By Laurence Donohue-Greene
As different a guitarist as you will ever hear, Dom Minasi is seeking to become somewhat of a Joe Maneri of the jazz guitar in a sense. Both remained disconnected from the recording world, and contently so while primarily teaching, until their latter years. Minasi left the music biz (more like B.S., as I'm sure he would agree) back in the mid-70's after several arduous and less than memorable Blue Note recording experiences during the post-Alfred Lion United Artists period of the label, when Blue Note barely, if at all, resembled its former more credible and legendary self. For the following two decades, he basically was in hiding only up until his recent mid-'90s resurgence. Though two late-90's recordings in particular marked his return to the circuit, one fine session as a leader (Finishing Touches, CIMP) and the other as a sideman (Blaise Siwula's Dialing Privileges, CIMP), it is his recent Takin' The Duke Out (CDM, 2001) which truly and justly celebrates his official comeback if not grand entrance.
Minasi has certainly had some time to mull things over and think about who he'd like to play with, not to mention what kind of group sound he would like to achieve, and subsequently has assembled an extraordinary trio which helps him accomplish exactly what he has wanted over the years--to play and perform on his and no one else's terms. Both bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Jackson Krall respectively come with a highly esteemed resume and reputation, and combine with Minasi in creating music that is astonishingly much greater than the sum of its parts. The guitarist met Filiano a half a dozen years ago, and their "instant connection" (as Minasi put it) and string combination is an obvious gift to listeners through the trio's suddenly expanding performance schedule, not to mention their new release, as well as follow-up recording scheduled to be recorded in May (which is tentatively titled, Going Out Again). In addition to having worked with trombonist Roswell Rudd and trumpeters Dennis Gonzalez and Paul Smoker, Filiano has also graced many of the last two decade's-worth of soon to be classic if not representational recordings of the period, including several by West coast multi-reedman and instrumentalist Vinny Golia (Decennium Dans Axlan, 1992; The Art Of Negotiation, 1996; Lineage, 1998), as well as with the late pianist Richard Grossman (In The Air, 1991; and Even Your Ears, which was posthumously released in 1998). Minasi prefers to use Filiano at every given moment, and evidently the only reason Filiano wasn't featured on the guitarist's previous recording, is that the bassist was actually on the road and unavailable for the session which wound up featuring Michael Bocchicchio (bass) and CIMP Records regular, Jay Rosen (drums).
Rounding out the Minasi trio is drumming percussionist Jackson Krall, whose affiliation with Cecil Taylor has already contributed to several early accolades of Minasi's guitar approach being on par with Taylor, not to mention Dolphy and Coltrane. Minasi originally heard Krall approximately 5 years ago and would soon be familiar with the drummer's work alongside guitarist Joe Morris, as well as alto saxist Rob Brown, and bassists Alan Silva and William Parker. Krall recorded with the latter on the landmark session, In Order To Survive (Black Saint, 1995), which featured amongst others Brown, Cooper-Moore and 60's trombone legend Grachan Moncur III (though the drummer only appears on the one track the late Denis Charles did not play on).
"This was the group I wanted", Minasi admits, remembering his feelings after his first rehearsal with Filiano and Jackson, "We never stop listening to each other and we keep the energy high." Individually, as well as collaboratively, the bassist and drummer provide Minasi with ideal improvisational support, allowing the guitarist to breathe as they themselves incessantly continue to freely move around on their respective instruments. Though individual notes might not always be detected in Minasi's playing style and runs, as he whole-handedly and characteristically frets up and down his guitar's neck, the intention and ending result is a canvas filled with dissonant sounds combined with re-harmonized melodic references that serve as a listening game of connect the dots with all three musicians essentially involved.
The recording concept itself, though not a novelty in most other circumstances, provides an almost totally unique platform for Minasi and his trio to expand upon the so-called "standard" material. Yes, there have been similar composer tributes in which an artist or group, as the case may be, dedicates a full recording to the work of a composer, such as what Steve Lacy began doing ever since the late-50's with regards to the music of Thelonius Monk (Steve Lacy Plays Thelonius Monk, 1958). John Zorn's Spy vs. Spy (for Ornette Coleman), Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project, 1993 and the Kronos Quartet's Monk Suite and Music for Bill Evans are all fine examples over the last twenty years of such recorded interpretations of master composers' works. Similarly, there have also been, as there will always be, exclusive Ellington-related tributes as well, from Chico Hamilton's Original Ellington Suite to Joe Henderson's Lush Life (dedicated to Billy Strayhorn) and Ran Blake's Duke Dreams. Musicians and listeners will never seem to grow tired of hearing timeless works performed and/or revamped ad infinitum.
However, Minasi has taken this concept a step further by performing the memorable work of a renowned artist and composer in an altogether new guise. Minasi's reworking of the Ellington material is as off the wall, yet informed, as Matthew Shipp's duet rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" (Zo, 1993) with William Parker. Much in the unlikely way pianist Geri Allen, organist Lonnie Smith, and flute player Robert Dick respectively and uniquely paid homage to the work of the late-60's guitar giant Jimi Hendrix with their individual 90's releases (Allen's Triad, Three Pianos for Jimi; Smith's Purple Haze; Dick's Third Stone From The Sun), Minasi too has offered something altogether new that utilizes the familiar melodies, though not necessarily the composer's original intentions, as a momentum builder and building block, for which the sky is literally the limit.
The guitarist selected six very well known Duke Ellington-related standards (the one non-Ellington composition being the bandleader's familiar theme, "Take The 'A' Train", which was composed by his musical cohort, Strayhorn), and turns each of the tunes literally inside out to the point of unidentifiable progressions via the group's collective re-harmonizations and mostly modal playing. Recorded live at the Knitting Factory almost a year ago, the pieces generally range from 7 to 14 minutes (other than the unaccompanied solo guitar feature of Minasi's version of "Solitude"). All of the interpretations stay true to the formula with the trio improvising well beyond the potential limitations of an immediately recognizable melody, and all three members play well beyond the respective changes of each composition, as well.
What are standards for, if not interpretation, after all? There's certainly nothing worse than regurgitation, and Minasi's trio is perhaps the furthest most point from such non-originality, as can be heard throughout Takin' The Duke Out, as well as what was evidenced live in concert during the group's record release celebration at the Jazz Gallery in New York the second week of February. The trio's ear-refreshing utilization of the standard material in such an original form of its own, basically created new compositions altogether through their collective improvisational camaraderie. Though each musician had a chance to shine, so to speak, respective solos did not serve as the traditional outlet as is usually the case, other than the rare unaccompanied moments each basked in. As a matter of fact, the three orbited around one another on such a consistent basis that they seemed to be simultaneously soloing, though within the same solar system as opposed to the many stereotypical avant-garde music listening experiences where a group of musicians distractingly play from unrelated and separate galaxies altogether, which can be an alienating listening experience to say the least.
Filiano, who at many times provided the anchor and foundation in the trio's playing (though he more than frequently pulled the proverbial anchor out as well) was actually the only member of the threesome who referred to sheet music throughout the entire set, as the compositions main purpose seemed to merely serve as points of taking off, brief pit-stops or islands along the way, and concluding landing runways. The group's momentum carried the music as each Duke tune represented a literal musical trip to a destination Ellington himself I'm sure was not even aware such a connection existed.
The concert's sold out standing room only first set, with a line already having formed outside for the second set, began with the trio's rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". An immediately recognizable first few bars were sensitively played by the leader before the threesome slipped into literal sheer improvisation, as if the pace car suddenly disappeared. Filiano and Krall got a head start out of the gates as Minasi completed the head of the opening melody before quickly catching up to his bandmates with waves of notes and chords by frequently sliding his hand up and down the extremes of his instrument's neck. An unaccompanied Filiano, who was only occasionally and ever so subtly backed by Minasi's light strum comping and harmonics, contemplatively slowed the tempo down before Krall re-enteredÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ
and, in a flash, the three were off once again! Though I had momentarily forgotten what tune I had been listening to mid-way through, Minasi took it upon himself to throw in occasional references, eventually returning to the theme full on while Filiano and Krall continued plucking and rolling along, throwing waves of momentum under Minasi's fingers.
"Satin Doll", the first track of Minasi's new CD, featured wonderful pizzicato solo playing by Filiano as well as superb brushwork by Krall. Again, the beginning and ending were the only fully recognizable segments of the Ellington composition through their 10-minute excursion. The mid range to dark tone and improvisational style of Minasi's is along the same lines as the frenetic Chinese pipa playing of Min Xiao-Fen (who has worked with Randy Weston, Muhal Richard Abrams, Derek Bailey, and John Zorn amongst others) with a cross between such guitarists as Pat Martino, Joe Diorio, Bruce Eisenbeil, and a trio guitarist I came across while living in Boston almost 10 years ago by the name of John Dougherty who played with and even patented a stone-crafted pick (which Martino himself experimented with for a time).
The one exception to the group's ever-so challenging approach of performing a standard, disguised almost beyond recognition, was their rendition of "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good". Perhaps the slow tempo enhanced by arco bass, brushes, and spacious multi-note guitar playing lifted the obvious lyrical ballad, as the tune was referenced from the beginning to the end of the shorter than 6-minute performance, unlike the more extended pieces played and recorded by the trio. Nonetheless, the tune was given a breath of new life by the three musicians, and perhaps also provided the most accessible performance and rendition played that evening.
The other short performance of the set was Minasi's unaccompanied translation of "Solitude" which, like the recorded version, clocked in at just under 5 minutes. The beautiful chords with concluding off-center reverberating notes, which intentionally only grazed the melody, challenged listeners to hum the ballad and keep track of the melody in their heads while taking in the guitarist's unique yet very relative rendition. Not even remotely similar to any other version I have previously heard, Minasi's "Solitude" is truly one of the most individual interpretations you can expect to ever hear live or on record. Again proving that there is plenty of room for re-interpretation, though Minasi is a composer as well, the guitarist reveals that not every musician necessarily needs to be original exclusively by or even partly through their own respective compositions. In this sense, there are players, and there are composers, and rarely are they one in the same, though it can be argued that Minasi is a nonpareil composer in his own right merely by originally playing and thus making previously composed pieces his very own (not too dissimilar from what Duke Ellington, likewise, did in 1960 with his reworking of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite).
The one non-Ellington affiliated tune performed live by Minasi's trio was Miles Davis' "All Blues", which will be featured on the group's debut follow-up recording. Filiano's arco bass served as a melodic reference in conjunction with Krall's rhythm and Minasi's off-kilter chorus, before all three simultaneously melodically and rhythmically let the bottom drop out altogether. Again, all three were off chartering new ground! Krall's cymbals gave an occasional familiar sounding nod to Jimmy Cobb, the original Miles Kind of Blue drummer, and the closing guitar effects from the leader linked up with Filiano's final bows in preview of what can probably be expected in regards to Minasi's next project. Another set of not such standard performances of standards? Looks and sounds that way!
Ellington's traditional opener served as Minasi's closer. It was not until mid-way through Filiano's intense arco hints of the familiar melody, though, that one could sense what Krall's non-stop circular beats and Minasi's hyper percussive up and down harmonic strumming were snowballing towards and subsequently insinuating if not creating. "Take The 'A' Train" was finally revealed and all of the sound gathering momentum suddenly made perfect sense.
Each member of Minasi's guitar trio served as an equal without a single ego-clashing moment through the continuously experimental and experimentally continuous notes and overall sound. Certainly easier said than done, the trio proved to convincingly run on the gas of emotion, general feel and communication, as well as empathy, not to mention obvious technical facility on their respective instruments, in-your-face (or rather, in-your-ears) virtuosity, and an astonishing familiarity with the chosen Duke Ellington material.
Though Minasi's name wouldn't have rung a bell with anyone but collectors until now, his new recording has more than made up for the lost time. And with the help from Ken Filiano and Jackson Krall, we can only hope that this already tightly knit unit will be a mainstay for many more years to come. The trio has now taken New York City by storm and just may be in your neighborhood before you know it, so in the meantime, while you await the Minasi trio to visit your hometown, I'd recommend you search out his new CD, Takin' The Duke Out. That is, if you have open ears!
Dom Minasi will again perform with his trio at CBGB's Downstairs Lounge on Sunday, March 10th (8pm). For more info, call: 212-677- 0455
Future Jazz Gallery performances include: Jean-Michel Pilc/Jim Ridl (3/8); Fred Hersh (3/14); James Hurt/Marc Cary (3/15); Orrin Evans/George Colligan (3/16); Bill Charlap/Ted Rosenthal (3/21); Andy Milne/Vijay Iyer (3/23); Ed Simon/Bruce Barth (3/29); John Hicks (3/30).
Or for more info. on the Jazz Gallery, go to: http://www.jazzgallery.org/
