The Rubin Museum's "Harlem in the Himalayas" Friday night concert series, produced in association with The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, offers listeners the extremely rare opportunity to hear music in a totally acoustic setting. The absence of microphones, amplifiers and monitors in the state-of-the-art auditorium configured as an intimate nightclub was particularly rewarding during the performance of the Steve Wilson Quartet (Aug 1st). Wilson, a triple threat on alto and soprano saxophones and flute, possesses a beautiful full tone on each of his instruments and the lack of amplification enhanced, rather than diminished, their presence in the room. Accompanied by the consummately skilled rhythm section of pianist Bruce Barth, bassist Ed Howard and drummer Rodney Green, Wilson wove his sound through the music in a manner that was spellbinding in its nuance and attentiveness to dynamics. Playing predominantly alto on his first set the saxophonist showed himself to be equally excellent as both an original composer and inventive interpreter of the jazz repertory, alternating his own pieces "The Epicurean," "Grace" and "Tortola" with Strayhorn's "Isfahan" and Gillespie's "Woody 'n You." On the second set, which began with Chick Corea's "You're Everything," Wilson paid homage to the museum's regional artistic focus, stretching out intensely on soprano for Coltrane's "India," before hardbopping out with his own "Blues For Marcus."

TS Monk

Although the group's appearance was advertised as "TS Monk On Monk," the second set by TS Monk at Iridium on Aug 2nd might have just as aptly been billed "Monk Meets The Messengers," as the sound and spirit of the music more closely resembled that of Art Blakey than the headliner's famous pianist parent. Fronting a burning sextet, the drummer/leader, who first came on the scene as a member of his father's quartet, set out on the trail blazed by Blakey with a group that featured the fiery three-horn frontline of extraordinary young trumpeter James Gibbs III and veteran saxophonists Bobby Porcelli and Patience Higgins, on alto and tenor, respectively, along with pianist Richard Johnson and bassist Eric Privert. Opening with "Marvelous Marvin," a Messenger-ish anthem by trumpeter Marty Sheller with a vamping montuno and drum interlude reflecting the composer's Latin jazz pedigree, the group followed the time-tested Blakey formula of extended improvisations on melodically engaging material with riffing horn backgrounds spurring the soloists on to dramatic heights. Hard-swinging arrangements by the band's former music director Don Sickler of "'Round Midnight" (the evening's only Monk piece), Clifford Jordan's "Highest Mountain" and the recently departed Ronnie Mathews' "Jean Marie" were balanced with smooth ballad readings of "Body and Soul" and JJ Johnson's "Lament" to fill out the very satisfying show.

—Russ Musto

Recommended New Listening:

* Brinsk—A Hamster Speaks (Nowt)
* Eric Hofbauer & the Infrared Band—Myth Understanding (Creative Nation Music)
* Ahmad Jamal—It's Magic (Birdology-Dreyfus)
* Rosa Passos—Romance (Telarc)
* Martial Solal Trio—Longitude (CAMJazz)
* Torben Waldorff—Afterburn (ArtistShare)

—David Adler NY@Night Columnist, AllAboutJazz.com

* Tine Asmundsen/Richard Davis/Vidar Johansen/Robert Shy—Madison (Hazel Jazz)
* Jakob Bro Trio—Who Said Gay Paree? (Loveland)
* Grace Kelly/Lee Konitz—GraceFulLee (Pazz Prod.)
* Mauger (Rudresh Mahanthappa/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway)—The Beautiful Enabler (Clean Feed)
* William Parker—Double Sunrise Over Neptune (At Vision Festival XII) (AUM Fidelity)
* Mike Reed's Loose Assembly—The Speed of Change (482 Music)
—Laurence Donohue-Greene Managing Editor, AllAboutJazz-New York

* Francois Carrier/Michel Lambert/Jean-Jacques Avenel—Within (Leo)
* Daniel Humair/Joachim Kühn/Tony Malaby—Full Contact (Bee Jazz)
* Donny McCaslin—Recommended Tools (Green Leaf)
* Rudresh Mahanthappa—Kinsmen (Pi)
* Oehlers/Grabowsky/Beck—Lost and Found (Jazzhead)
* Trio 3 (Oliver Lake/Reggie Workman/Andrew Cyrille)—Wha's Nine (Marge)
—Andrey Henkin Editorial Director, AllAboutJazz-New York

comments powered by Disqus