David Adler
April 2002

New York @ Night
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By David R. Adler

The Jazz Standard Returns, the Collective Celebrates

After a year-long closure and renovation, the Jazz Standard reopened on March 19, in tandem with its upstairs partner, the brand-new Blue Smoke, a southern-style barbecue restaurant. While the restaurant has a new proprietor in the renowned Danny Meyer, the club remains under the artistic direction of Seth Abramson, who is committed to featuring cutting-edge yet highly diversified talent. Opening week was devoted to a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Jazz Composers Collective, with eight bands featured over the course of six nights.

The architecture of the Standard remains largely the same, but the main floor has been condensed and rendered more intimate. (The old room was too big — downright cavernous when empty.) Red banquettes and settees are the dominant theme, lending a downstairs-lounge ambience that was sorely missing before. There’s also ample additional seating, slightly elevated by platforms, off to the side. The food service could have been more on the ball, but then, it was opening week. We tried both the meat and veggie chilis (good), the thoroughly un-Jewish pulled pork sandwich (really good), and the house ale (tasty).

Ben Allison brought us back to 1996 with his Seven Arrows band on opening night. The bassist and Collective founder, joined by Ron Horton, Ted Nash, Frank Kimbrough, and Tim Horner, dusted off some excellent music from his out-of-print Koch debut, which might be reissued by Palmetto in the near future. There’s a mellow, almost rock-like feel to some of these tunes, particularly the rimshot-grooving "Reflection of Desire" and the impressionistic Frank Kimbrough feature "Cosmic Groove Slinky." Nash and Horton engaged in some fiery tenor/trumpet dueling on the freeboppish "Dragzilla" (dedicated to NYC drag queens Joey Arias and Raven O), and then the band geared up for the ultra-fast unison lines of "Delirioso," which Allison referred to as "the hardest tune I ever wrote." Finally, the group dipped into the Medicine Wheel book, closing the set with the Mingus-like "Hot Head," a 6/4 burner from Third Eye. In resurrecting this old material, Allison was looking back but also looking forward, and that’s what the Collective is about, after all — investigating history but putting a premium on artistic growth. Here we were rediscovering the 1996 Ben Allison, but filtered through the 2002 Ben Allison. Unpredictable music like this doesn’t have an expiration date, and it got anniversary week off to a fitting start.

The second set that night belonged to the Herbie Nichols Project, with Tim Horner, the original HNP drummer, subbing for Matt Wilson. Save for the addition of saxophonist Michael Blake, the HNP lineup was identical to Seven Arrows — an incestuous arrangement that’s fairly typical for the Collective. The absence of trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, however, made for some fortuitous changes — like Ted Nash’s way-hip unaccompanied tenor intro to "Blue Shout," usually a tour de force for Wycliffe’s plunger. Nash’s soliloquy burned slow, like a butt in an ashtray, and seemed to summon the ghosts of old New York. Allison always lays out on this tune.

Michael Blake’s Free Association — 10 pieces in all — sprawled onto the stage for the second set the following night. (His Elevated quartet went first.) The group played a long set (nearly two hours), showcasing music from Blake’s 2001 Intuition release, Drift.. Once again, the Collective’s Composers-in-Residence were out in force — Ben Allison, Frank Kimbrough, Ron Horton. Interestingly, Ted Nash filled in for Briggan Krauss on alto sax and bass clarinet, sharing the frontline with Blake, Peck Allmond (tenor sax and "Peckhorn," basically an alto euphonium) and Marcus Rojas (tuba). Guitarist Matt Munisteri added spice with some stinging country-blues licks and ripping solos, while drummer Matt Wilson and percussionist Mauro Refosco laid down the incredibly varied rhythms. Blake’s music is always melodic or catchy in one way or another; it pulls together sounds from the delta, the heartland, the African desert, even the brothel (cf. Horton’s plunger solo on "Dry Socket"). And still he can find room for pure jazz elegance ("Lady Red") or a slow, ethereal groove ("Residence," featuring a luxuriant "Peckhorn" solo).

David Berkman at Detour

Last month I wrote ambivalently about noisy little Detour, on the northern edge of the East Village. There you can hear some of jazz’s most brilliant creators amid a haze of smoke and loud conversation, and it depends on what mood you’re in, but there can be something electrifying about the incongruity. (The musicians themselves may not agree.) David Berkman toughed it out there with a trio on the night of my birthday, as it happened (March 6). The bassist, like on the records, was Ugonna Okegwo, and the drummer was Montez Coleman, a frighteningly good groove-meister from St. Louis. It wasn’t until the second set, when Sam Newsome showed up and unsheathed his soprano sax, that Berkman started calling original tunes — including "Back in the 90s," "Forever Astor," a beautiful new piece called "Tom Harrell," and the very difficult "Weird Knock," the end of which Coleman mangled (who could blame him, it was a cold read). Berkman tore it up on the standards, which included "Along Came Betty," "Giant Steps," "Blood Count," "With a Song In My Heart," and an uptempo reading of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" In addition, Berkman’s bone-dry wit at the microphone could well establish him as the Jon Stewart of jazz. I won’t bother quoting his best lines — you had to be there.

Mark Turner at the Vanguard: The Iverson Factor

When Kurt Rosenwinkel last played the Vanguard, he raised eyebrows by employing pianist Ethan Iverson rather than his regular partner, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner. Interestingly, Turner’s March Vanguard run also featured Iverson; now it was Rosenwinkel’s turn to lay out. Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard completed Turner’s quartet, which masterfully attended to the opening number, "Nefertiti," taking the tempo up a few notches from the version heard on Turner’s 2000 album, Ballad Session. Shorter’s masterpiece was followed by a quick, straight-eighth Iverson original, titled "Larry G." in honor of the group’s bassist, who later would present his own "J.J." — a funky thing driven by a propulsive three-bar phrase. (Could a Grenadier-led project be in the works?) Turner’s "Seven Points" and an off-kilter calypso-type tune were among the other highlights. Occasionally one would think about the absence of Rosenwinkel, and the appealing ghostliness that he gives Turner’s music. The guitarist was in the house late Sunday night, however, soaking in Iverson’s sparse, dissonant interventions.

Jamie Begian Big Band

Tucked away on the third floor of a non-descript building on 104th and Broadway is a performance and cultural space called El Taller LatinoAmericano. This is where Jamie Begian’s Big Band got its start in 1999, and where it continues to workshop at fairly regular intervals. Begian is a guitarist, but in this capacity he prefers solely to conduct, leaving the six-string duties to Bruce Arnold, whose fiery Strat stylings give the band an electric edge. El Taller lacks a piano, so with Roberta Piket playing Wurlitzer, the band’s "dirty" side is even more pronounced. Bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Jason Wildman complete the rhythm section, laying a solid foundation for five saxes, four trumpets, and four trombones.

Begian spends time on presentation, supplementing the evening’s printed, annotated program with detailed yet casual remarks between selections. The fact that he carried the evening off with a broken leg only underscored his artistic devotion. His music is wonderfully varied and complex, a rigorous encounter with the entire history of eclectic big band composition, from Brookmeyer and Gil Evans through Maria Schneider. Amid the groove and swing and the calmer orchestral colors, Begian also displayed a talent for abstract sound sculpting. Highlights included "Fuzzy Math," which won the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop Charlie Parker award for 2001, and a brand-new piece called "Suddenly, Summer Falls."

"OAA" Trio

In 2000 Fresh Sound/New Talent released Trilingual by the OAM Trio, a collaborative effort by pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Omer Avital, and drummer Marc Miralta. We haven’t heard the last from that grouping, but at Fat Cat, the sister of club of Smalls, Goldberg and Avital had the opportunity to join forces with none other than Al Foster for two unforgettable nights. Fat Cat is dark and uncomfortably warm, but easier to maneuver in than Smalls. The sound is pretty good too — and it seems they even turn off the juke box in the adjacent pool hall when the shows begin.

First set, second night opened with Monk’s "I Mean You." Goldberg and Avital played the A sections in a round, then unleashed some of the most intense and rhythmically inspired blowing imaginable, galvanized by Foster’s effortless propulsion. The set continued with a 5/4 "Con Alma." The arrangement, which appears on Goldberg’s first record, Turning Point (JCurve), features beautiful ascending substitutions on the last A and a tight bass/piano contrapuntal passage toward the end. Foster’s "Monk-y" was next, a deviously grooving chart that called forth animated improv from everyone — particularly Avital, whose chops and rhythmic imagination never, ever seem to miss. Djavan’s romantic, singable "Dance of the Serpent" was next, followed by Goldberg’s brisk "MAO’s Blues," a play on the "OAM" tag.

Like Roy Haynes, Al Foster has remained on the cutting edge of jazz by routinely lighting fires under the best younger players around. It was interesting to recall his interaction with another underrated pianist, Bruce Barth, last month at the Vanguard.

Dave Douglas at Joe’s Pub

Celebrating the release of their new disc, The Infinite, Dave Douglas and his "new quintet" rolled into Joe’s Pub early on a Monday night and raised a ruckus. Despite some initial feedback problems that got Douglas good and pissed off (he nearly stopped the show), the band roared. Chris Potter and Uri Caine, on tenor sax and Fender Rhodes respectively, trod with supreme confidence over the mountainous rhythms of bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn. The music did have its calmer moments, chiefly the cover of Rufus Wainwright’s "Poses" and a quirky encore called "Frisell Dream." (The latter came to Douglas note-for-note in a dream, wherein he heard the Bill Frisell trio play the melody down — all but the last two bars, which Douglas says it took him three years to supply.) Some of the material was not from the record, suggesting that there’s more in the can by this powerful group.

Lewis Nash Trio at Birdland

The artistry of vibraphonist Steve Nelson: that’s what last month’s Lewis Nash Trio gig revealed above all. The papers listed Peter Washington as the bassist, but lo and behold, the bassist was Buster Williams, at least on the first of these three nights at Birdland. Their first set began with a searingly swinging "Doxy" and carried on with "You and the Night and the Music," a brilliant Nelson feature on "Sophisticated Lady," a tribute to Tommy Flanagan with James Williams’s blues "Flanagan’s Shenanigans" (Flanagan’s widow was in the house), and finally a brisk "My Shining Hour." Nash’s solo on the closing number was impeccable, his every phrase a carefully chosen comment on the melody and form of the tune. Nelson, whose deep and angular harmonic sense anchors the current David Holland Quintet, flourished in this more straightahead setting. And Buster’s sound, of course, was as big as a house.

Cool CDs

Maroon, Migratory (Head Fulla Brains): a spacey, groovy, Rhodes-inflected ride brought to you by vocalist Hillary Maroon and pianist Benny Lackner, an intriguing pair. The disc, which also features Pheeroan akLaff, guitarist Mark Tewarson, bassist Andrew Emer, and more, is stacked with hip originals as well as tunes by Annette Peacock, Charlie Haden, Ellington, and Dylan.

Sunna Gunnlaugs, Mindful (Sunny Sky, distributed by OmniTone): a lyrical Icelandic pianist leads a stunning quartet with Tony Malaby on tenor, Drew Gress on bass, and Scott McLemore on drums. Brings to mind John Taylor’s wonderful work with Peter Erskine.

George Colligan & Jesper Bodilsen, A Wish (SteepleChase): Burning piano/upright duo disc that once again proves Colligan is a monster. The top highlight: Kenny Wheeler’s "Smatter," the unforgettable melody from Gnu High. Colligan and Bodilsen’s masterful reading is a feast for the ears.