14

OK

Words Bill Milkowski

Pic Boris Breuer

ECM SHOWCASEAT WINTER JAZZFEST:Issues of overcrowding and long cuesoutside of nightclubs that onceplagued the NYC Winter fazzfest in itsearly years were alleviated at the 12thedition of the annual Greenwich Vil-lage bash (Jan. 13-17) due to the additi-on of new venue partnerships withThe New School. The most impressiveof the three new venues is the 6oo-seatTishman Auditorium, where ECM Re-cords had an exclusive showcase ontwo consecutive nights. While ECM ar-tists such äs David Torn, Mark Turner,Craig Taborn, Ches Smith, Avishai Co-hpn anH Viiav Ivpr nrrnnipH thp

NOTES

from

NewYORK

tured the debut of several bands premiering fresh newmaterial from upcoming ECM releases.Basssist-composer-arranger Michael Formanek openedthe Saturday night marathon at Tishman with hisig-piece Ensemble Kolossus, performing material fromtheir new album "The Distance." Formanek hooked upwith inventive guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummerTomas Fujiwara (the three have established a tight che-mistry through their work together in the cooperativetrio Thumbscrew) along with pianist Kris Davis andmarimba player Patricia Brennan to fuel the mammothensemble. The sprawling hörn section, featuring suchoutstanding soloists äs Saxophonist Tim Berne, trombo-nist Alan Ferber and trumpeter Ralph Alessi, swung

15

and swirled with an epic sweep. A highlight of their exhilarating set wasthe turbulent "Exoskeleton" suite, a grand work inspired by Charles Min-gus' magnum opus "Epitaph" (which Formanek performed äs a member ofthe Mingus Big Band on a 1991 tour of that two-hour suite conducted bythe late Günther Schuller). Formanek's huge, resonant upright tone ancho-red the proceedings while individual soloists shone throughout the suite,notably trombonist Alan Ferber, trumpeter Ralph Alessi and Halvorson,who is one of the most inventive and fearless improvisers on the scene to-day. The ensemble was conducted by Formanek kindred spirit and fellowbassist Mark Helias. The Tishman also saw the debuts of singer TheoBleckmann's ethereal Elegy quintet featuring guitarist Ben Monder, tenorSaxophonist Chris Potter's new quartet featuring Cuban pianist DavidVirelles, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Marcus Gilmore.

THE WORLD OF KRAKAUER:The classically-trained clarinet virtuose David Krakauer showcased threeperspectives of his expansive musicality in a February 4th program entitled"World of Krakauer" at (Le) Poisson Rouge in the heart of Greenwich Village.Opening on a contemporary classical note, Krakauer joined with the adven-turous South African pianist Kathleen Tagg in a new duo project known äsBreath and Hammer. On pieces like "November 22nd," a dramatic piece writ-ten by Syrian clarinetist-composer Kinan Azmeh, and John Zorn's "Angel ofOmnipotence" (from his "Book of Angels"), Tagg plucked and bowed stringsinside her piano, creating gentle harp-like ostinatos with clever use of loo-ping technology. At the peak of their highly conversational set, Krakauersailed through virtuosic passages with clean articulation before taking off onpassionate, soul-stirring improvisations that had him digging deep whilereaching for the high register notes on his tiptoes. On Tagg's "Berimbau," shewore a special glove to aid in her damping and muting the strings from in-side the piano while Krakauer simultaneously channeled the spirits of NewOrleans soprano sax legend Sidney Bechet and klezmer clarinetist Dave Tarras.The second perspective of Krakauer's musical world had him collaboratingwith a string quartet featuring Violinist Sara Caswell on engaging pieces like"The Street Song," a traditional klezmer melody that used to be played bystrolling musicians in the shtetls of Eastem Europe, and Randy Newman'sdelicate waltz "The Family" from Barry Levinson's semi-autobiographicalfilm "Avalon." They concluded with a spirited reading of "Der Heyser Bul-gar," an exhilarating klezmer romp which had Caswell and Krakauer enga-ged in some heated call-and-response exchanges. Krakauer closed his concertin visceral fashion with Ancestral Groove, his slamming klezmer-funk quin-tet featuring electric bassist Jerome Harris, guitarist Sheryl Bailey, drummerMichael Sarin and sonic provocateur Jeremy Flower on laptop. From theJames Brown-inspired "Tribe »r 3" to the entrancing "Krakowsky Boulevard"to the aggressive "Kickin' It for You," Bailey added a heavy metal bebop edgeto the proceedings with her distortion-laded licks. And on the turbulent"Tandal" (from Zorn's "Book of Angels"), Krakauer launched into a politicalrant about the warnings from the '6os about the environment and the go-vernment that are coming to pass today: "Hippies! They were goddam right!"Bailey delivered a blast of Sonny Sharrock-inspired skronking on this punk-funk anthem. In Krakauer's immense oeuvre, this concert represented justthe tip of the iceberg. But for those who packed Poisson Rouge on this night,it was a sumptuous feast of sounds.

A TRIBUTE TO PAUL BLEY:Several pianists gathered at the Greenwich House in the West Village to paytribute to the pioneering and influential free jazz pianist Paul Bley, whopassed away at age 83 on January 3 at his home in Florida. The free concertfeatured such Bley disciples äs Ethan Iverson, Frank Kimbrough, Matt Mit-chell, Rob Schwimmer and Aaron Parks.

MARTINO'S SIX STRING MAGIC:Guitar great Pat Martino, who performed with his lo'Standing trio of Organist Pat Bianchi and drummer (men Intorre in a week-long engagement at the Jazz Staudard, showed none of the effects of a brain aneurysmthat threatened to end his career 35 years ago. Along withconsummate renditions of Wes Montgomery's "4 On 6,"John Coltrane's "Impressions," Thelonious Monk's "'RoundMidnight," Bill Evans' "Blue in Green" and an inventive3/4 arrangement of Wayne Shorter's "Footprints," thePhilly icon premiered a couple of as-yet-unnamed Origi-nals. While the 7i-year-old guitarist's chops were inpeak boppish form on opening night, he revealed bet-ween sets that he is currently at work on a Symphonieproject, which he plans to record this summer.

A STAR IS BORN:Chilean guitarist-singer-songwriter Camila Meza show-cased her uncanny ability to simultaneously run fluidguitar lines and scat in unison, a la George Benson, in aJanuary appearance at The Django. Accompanying thisrefreshing new talent from Santiago, who has resided inNew York since 2007, were stellar young sidemen LindaOh on bass, James Francies on piano and Kendrick Scotton drums. Meza and her crew charmed an intimate ga-thering at the chic new subterranean venue, located inthe basement of The Roxy Hotel in Tribeca, with enga-ging material from her recent Sunnyside release, "Tra-ces." Watch for her on the festival circuit this summer.

SEEN ON THE SCENE:Salsa king Eddie Palmieri's longtime drummer RobbyAmeen led a dynamic sextet boasting a potent frontlineof trombonist Conrad Herwig and tenor saxophonistsBob Franchescini and Troy Roberts on rhythmically-char-ged tunes from his recent "Days in the Night" at Club Bona-fide; Guitarist Bill Frisell and pedal steel guitarist Greg Leiszsupplied sumptuous accompaniment for venerable Saxo-phonist Charles Lloyd in a performance of evocative newmaterial from Lloyd's recent Blue Note release, "I Long ToSee You," at the Appel room in the Jazz at Lincoln Centerfacility. Highlights included mesmerizing renditions of BobDylan's "Masters of War" and Brian Wilson's Beach Boysclassic "In My Room"; Cedar Walton acolyte David Hazel-tine led a swinging tribute to the late great pianist-compo-ser, who died in 2013, at the West End Lounge. The bandincluded alto Saxophonist Vincent Herring, bassist Da-vid Williams and drummer Willie Jones III, all membersof Walton's last quartet; Wynton Marsalis and the LincolnCenter Jazz Orchestra crossed over into the pop world fortheir program "Jazz in the Key of Life" at Jazz at LincolnCenter's Rose Theatre. Included were hip new arrange-ments of Stevie Wonder's "Another Star," the Beatles'"Eleanor Rigby," Cream's "White Room" and The Jacksonshits "Blame It On The Boogie"; Tenor Saxophonist JoshuaRedman paid tribute to his late father Dewey Redman'sformer group Old and New Dreams (an Ornette Colemantribute band that also featured trumpeter Don Cherry, bas-sist Charlie Haden and drummer Ed Blackwell) in a stir-ring one-night-only performance at the Jazz Standard.Joining Redman on renditions of Coleman's "HappyHouse" and "Broken Shadows" and others were trumpeterRon Miles, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade.