and
this one is all undergrads. I think of it as the junior varsity band,
whereas the varsity band is mostly grad students. The ensemble was
ably conducted by Brent Chiarello, who was the recipient of a NJ Jazz
Society scholarship in 2009. If you like aggressive big band
arrangements of familiar tunes, you could not ask for more.
Kicking off the set we had Oliver Nelson’s arrangement of “In a Mellow
Tone.” Here we had fine ensemble work featuring a solo by the entire
sax section delivering gorgeous harmonies. Pianist Tara Buzash
exhibited first rate chops and John Saragga chipped in with a hot muted
trumpet solo. All the arrangements were written to allow Buddy to
show off, and the three student drummers: Dan Silverman, Jarret
Walser and Abel Tabares took turns playing Buddy’s part, driving the
band as the legend might have. The band really roared on Joe Zawinul’s
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” arranged by Phil Wilson. The trombone section
pushed hard and the piece was punctuated by frequent brass shouts.
This rousing tune invites improv soloing and we had several good ones
from Jose Lin (tenor), Jay Snyder (trumpet), Tyler Adel (tenor) and
Mike Webb (bari) over full ensemble chords. Trumpeter Tiffany Peng
starred out front for the duration of Billy Strayhorn’s seminal
composition “Lush Life.” The beautiful rich harmonies of the Phil
Wilson arrangement were a feast and the tune ended all too soon
but not before trombonist Andrea Gonella was able to enhance the
rendition. Lead alto Mark Chernoff did a great job on Pete Myers’s
arrangement of Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale.” Pianist Alex Perry and
trumpeter Benjy Levin also made important contributions on this
standard, which is known to every jazz musician. Buddy’s band was
famous for bringing down the house at the conclusion of concerts with
Bill Reddie’s medley arrangement of West Side Story which includes
themes from “Overture,” “Somewhere” and “Something’s Coming.”
The entire ensemble was really cookin’ on this exciting and exhausting
10-minute piece that was well-appreciated by the audience. JJ
May 2010
___________________________________ 31