by Michael J. West
Saturday, November 19
Saturday is Kenny Werner's 60th birthday. In all those years, nearly 35 of which have found him playing jazz, he's lost nothing of his ability to surprise. Werner began his career as a concert pianist, then moved to pay tribute to the earliest of great jazz composers. Before long he was a composer himself, and one who could seemingly turn on a dime from one fully realized, musically deep project to another in a completely different style, aesthetic, rhythm and texture.
Consider his last few: 2007's Lawn Chair Society is an avant-inclined record that touches on fusion and makes breathtaking use of contemporary electronics. The following year, he was rendering delicate ballad versions of the jazz songbook with Danish saxophonist Jens Søndergaard (Play Ballads) and his own trio (With A Song in My Heart). In 2010 came No Beginning No End, an extraordinary large-scale work for large ensemble, in tribute to his daughter who was killed three years before. And this year came two major recorded statements: Balloons, a quintet date of his own melodic but challenging tunes, and Institute of Higher Learning, a collection of commissioned works recorded with the Brussels Jazz Orchestra. You don't know what you'll get at this D.C. birthday party, but you know it'll be wondrous. Kenny Werner performs at 9 and 11 p.m. at Twins Jazz, 1344 U St. NW. $20.
Sunday, November 20
If you know pianist Ethan Iverson, chances are you know The Bad Plus. The midwest-rooted piano trio is celebrated—and, for jazz, highly successful—for its pop-jazz takes on the canon of the rock era, from Blondie to Bowie to Aphex Twin, and for its highly original (if off-kilter) original compositions. But apart from its acoustic, piano-bass-drums textures, The Bad Plus's music doesn't have the traditional sound and feel of jazz; there aren't many jazz harmonies to speak of, and the rhythms are far more rock-n-roll-thud than swing.
If you know pianist Ethan Iverson, chances are you know The Bad Plus. The midwest-rooted piano trio is celebrated—and, for jazz, highly successful—for its pop-jazz takes on the canon of the rock era, from Blondie to Bowie to Aphex Twin, and for its highly original (if off-kilter) original compositions. But apart from its acoustic, piano-bass-drums textures, The Bad Plus's music doesn't have the traditional sound and feel of jazz; there aren't many jazz harmonies to speak of, and the rhythms are far more rock-n-roll-thud than swing.
But the thing about Iverson, in particular, is that he loves the jazz tradition. He is a surprisingly astute scholar of it, maintaining one of the most probing of all jazz blogs, Do The Math. It's in that spirit that Iverson is undertaking a short mini-tour that he jokingly (and unofficially) calls "Do The Math Live." Another trio, this one featuring D.C. natives Corcoran Holt on bass and Steve Williams on drums, comes to our fair city armed with standards and jazz staples. While it will be an examination of the genre's underpinnings, Iverson promises that it will also be something different and unexpected (in an interview that you can read on Arts Desk tomorrow). Iverson, Holt, and Williams perform at 8 p.m. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. $20.
Monday, November 21
Steve Lacy is not the first jazz stylist on the soprano saxophone (that would beSidney Bechet), but he was probably the first major figure to make it his primary instrument. That's primarily what Lacy, who died in 2004, was known for, working in a huge swath of jazz with such illustrious and diverse figures as Mal Waldron, Red Allen, and Cecil Taylor and adding his immediately distinctive soprano to their already unique sounds. Ideal Bread, however, would rather you know him as a composer.
Steve Lacy is not the first jazz stylist on the soprano saxophone (that would beSidney Bechet), but he was probably the first major figure to make it his primary instrument. That's primarily what Lacy, who died in 2004, was known for, working in a huge swath of jazz with such illustrious and diverse figures as Mal Waldron, Red Allen, and Cecil Taylor and adding his immediately distinctive soprano to their already unique sounds. Ideal Bread, however, would rather you know him as a composer.
So much so that they've formed their own quartet to display his compositions — crowded, challenging, atonal, and yet somehow intensely melodic all the same — and have done it without even including a soprano sax! Instead, it includes baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton, trumpeter Kirk Knuffke, bassist (and DC native) Reuben Radding, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara. Their chemistry together is nearly as impressive as their individual timbres, which both fuse and separate as needed in presenting Lacy's deeply progressive music. Ideal Bread performs (with D.C. trombonist Reginald Cyntje opening) at 8 p.m. at the Red Door, 443 I St. NW (sponsored by CapitalBop and Cuneiform Records). $10 suggested donation.
(Photo: Brian Murray.) - http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/11/17/jazz-setlist-nov-17-23-the-composers/
(Photo: Brian Murray.) - http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/11/17/jazz-setlist-nov-17-23-the-composers/
0 Comments:
Post a Comment