On The Scene with Howard LonderON THE SCENE WITH HOWARD LONDNER

Jan 17, 2013
Hardcoretet at the Triple Door
Art Brown – alto sax
Aaron Otheim – keyboard
Tim Carey – electric bass
Tarik Abouzied – drums

These young men play in a jazz fusion genre. Not my favorite kind of jazz. Tarik explained it to me on the break,… Older jazz tunes the head (the A) is played, then all the solos (the B), longer solos than with fusion stuff, then the head (the A) to finish up. With fusion songs the head will be played multiple times with one solo between each time the head is played. Tarik, I hope I got it right. If not, please write in and correct me. I owe you a beer ( there you go dude, I put it in writing!).

The main thing I didn’t care for is that their harmony was too tight. I prefer a little more edginess between the bass and keyboards. Sometimes I couldn’t tell where the keyboards left off and where the bass began. Besides that I had a real good time listening to these four guys.

They played some Herbie Hancock tunes, a lot of originals, and I thought I recognized one song from a Dave Holland CD.

I’ve heard Art Brown play acoustic before and I prefer the alto sax played that way than with electronics. Anyways, you know I’d say that. Mr Brown is a very capable musician, and he showed that tonight as always. Never overbearing, just a lot of fun to listen to. I’m not a musician or musicologist. Hell, I ain’t even a writer. People who know dirt from shinola know when something is good, and when it isn’t. His playing is good!

Aaron Otheim is quite a very good musician. He’s a quiet kid (of Racer Session persuasion) and I’ve heard him play with Burn List. Tonight wasn’t any different except for the type of music he was playing. He played with the same calm, yet deliberate enthusiasm, performing very well.

Mr Tim Carey is a good steady bass player. His solos are good, the notes aren’t garbled, something you get from other electric bass players. Very enjoyable.

I get the impression that Mr Tarik Abouzied is the rudder of this ship. He has a no jive, for real, level headed personality which he expresses in his drumming, along with a genuine excitement and vigor. In other words… the Cat can play!

Dig it. If you like fusion, see this band. If you don’t like fusion, see this band! They’re a lot of fun, they’ll make you feel good, and you’ll enjoy listening to them.

Thanks gentlemen. And thanks for reading.

Category:
Seattle Jazz