#small’slive

[theloniousbach]

COUCH TOUR: JULIETA EUGENIO with Matt Dwonsyzk and Kush Abadey, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 25 APRIL 2023, 2nd set

My Toledo friend found JULIETA EUGENIO’s album Jump late in the year and used it to peg his thoughts about the year 2023 in jazz around that music. I too was impressed and found an album release set from March or April that was itself wonderful while prompting a look at Melissa Aldana and Nicole Glover with the tenor/bass/drum trio.

Eugenio has a light dry tone even at this point in her career whereas even young Aldana played more aggressively than she does now. Glover is, in Nate Chinen’s words, a bad ass. All are melodically impressive, but this makes Eugenio the minimalist taking on the challenge of filling the space where the piano might be with suggestions of sound.

Of course, the bass player matters and Matt Dwonsyzk is rich and full but not overpowering. Jonathan Barber was the drummer at the 2022 gig and on the album, but here it was Kush Abadey who has played so sympathetically with Aldana for at least five years. He stretched out on the finale with a touch more edge, but he knows how to let tunes breathe.

But Eugenio has this nice rhythmic riffing thing over solos/showcases by the rhythm section that feels like a saxophonist’s equivalent of comping.

She has some new tunes it appears, but her body of work is smart, melodic, and appealing. It’s good to see her at Small’s and hope that I can see more of her for some combination of watching her grow and my ability to discover more of the richness of her playing.

[theloniousbach]

COUCH TOUR: MARC COPLAND with Drew Gess and Billy Drummond, MEZZROW’S, 7 JANUARY 2023, 1st set

This band came to Washington University last spring and I tried to sign up for the stream too late. I opted not to go see it live which was, quite likely a mistake. But they had this weekend Mezzrow’s run which I will explore more fully once it is all archived. But this set in real time was a treat as MARC COPLAND is one of those harmonically rich, appealing pianists who explores and pushes the tradition in set with the likes of Gary Peacock, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, and, at least once, Kenny Wheeler.

I was out Friday evening to see The Bad Plus 3.0 at Jazz St Louis with some let down as the new configuration still isn’t settled, leaving new possibilities unrealized and old satisfactions unmet. I can eat that piece of cake and yet have all of the Copland eventually, so all is well. But I was more impressed with this band streamed.

Intentionally or not, they honored Miles Davis with Milestones midset loosening things up after a Herbie Hancock styled opener, a bit of but not all of the Maiden Voyage riff, and My Funny Valentine, both more pensive than driving. Indeed it was only the All Blues closer that really swung as Copland was more restrained, preferring to explore harmonies patiently. Drew Gess who works regularly with Fred Hersch too (that’s a fine resume there, Mr G) got bigger with no complaints from the boss. Billy Drummond was magic as usual, quite capable of saying much with timbres (some exquisite cymbal work) while moving rhythms around at whatever volume or pace Copland set. There was a ballad in there before a penultimate tune that went from disjointed arpeggios into an almost groove.

I will return to Copland likely even before these shows are archived as he is tasty with an edge. That approach was fully present here, despite an apparent restraint. But it was part of what the weekend needed.

[theloniousbach]

COUCH TOUR: THE DAVE LIEBMAN QUINTET, SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, 14 JANUARY 2022

For the first real time performance in quite a while, I also got the most out there avant garde set in even longer. It came at the end of a long tiring week, so it was bracing, not calming at all. I am pleased and a bit surprised how much I valued it.

I knew Dave Liebman the first time around from Miles Davis albums like On the Corner, Get Up With It, and Dark Magus. That led me back to his association with Elvin Jones and his releases with Richie Beirach. He was always welcome, but not distinctive enough for me to place, in the soprano and a little tenor slot. Soprano can devolve into snake charmer music and, even last night, there is a thinness to it, so it can be a flavoring not a full taste to chew on.

But, what worked so well last night was the overall sound he and the band created. There were seemingly two compositions in a kaleidoscopic 45 minute non-stop swirl. Liebman started both with sax figures that then got taken up by his fellow musicians—Peter Evans, trumpet; Leo Genovese, piano; John Hebert, whom I’ve heard with Fred Hersch for the past decade; and the storied Tyshawn Sorey on drums and cymbals—to create episodes and narratives of profound effect. It was symphonic and operatic which are, I admit, not forms I gravitate too. The playing was exceptional (and Sorey is riveting, intelligent, and responsive) and highly skilled, but not virtuosic in my usual sense of focused attention and development. There were solos to be sure, but not accompaniment per se. That is, Genovese and Hebert too but Sorey especially were simultaneously supporting and leading the horns.

Again, I can’t say that I could say, oh that’s Liebman or Steve Grossman or Michael Brecker or Joe Lovano though I might get Chris Potter by now. But, from his chair, he set themes and pushed boundaries for the others to follow. Peter Evans’s first solo was on a pocket trumpet which put him also in the high register. He was quite nimble on both horns but it was more of the same as Liebman’s soprano. Still there were some excellent conversations, including when they started off conducting a joint solo building seamlessly on one another’s phrases before overlapping.

Genovese got a chance to set a romping groove once and also had a lyrical moment, but he largely churned percussively. Hebert too had a different walking moment but largely bubbled and boiled. So did Sorey, cubed. He was a powerhouse driving all the energy but listening and responding sensitively to everyone. He was compelling so I was drawn to listening/watching him—and, in doing so, listening with him as well as to him, I felt I had a sense of what Liebman was trying to get everyone was doing.

There was a second set and they are back tonight (Saturday, 15 January 2022). I don’t feel a pressing need to return to them. But I am very glad to have this set in my experience.