ON THE SCENE WITH HOWARD LONDNER
Jan, 22, 2013
Eric Verlinde – keys
Jose Martinez – drums
Tom Marriott – trumpet
Clipper Anderson – double bass
These guys were a lot of fun to listen to. They all played great. Jose Martinez plays so fast, with such an intense high energy (and he looks so comfortable doing it) it’s incredible. If you could bottle and utilize his energy a lot of oil rich countries would have to get a job.
Clipper Anderson, usually backing up the great Greta Matassa, I believe hasn’t really received the respect he deserves as the great bass player he is. He played outstanding. His bass sounded vigorous, filling up the joint, each note seemed like a statement, quick, interesting, exciting.
The last tune the house band played, “Solar”, was an event by itself. They were so tight, yet playing at different sounding melodies. Wow! Crazy!
Some of the cats showing up for the jam session; Jeff Busch, drums (Jeff came after seeing Dee Dee Bridgewater at Benaroya Hall, and he said the house quartet sounded just as good!), Michael Barnett, bass, Brian Smith, alto sax, Kacey Evans, piano, Christian Pincock, valve trombone, Mike van Bebber, trumpet, Josh Cobian, bass. What a great night.
Feb 12, 2013 – Mardi Gras!
For the sake of transparency, Matt Jorgensen is the editor of Seattle Jazz Scene. He doesn’t pay me. We don’t even like each other.
Ryan Burns – keys
Mark Taylor – alto sax
Geoff Cooke – double bass
Matt Jorgensen – drums
Sometimes you go to a gig, and you can feel the excitement and intensity in the air. Not here tonight. These guys are good musicians, they aren’t going to play bad. I expected (maybe my expectations were too high) more.
Maybe the audience should have driven the band more, you know, like when fans hoot and holler and get into the game. Maybe the band had to give more spark to the listeners, like when a team doesn’t drive in guys in scoring position, it takes the crowd out of it. The audience and musicians are in a symbiotic listening/playing relationship. The band played OK, not the exceptional I was hoping for. I hadn’t heard Matt, I mean Mr Jorgensen, play for a long time, and he sounded as good as ever tonight. And yet… something was flat. Before the set closed someone requested John Coltrane’s “India”. That picked the band up. That was really good. Electric! That’s what I mean, that shifted the momentum. The crowd and band were digging each other.
For the jam session (maybe because it was Mardi Gras and everyone had gigs) not too many people showed. Bren Plummer, bass, Christian Pincock, valve trombone, Chris Johansen, tenor sax, Lauren Hendrix, bass. The jam was OK. Oh well, you win some, you lose some, some get rained out.
Feb 26, 2013
Eric Verlinde – keys
Milo Peterson – guitar
Osama Afifi – upright electric bass
D’vonne Lewis – drums
I was more about hangin’ out and BSin’ then paying attention to the music. Milo played good guitar. Eric played good keys, and D’vonne is always good, had a great solo to finish the set. Of special note of this first set, the last solo Osama Afifi took… it was right on. It was concise. The cat didn’t have a lot to say, he kept it short and sweet. Perfect. Instead of jabbering on and on and not saying anything, the Man said what he had to say, and moved on. Beautiful.
Also of special note was the way Geoff Harper played bass and his solo during the jam session. It was awesome. Geoff reminds me of Dizzy Gillespie. A serious musician that doesn’t take himself too seriously. Also jamming… Kacey Evans, keys, Bren Plummer, bass, Chris Johansen, tenor sax, Lauren Hendrix, bass, Max Wood, drums.
So next time I’ll tell you the greatest title ever for a jazz tune… Thanks to all the musicians, thanks for reading, I’ll see you around.