Jair-Rohm Parker Wells at Perkins Center for the Arts

Jair-Rohm Parker Wells
Perkins Center for the Arts
Moorestown, NJ
March 8, 2024

Perkins Center for the Arts, a 1910 historic Tudor home in Moorestown, New Jersey, provided an intimate setting for Jersey bassist Jair-Rohm Parker Wells on March 8th. The home exudes charm including the faux fireplace in the main room where the concert was held.

Born in Washington state, raised in Germany and having lived in Sweden, Jair-Rohm's background is as interesting as his musical technique which is a fusion of jazz, contemporary classical, and electronic music. The main event of the night was Eberhard Weber's Pendulum, but before that, he opened with a few pieces completely improvised in real time.

The audience participated as he asked if anyone meditated and a show of hands confirmed there were a few in the house. The audience chanted OM at his request and he tuned the bass to the resonance of the sound and improvised. On the fly, he created magic and the audience took it all in. Layered in the piece were some awesome musical notes and a hint of chamber music. The idea to have the audience be a part of the music was one that came to him earlier in the day.

His instrument is an NS Design Omni Bass which he calls "a practical adaption of the upright bass." Using his bow and his looping pedal skills along with plucking the strings, he created one-of-a-kind sounds, adding to the enchanting atmosphere of the Tudor home. There is a lot going on in his music, many layers.

Performing the album Pendulum, which includes tracks "Bird out of Cage" "Children's Song" "Delirium" and "Street Scenes," among others spanned many sounds with echoes of bluegrass and classical, hitting many notes with an expansive range. In the opening of Pendulum, the scene is set and moves to a higher ground then there is a classical stint and it segues into bluegrass reaching toward the end as the music fades and the audience is gifted with a satisfying conclusion. He finished the set with "Closing Scene" a mellow winding down of the night piece.

All of the pieces performed fit the bill for satisfying the audience, and as evidenced by the people who stayed after the show to converse with him—they all wanted more! A lot of his influences show up in his music, and for one piece there were elements of John Coltrane's a Love Supreme. He plays as if waiting for the instrument to respond to him and sometimes with eyes closed in a mellow way, while at other times his determination is obvious. The back and forth of a skilled musician as he communicates with his instrument.

In order to play with such precision and devotion, he studied and learned all of Pendulum's pieces in tandem with Eberhard's live Once Upon A Time (Live in Avignon). His process consists of pre-recording some of the parts into his Digitech JamMan Stereo looping pedal and then playing the themes and improvisations live. Depending on the piece he either precedes or follows with improvisation.

Pendulum turned 30 years old in 2023. Weber, one of ECM's premiere artists in the '60s and '70s, defined the genre known as Nordic jazz, however, he prefers the label of contemporary chamber music with elements of improvisation. Weber's a filmmaker now and no longer performs live.

Unassuming in a blue beanie and black outfit, Jair-Rohm graciously answered questions following the concert. He is energetic and passionate about his music; that's obvious. Currently he plays music from Eberhard's Colours of Chloé and Yellow Field with his band Yellow Fields and they expect to add more selections to their repertoire when time permits. Since 2023, he has been touring and recording with the improvising trio Doom Dogs which includes musicians Reeves Gabrels (The Cure) and Jonathan Kane (founding member the Swans, drummer for LaMonte Young's The Forever Bad Blues Band). He also tours with Grateful Dead tribute band Rainbow Full Of Sound.

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