David Adler
November 2002

New York @ Night
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By David R. Adler

Brad Mehldau’s first Thursday set at the Vanguard, filled to capacity, was marked by arresting contrasts. Joined as usual by bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, the pianist closed with “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” but preceded it with his third and best Radiohead cover to date, “Everything In Its Right Place” from Kid A. Among the three originals was a beautiful loop-based piece that wouldn’t be out of place on, say, an Air album (the French electronica group, not the Threadgill trio). These days Mehldau can be quite self-effacing and understated live, rarely indulging in the chops-frenzies of his previous Vanguard recordings. Here it was Grenadier who left a lingering impression, contributing an amazingly fluid solo on the first number. Otherwise, this was more a subdued group meditation than a soloist’s showcase. The experimental pop universe of Largo was peeking through, but not necessarily sticking around.

The monster soloists of the Dave Holland Big Band had a lot to say during their four-night run at Birdland. The group mainly stuck to music from What Goes Around (ECM) but also played selections from the unrecorded Monterey Suite. (Many of the album cuts come from Holland’s 1980s book, specifically his innovative quintet with Steve Coleman.) “The Razor’s Edge” kicked off Wednesday night’s late set, its tribal groove and riveting unison lines setting up fiery statements from trumpeter Alex Sipiagin and trombonist Robin Eubanks. A bit later, “Mental Images” featured Eubanks, the composer, as well as younger brother Duane Eubanks, whose memorable trumpet solo drew applause even from the band. Sipiagin’s fluegelhorn and Mark Gross’s alto made for brilliant contrasts on a Monterey Suite ballad, while vibist Steve Nelson spoke out aggressively on the swaggering “Blues for CM.” Mark Turner, who does not play on the new album, made his presence felt with a gripping tenor solo on the closing “Shadow Dance.” Other stars of the set were Antonio Hart (playing flute and alto) and drummer Billy Kilson, not to mention the incredible Holland himself. Sitting two feet in front of the sax line for a high-impact show like this may seem daunting in theory, but in fact it was ideal. One could really feel the music’s flesh and blood.

Continuing its recent spate of adventurous bookings, Iridium offered an Andrew Hill-Sam Rivers double feature last month. Hill took the stage with a new quartet, featuring Greg Tardy on tenor and clarinet, John Hebert on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. More accurately, it was Waits who first took the stage, establishing the mood with a portentous solo as the lights came up. Hill, Tardy, and Hebert emerged nonchalantly as Waits carried on, unperturbed. (The tourists had no idea what to make of it.) The first number was chaotic even by Hill’s standards, but as the set continued, Hill’s distinctively spikey, fragmented harmonies hushed the room. A progression of unaccompanied solos — including a revelatory turn by Tardy on clarinet — cast even more of a glow.

Rivers, bassist Doug Mathews, and drummer Anthony Cole have been doing essentially the same trio set for the last couple of years, but what a good set it is. The arc is remarkably choreographed for free jazz: the opening impromptu, the multi-instrumental transitions, the fast samba tune, the flute-driven funk finale. Even some of Rivers’s banter is scripted and unchanging. That said, the trio offers one of the most original spectacles in music. Rivers is gaunt and aged but full of vitality on tenor, soprano, flute, and piano; Cole switches between drums, tenor sax, and also piano; and Mathews plays electric and acoustic bass as well as bass clarinet. The three do quite a lot with this instrumentation. But those who’ve already seen them might wonder why they don’t mix it up even more.

Bobby Hutcherson’s cocksure elegance is something to behold, and his Vanguard run with George Cables on piano, Santi Debriano on bass, and Carl Allen on drums provided its share of adrenaline rushes. Tuesday’s late set included an intense reading of McCoy Tyner’s “Contemplation” and stuck mainly to that post-bop, modal sound. Hutcherson has an astounding ability to wring blues feeling from the vibraphone, hitting high notes with a conviction that can border on anger. His expressiveness is pure and uplifting, whether at blistering tempos or on ballads. Cables and Allen were in fine form as well, but it was Debriano’s fluidity and technical command that held up best next to Hutcherson’s brilliance.

The first of Roy Haynes’s two “Year of the Drum” nights at Alice Tully Hall featured Chick Corea and John Patitucci. The second and more unusual show paired Pat Metheny and Roy Hargrove in the frontline, with Scott Colley on bass. Metheny burned in a trio setting for the first half, playing “James,” “All the Things You Are,” and a marvelous acoustic reading of Horace Silver’s “Lonely Woman” (much like the version from 1983’s Rejoicing). “Question and Answer” found Metheny transitioning to synth guitar for the boisterous outro vamp, an approach he also favors when playing with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart.

Hargrove joined for the second set and needed a minute to find his footing, as his lukewarm choruses on “Solar” made clear. Switching to fluegelhorn, he then probed the lyrical contours of Metheny’s “Always and Forever,” a ballad he recorded on his recent strings album, Moment to Moment (Verve). Metheny played an angelic nylon-string solo on this number — easily one of the gig’s more elevated moments. At Haynes’s urging, Colley then introduced Ornette Coleman’s “Law Years.” Like Metheny, Colley is no stranger to free music. Hargrove, on the other hand, tagged along and seemed out of his element (in marked contrast to his unforgettable September performances at the Jazz Gallery). A brisk “Mr. P.C.” and a lively “Cantaloupe Island” wrapped things up, with Haynes relishing the spotlight. On the whole, seeing the great drummer get his props, and witnessing Metheny’s magic up close, outweighed the evening’s thrown-together aspects.

Marc Copland’s two-nighter at the Jazz Gallery featured Drew Gress on bass and Jim Black subbing for Jochen Rueckert on drums. Gress is one of those players, like Matt Wilson, who can leap from mainstream to out with no trace of a problem. He’s as compelling with Fred Hersch as he is with Tim Berne, and his rapport with Copland is just as convincing. Black, for his part, doesn’t often appear in settings as straightahead as this, but his comfort and creativity within the idiom was obvious. His rumbling floor-tom timbres and flighty cymbal catches added spark to Copland’s flowing, plain-spoken lyricism. The trio began with “Long Ago and Far Away” and closed just as Roy Haynes did, with “Cantaloupe Island.” Copland’s reading, however, contained some intriguing half-step motion, breaking up the vamp with suggestive dissonance. (Copland will return to the Gallery on November 9, playing duo with Dave Liebman.)

Mark Helias’s Open Loose played an appealingly gruff set at Cornelia Street, premiering an impressive batch of new music. Tony Malaby, clean-shaven and sounding a bit like David Ware, reached for the beyond, aided by Tom Rainey’s dynamic traps. Helias’s highly developed arco work cut through the mix and often transformed Malaby’s tenor into a wholly different beast. For a free band, Open Loose is remarkably funky; Helias leans toward tightly written bass lines and rhythmic transitions that give even the most adventurous piece a sense of coherence, not to mention a fat, deep groove.

Brock Mumford is the brainchild of guitarist and singer/songwriter Matt Munisteri, formerly of the Flying Neutrinos. The group rolled into BAM Café for a drumless set on the occasion of what would be Eddie Lang’s 100th birthday. Joined by accordionist Will Holshouser, cornetist Jon-Erik Kellso, and bassist Joey Seifers, Munisteri surveyed an extensive catalog of “Lang-isms,” along with a number of his own infectious melodies. Much like Howard Fishman explores the nexus of early jazz and hillbilly music, Munisteri has taken a long, hard look at jazz through the prism of early 20th century immigrant culture. Eddie Lang’s music is an important part of that story, and Munisteri, playing a gorgeous 1927 L-5 (no pickups, no cutaways), displayed a daunting mastery of the Lang vernacular. His plain but charming vocals enlivened the original songs, and the darting chromaticism of his single-note lines gave the old-world sounds a modern edge. He’s one of New York’s best vintage-guitar stylists, without a doubt.

Cornelia Street hosted the debut performance of Deidre Rodman’s “Need,” an unorthodox collaboration with alto/soprano man and vaudevillian-at-heart Roy Nathanson. The lineup also featured Greg Cohen on bass, Kate McGarry on vocals, and Raz Mesinai on Middle Eastern percussion. (As of early next year, McGarry will be the first jazz vocalist on the Palmetto roster.) Nathanson and Rodman split the writing duties and leaned toward a free aesthetic, launching into tuneful passages on cue, with McGarry’s reedy voice often doubling Nathanson’s acerbic lines. On the first number, an old Jazz Passengers tune called “You’re the Fool,” Nathanson did a slow, rotating strut as he played the winding melody; his dance conveyed the spirit of the song as much as his horn did. Rodman’s melodica, which she also employs with the Lascivious Biddies, added another quirky twist.

Anyone who’s heard Erik Jekabson’s melodic and rhythmic acuity as a member of the Howard Fishman Quartet ought to hear him lead his own quintet, usually at Detour early in the week. During a recent set with tenorist Matt Otto, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist Alexis Cuadrado, and drummer Diego Voglino, Jekabson presented a laid-back, modern mainstream concept, replete with sophisticated harmonies and tight, compelling arrangements. We don’t yet have a recording by this group, although clips are available at the site. As a composer, Jekabson has serious aspirations: he has collaborated on chamber works with the Tapfusion Dance Company and plans to study composition on the graduate level.

Derrek Phillips, who can usually be heard playing traps behind the likes of Vijay Iyer and Liberty Ellman, debuted his first project as a leader, “Innervision,” at the Gallery. The band boasted the guitars of Ellman and David Gilmore, with Greg Tardy on reeds and Brad Jones on bass. For the second time this month, Tardy’s resplendent clarinet rang out, providing a foil for his harsher, more aggressive tenor sax voice. This plaintive woodwind cry contrasted beautifully with the twin guitars, which almost brought to mind the Zawinul-Corea, dual-keyboard voicing that distinguished Miles’s early electric bands. Ellman’s super-clean tone and understated riffing balanced out Gilmore’s more amped-up, high-velocity attack. Despite some degree of tentativeness on the bandstand (this was clearly a work-in-progress), Phillips’s sparse vamps and unusual written themes struck a chord.

Chris Cheek played two weekend nights at Fat Cat, with Alberto Sanz’s piano and Rhodes and Tom Beckham’s vibes providing a lush harmonic backdrop. Tim Luntzel, who somehow managed to chain-smoke even during tunes, laid down firm foundations and vigorous solos on bass, buoyed by the solidity of Dan Rieser’s drums. Playing music from his wonderful Vine album and a batch of newer, unrecorded pieces, Cheek see-sawed between edgy modernism and a country-tinged pastoralism, with blips of Bill Frisell in the mix. Cheek plays a mean tenor, but time and again he proves himself one of the most highly developed soprano players around.

Recommended Discs:

• Will Holshouser, Reed Song (Clean Feed)
• Wayne Horvitz, Film Music 1998-2001 (Tzadik)
• John O’Gallagher, Axiom (CIMP)
• Frank Kimbrough/Joe Locke, The Willow (OmniTone)
• Wadada Leo Smith, The Year of the Elephant (Pi)
• Dave Holland Big Band, What Goes Around (ECM))
• Kenny Werner, Beat Degeneration (Sunnyside)
• Fieldwork, Your Life Flashes (Pi)
• Greg Burk Trio, Checking In (Soul Note)
• David S. Ware, Freedom Suite (AUM Fidelity)