He's Back! - New Jersey Jazz Society

Rutgers
University,
December 2
THE MUSIC OF
TOSHIKO AKIYOSHI AND OTHERS This was a
great night for a continuation of my extended
jazz education as the Rutgers Jazz Ensemble
tackled 11 challenging charts from five of the
finest big band composers/arrangers. The
show commenced with Neil Slater’s “This,” a
melodic swing tune that opened with a strong
harmonic passage. Drummer Jaimeo Brown
left no doubt that he was the driver and he
would take the band where it had to go.
Definitely up-tempo, the piece alternates
between a Latin and swing feel and provided
opportunity for outstanding solos by
trumpeter Curtis Taylor and trombonist Brent
Chiarello. Rob McConnell provided a bluesy
swing tune called “Can’t Stop My Leg.” Here
the outstanding sax section carried the load
with intermittent brass shouts and splendid
enhancement by altoist Eric Neveloff and
pianist Paul Kirby.
Six selections from the well-known Japanese-
American composer/arranger Toshiko
Akiyoshi followed in sequence. “Yello is
Mellow,” pleasing to the ear, opens with a
sweet flute solo and takes on a
medium swing shuffle tempo.
“I Ain’t Gonna Ask No More”
is a slow blues written for a
bass trombone feature;
James Borowski handled the
assignment beautifully. Next
came a medium jazz waltz:
“Song for the Harvest” with
a terrific trombone solo
from Andrea Gonnella
complementing the fine bass
work of Julian Smith before
the surprise ending. The
fourth Akiyoshi tune was
“After Mr. Teng.” This is a fast
swing that requires an adept
sax section. “Long Yellow
Road,” a pleasant medium
swing, had a majestic opening
and allowed for a fine tenor
solo from Chris Barnes.
Completing the sextet of
tunes was “Transience,” a
ballad for which baritone
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player Sarah Matheson stepped forward to
deliver an excellent fluid solo on flute for the
duration while the ensemble played soft high
chords throughout.
Brazilian pianist/singer/composer Eliane Elias
contributed two tunes to the program set to
Bob Brookmeyer arrangements. The first was
“Just Kidding,” which roars with big band
energy as the opening full band statement
gives way to a relaxed swing shuffle providing
opportunity for a dynamic drum solo from
Jaimeo Brown and keyboard wizardry from
Andrew Michalec. The final selection of the
evening and my favorite was “The Time is
Now,” an intense Latin groove with blistering
ensemble lines that morphs into a fast swing
featuring a marvelous bass solo by Jeff Dangler.
The next performance of the Rutgers Jazz
Ensemble will be Tuesday, February 24 at 8 PM
at the Nicholas Music Center on the Douglass
Campus. Admission is FREE and there is ample
free parking.
Princeton University,
December 6
THE MUSIC OF PAT METHENY I always look
forward to the student jazz concerts at historic
Richardson Auditorium. This time it was the
The Watchung Arts Center presents
LISA PARROTT
Saturday, February 28
8PM
Tickets: $20
SARAH JANE CION
W/ GERRY NIEWOOD
Friday, March 27
8PM
Tickets: $20
18 Stirling Road – on the Watchung Circle – Watchung, NJ 07069
For Reservations call 908.753.0190 or email wacenter@optonline.net
www.watchungarts.org
music of genius guitarist Pat Metheny. For the
first half of the program, we had a quintet of
exceptional young musicians: Anand
Krishnamurthy on guitar, freshman Noah
Freedman on violin, graduate seminarian
Vivek Mathew on piano, Theo Beers on
electric and acoustic bass and Tyler Pines on
drums. The group did five tunes, consuming
almost an hour. The first, which Pat wrote
with his longtime collaborator Lyle Mays, was
“James.” This is a joyful, infectious medium
swing that is so easy to take, featuring wonderful
harmonic effects from piano, guitar and
violin. The second tune from Pat’s trio days
with Roy Haynes was “Question and Answer.”
Everybody soloed on this one which featured a
long hypnotic bass track, a dynamite drum
solo and masterful piano work. “The Longest
Summer” starts out as a meditative ballad and
transitions to Metheny’s familiar contemporary
tempo where Anand displayed brilliant
guitar playing and then returns to piano ballad
mode for a quiet ending. Behind solid drumming
by Tyler and exceptional timekeeping by
Theo, Anand delivered another brilliant solo
on “Bright Size Life.” Concluding the set was
“The Search” from the Grammy-winning
“American Garage” album. It was a fitting
closer as it is so typical of Metheny’s contemporary
rhythm compositions.
Professor Branker must be
awfully proud of these kids.
30 _________________________________ February 2009
The second half of the
program brought to the stage
the 19-piece Concert Jazz
Ensemble to play for us seven
wonderful Metheny compositions
that have been arranged
for big band and recorded by
one of today’s top arrangers,
Bob Curnow. The first
selection was “Talk (It’s Just),”
an up-tempo brass dominant
tune that just roars. Trumpets
were strong and clean and
tenorist Kevin Sun delivered
an eloquent solo over full
ensemble harmonic lines.
“Every Summer Night”
followed. This piece is the
essence of the clever, melodic
and unusual compositional
style of Mr. Metheny. Will
Livengood was front and