New Tricks puts a new spin on traditional jazz at Millennium Stage

Don't look for a piano or keyboards of any kind in the music of New Tricks, a jazz quartet performing on the Millennium Stage Wednesday. Instead, prepare for two horns, a drum and a bass whose players are firmly rooted in post-bop jazz traditions.

"The reason we don't use a piano is a little bit coincidental," said band member and trumpet player, Ted Chubb. "This band was formed around four people; not around the music. The sound of the group was formatted to us as individual players. It wasn't a conscious choice to [exclude] a pianist or guitarist."

Five years ago, four members of the celebrated Cecil's Big Band at Cecil's Jazz Club in West Orange, New Jersey began to jam regularly at Wednesday afternoon sessions. Mike Lee played his tenor saxophone and Ted Chubb played the trumpet.

They were accompanied by bassist Kellen Harrison and drummer Shawn Baltazor. Lee and Chubb brought their original compositions to the table. It wasn't long before they discovered a special affinity for one another. "We didn't get together with the idea of being a band," Lee explained. "We just realized after a few weeks that we were a band."

Today with their original compositions and musical configuration, they bring new twists to acoustic, straight ahead jazz conventions by way of challenging rhythmic and harmonic devises without the benefit of a chordal instrument such as piano or keys.

"We feel like we bring a fresh, useful and energetic approach to the music, but [we] keep with the traditions of be-bop and the greats of the musical [genre,"] Chubb continued.

At Millennium, New Tricks will perform the new compositions from their self-titled debut album released in 2009 and their brilliant new CD, "Alternate Side."

Chubb, as well as the other members, feel as strongly about sharing the compositional input as they do about performing the songs. As a group, New Tricks feels that the band is at its best when all four members are playing at the same time, complementing each other to reinforce the tune.

"It takes all four of us to make the music." Chubb said.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/entertainment/music/2011/08/new-tricks-puts-new-spin-traditional-jazz-millennium-stage#ixzz1We6mBnuv