Ben Wolfe, George Colligan and Aaron Kimmel Bring Swing, Melodicism and Edge to Portland's 1905 Jazz Club

George Colligan, Ben Wolfe and Aaron Kimmel at 1905 Jazz Club 

The musician/educator Ben Wolfe had a two night stand at Portland's 1905 Jazz Club this past weekend. Wolfe is a New York-based bassist and is on the faculty at the prestigious Julliard School of Music. He has been a prolific composer and band leader for several years, and its a real pleasure to see this swinging and exuberant bassist perform in person out here in the Pacific Northwest. 

Wolfe brought along his regular drummer, the talented Aaron Kimmel, and enlisted one of Portland's best, the progressive pianist George Colligan, to round out his trio. Wolfe's last two Resident Artists releases, Unjust from 2023 and The Understated, which was named part of Notes On Jazz Best of List for 2024, were both well received by the public and the critics. 

Wolfe's musical and recording history, has found him in productive associations with the crooner Harry Connick Jr., the pianist/vocalist Diana Krall and with leader/trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Centers Band, to name just a few. His albums are almost exclusively comprised of self-composed material. 

Wolfe's playing has been once compared to “Mingus and Miles Davis meet Bartok and Bernard Herrmann” by NY Times Ben Ratliff. There is a certain sense that Wolfe deftly brings together some of the elements of swing with a lush melodicism in his music that retains its modernity and edge. To some degree, he accomplished this delicate balancing act by compositional acumen and by his astute choice of forward thinking musicians to present his music.  Albums like Unjust ,The Understated  and his PosiTone record The Whisperer from 2015, found Wolfe aligned with such progressive band mates as Nicholas Payton and Josh Evans on trumpet, Immanuel Wilkins, Stacy Dillard, and Nicole Glover on saxophones, Joel Ross on Vibes, and Orrin Evans and Sullivan Fortner on piano. Wolfe knows how to mine talent and uses their strengths to make his music more vibrant and accessible.

On this night, Wolfe, Colligan and Kimmel went through nine of the bassist's compositions, many currently untitled. The opener was unannounced, but was opened by a swinging bass line by Wolfe. This man can swing. Colligan keyed in on Wolfe's facially  animated bass lines and Kimmel's savvy percussive pulse, before breaking out with some exquisite pianistic lines that just gracefully dance across the keyboard. Always fluid, Colligan offered some chucky, block-chording, ala Red Garland, for emphasis. Kimmel was given a drum feature that demonstrated just how expressive a simple snare, a crash cymbal and a kick bass could provide in the right hands.

The second song was a 3/4 ballad that might have been Wolfe's "Love Is Near" and featured Ben's buoyant 3/4 bass and Colligan's gorgeous piano work.

Wolfe announced the next "Always Four," apparently a new song soon to be included on an upcoming album as yet to be named. This 4/4 burner featured a quick staccato pace that included quick-stops, accentuated by the trio in concurrent synchronicity. Colligan matched his fellow bandmates moves seamlessly and the trio managed to make it all seem telepathic.

The music continued with Wolfe labeling one piece as a "Waltz #2 for a nonet", a graceful waltz with Ben maintaining the flow and Colligan embellishing the music with surprising lines and gorgeous chords. Another loosely titled composition by Wolfe he jokingly titled  "Fast Quintet,'' again from his upcoming album, was a 8/8 paced cooker that had the bassist at his most facile.

"If Only" is a moving ballad originally released on Wolfe's The Whisperer from 2015.  Originally it featured the expressive Stacy Dillard on soprano saxophone. This time, Wolfe took the lead as the solo instrumentalist, beautifully rendering the ballad with only Kimmel's brush work accompanying. 

"Blue or Blueish," as Wolfe jokingly called the next number, was a Monk-like piece that featured Colligan at his most expressive.

"Masked Man," supposedly a song inspired by the sardonic, late comic Lenny Bruce, was originally released on the album Unjust, and had featured a quick pace. A horn section of Payton on trumpet and Glover on tenor made the piece crack. On this take at the 1905 stage, Wolfe set the punctuated bass line driving the pulse as Kimmel stabbed and jabbed at his kit. Colligan was the feature here. He added another Monk-like attack at times that had an inventive angularity to it. Lenny Tristano was another influence that came to my mind as Colligan seemed to be tapping the ether on this one. Wolfe had one of his own more substantial bass solo features of the evening. As a player Wolfe isn't flashy, but his countenance has a joyous patina when he plays, and the music resonates and absorbs that vibe he emanates. 

The set ended with a pleasant, softly played Bossa and a more aggressive piece, as yet unnamed, that continued to demonstrate the virtuosity of these fine musicians. The set ended with the audience applauding for the band, appreciating the opportunity to get a chance to experiencing such an excellent set of music. It is often believed that top talent jazz can only be truly experienced in musical meccas like NYC, LA, Boston and Nashville, but as this set of music proved, there is nothing stopping us from having top notch music right here in Portland. Thank you 1905 Jazz Club. Come out and support local jazz.

Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sanchez Defy Genres on "BEATrio"

 

BEATrio-Béla Fleck, Edmar Castañeda and Antonio Sanchez- Fleck Productions

The American Banjo master Béla Fleck was born in New York City in 1958. His full name, Béla Anton Leoš Fleck, is a combination of three of his father’s favorite classical composers, the Hungarian Béla Bartok, the Austrian Anton Webern, and the Czech Leoš Janacek. With such a namesake imposed on the young Fleck, there is no wonder why he has found his path creating a new level of respectability for his unlikely instrument through his inventiveness, imagination and virtuosity.

Fleck didn’t take up the banjo until he was fifteen, after a failed run at mastering the French horn. He was initially inspired by the bluegrass sounds of Earl Scruggs that he heard on the theme of the show The Beverly Hillbillies which ran on national television from 1962 through 1971. The song “Dueling Banjos” which was played for the 1972 film Deliverance by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell also made its impression.

Never satisfied with just brilliant mastery of his six-string acoustic/electric banjo, or with the artificially created boundaries that limit the banjo to its bluegrass roots, the genre-bending Fleck has envisioned expanding the possibilities where his instrument could be creatively used and succeeded.

Over the years, Fleck went beyond his bluegrass projects that included his groups like Tasty Licks, Spectrum and New Grass Revival, and his duet project with mandolinist Chris Thile. In 1988 he formed his jazz/fusion/Americana inspired group Béla Fleck and the Flecktones with Howard Levy, Victor Wooten and Roy Wooten. Despite many sojourns along the way, the group is reuniting this season, now celebrating close to forty years of collaboration. Fleck would create classical projects, like his double concerto for banjo and bass with bassist Edgar Meyer, where the two played their debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Béla also created a trio concerto for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, this time with bassist Meyer and the late table master Zakir Hussain. Insatiably driven to create for his instrument and to obliterate boundaries, Fleck collaborated and toured with the late piano master Chick Corea on three duet albums, "The Enchantment", the live recording "Two" and "Remembrance" between 2015 and 2024. With all this on his plate and an astounding nineteen Grammy awards under his belt, Fleck has time to have a continuing banjo duet collaboration with his wife and fellow banjo player/singer-songwriter Abagail Washburn. These two artists are also parents and are raising two sons in the Nashville area.

Antonio Sanchez, Edmar Castañeda, Béla Fleck 

Fleck’s newest group collaboration BEATrio is an acronym for the members first names, Béla, Edgar, and Antonio. Edgar is the Colombian harpist Edgar Castañeda whose has leant his brilliant virtuosity on this instrument to jazz and pop projects that featured Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D’Rivera, John Scofield and Sting. His heavenly harp work can also be heard on the Disney animated film Encanto from 2023.

Antonio Sanchez is a fluid drummer/percussionist, originally from Mexico City, whose work has previously been seen as a member of guitarist Pat Metheny’s Trio with bassist Christian McBride between 2005 through 2008. He has also worked with the late pianist Chick Corea, with rockers Trent Reznor and Dave Mathews, and has composed and played the drum-based musical score for Alejandro Iñárritu’s 2014 film Birdman.

This latest project, BEATrio, is just one more piece in the genre-defying puzzle that seems to drive Fleck’s musical aspirations. He has said that it is often rhythm that drives his playing, and he is often aware of how an orchestral scope to his work makes it more expansive. These elements are clearly on display on this collaborative album.

There is a global feel to this album. The three instruments seem to melt together in a symbiotic, organic way. There are elements of bluegrass, jazz, fusion and world music on display on this album. It’s a cultural feast of styles, sounds and colors that can’t be ignored.

The opener “Archipelago” sways with a Latin inspired feel. The rhythmic drive comes from a bass line that is maintained by Castañeda’s facile left hand and Sanchez’s deft percussive accompaniment. Fleck’s melodic banjo weaves in and out like a hummingbird quickly hovering over the nectar flower of the enticing melody. Just beautiful.

The group got a chance to work out some of the kinks on this mostly collaborated music when they performed at NYC’s Blue Note Jazz Club in 2024. “Each night felt like an adventure,” says Castañeda, “and it was special to see the audience experience the music’s evolution.”

“Pellucidar” is a stop/ start piece that seems to have the feel of theme to a detective mystery. Sanchez’s cadenced drum work and Castañeda’s harp create the stepped rhythm as Fleck’s banjo dances across the floor. Castañeda’s harp has a weightless feel as he explores the tonal possibilities of his instrument. Sanchez is particularly creative in his rhythmic magic that he skillfully manipulates seamlessly.

“Kaleidoscopes” is exactly that, a rhythmic and tonal Kaleidoscope that has an Afro-Caribbean dance feel. The trio move in synch with virtuosic sections that show joyous and impossibly fleet lines from three artists at the top of their game. Fleck’s Banjo lines are clean, precise and Castañeda’s harp hums with celestial buzz. Sanchez’s trap work is perfectly timed and explosively expressive. If this doesn’t raise your pulse, then see a doctor.

“Countryside” perhaps comes the closest to Fleck’s bluegrass roots, but even with a name like Countryside, Castañeda’s harp, Sanchez’s drum work and Fleck’s otherworldly banjo makes you believe this music is at home at a location that could be anywhere in the world. A feast of music cultures, colors and ideas combined so skillfully that it is a class by itself.

“Cloak and Dagger” is the most cinematic of the compositions. The music walks you through a scene of suspense and mystery. You feel you are sneaking around trying your best not to being discovered by the evil forces. Fleck spells out the theme and Castañeda has the dual role of bass lines from his left hand and harmony with his right hand. Castañeda eventually gets a chance to show his own expressiveness when he trades ideas in a give and take with Fleck. Sanchez takes his turn to make his own percussive statement close to the coda. This one is fun!

“Whispers of Resilience” opens with some slow, softly played string sounds from Castañeda before being matched by Fleck’s banjo strings. The trio create a wispy, hushed approach to creating the almost whispered, repeating melody. The three slightly intensify their playing in a sustained tonal approach to a simple melody. The cut seems to strangely end abruptly on my copy.

The album continues with “Coda” and its repeated, descending Banjo lines that send us to a peaceful place with sensitive playing by Fleck and some shimmering cymbal work by Sanchez. Castañeda maintains a steady bass line that anchors the piece.

“Walnut and Western” could easily be a theme song to a whimsical spaghetti western. Castañeda’s harp projects with sounds that seem to be from a fairy tale and Sanchez’s adds propulsion and fire. Fleck’s banjo creates a sustained whirl of sound, the armature of this song’s structure.

As the title implies, “Three Is Not a Crowd” is almost like a proclamation about how these guys feel playing together. The three work in synch, repeating each other’s line like musical Swiss movements. They change up the rhythmic time effectively always keeping the listener on their toes. Fleck and Castañeda exchange improvisational ideas like they share the same mind and Sanchez maintains a rhythm that just ebbs and flows as the music requires.

The album ends with “Hooligan Harbor” a stirring collaboration that has a driving beat that has some of the audaciousness of Irish folk music. You feel yourself getting up and doing a jig. Castañeda’s harp almost does a bass solo before allowing the higher register of his instrument to cover you with a blanket of joyous plucked notes. Fleck, always at his best when in his element, plays with vigor and panache that often accompanies Irish folk or dancelike bluegrass style music. Sanchez offers a powerful solo with rolling tom-tom and splashing cymbal work that just kills it.

“Touch and Go” is a bluegrass inspired hootenanny. Castañeda creates waves of flourishing notes against Fleck’s bubbling banjo and Sanchez creates the percussive counterpoint. Get ready to kick up your heels.

The Elegant Piano of a Storyteller. Ted Rosenthal Trio- "High Standards"

 

Ted Rosenthal Trio: High Standards-TMR Music

New York based Ted Rosenthal is a lyrical pianist whose work is often admired for his facile skill, invention, and conversationalist qualities. The man has the rare  ability to elegantly transform the jazz canon into a storytelling experience, and I compare his style to the great Tommy Flanagan, whose playing comes to mind as an influence. 

Rosenthal studied classical piano and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Manhattan School of Music in performance. Rosenthal’s love of jazz never left his soul. He studied with pianists Jaki Byard and Lennie Tristano, besides playing with such luminaries as Gerry Mulligan, Phil Woods and Bill Brookmeyer amongst others.

I first got to hear Rosenthal with his working trio of Noriko Ueda on bass and Tim Horner on drums, in a small, unmemorable hideaway in Mamaroneck, NY sometime back in the nineteen-nineties. Or was it the early two-thousands? No matter, at the time I was impressed by just how effervescent, joyful and elegant this pianist's performance was. Time together had honed the trio to develop an uncanny sixth sense for where Rosenthal’s fertile mind might lead and the results were top notch.

Besides his trio, solo and session work, Rosenthal has spent many of his subsequent years educating the next pianistic generation as a faculty member at his alma mater, The Manhattan School of Music, at Julliard, and at The New School jazz programs.

His latest album, High Standards, released in March of this year, is a thoroughly enjoyable, just under sixty-five-minute, nine-selection recording of some memorable standards by such composers as Bernstein/Sondheim, Carmichael/Mercer, and Van Heusen/Burke to name a few.

Rosenthal opens with Leonard Bernstein's “Jet Song,” from the show West Side Story. Rosenthal is joined by the bassist Martin Wind and his long-time drummer Tim Horner. The trio offers a playful jaunt through this energized music that was linked to a splendid dance number in the musical. Rosenthal dances on his keyboard, Wind punctuates the bravado sentiment and provides some arco poignancy, and Horner cadences the steps on his trap set to the point that you can see the gang members dance in your mind's eye.

Carmichael’s “Skylark” has been a favorite of improvisers for over eighty years. Rosenthal’s piano intro is a miniature masterful melodic statement that radiates with splendor before the trio joins with an expansive, soft swing. Wind offers a plucky bass solo as Horner deftly adds complimentary brush work. Rosenthal’s piano, never predictable, finds multiple ways to explore the melody by using dynamics and rhythmic changes.

“Old Devil Moon” is a Burton Lane composition that finds Rosenthal with his long-time bassist Noriko Ueda and drummer Quincy Davis. The three use a staccato rhythmic approach here that features some impressive bass pizzicato work in synch with some syncopated trap work, along with piano accents. Rosenthal can swing with the best of them, or he can provide stunning ascending and descending lines that flow from his keyboard like warm butter on hot pancakes. The music is energized and joyful. There are some creative exchanges between Ueda’s bass and Rosenthal’s piano, a treat that reveals just how well these two bandmates know each other.

The music continues with “Everything That Happens to Me,” originally played by Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra and sung by Frank Sinatra. The song also found versions popularized by voices like Billie Holiday and Chet Baker. Rosenthal expresses the thematic emotions of despair, loneliness, and the resolve of being on the wrong side of fate, with his own sensitive pianistic interpretation of this Matt Dennis composition.  A warm pizzicato solo by Wind is another feature.

Johnny Van Heusen’s “It Could Happen to You” offers hope, surprise, and romantic optimism in contrast to the previous composition.  Rosenthal cleverly changes the mood and treats this one with a more upbeat swing. Whatever the mood of the composition evokes, Rosenthal has the tools to explore these emotions. If the pianist feels joy in the music, he transmits that joy through to the listener using embellishment, tone and rhythmic variation. As a listener, the essence of the music is told to you aurally, but it is almost like the story is being conveyed visually. Erroll Garner was a master at this and so is Rosenthal.

The remainder of the album includes “To Life.” Marvin Hamlisch’s “One,” “Lover Man” made famous by Billie Holiday and Tom McIntosh’s “The Cup Bearer.”

The two trios were recorded on separate dates in July and August of 2024 and each offer their own special moments as they interact with the pianist. Ted Rosenthal’s playing has gotten even better over the years. His splendid command of the material and the bottomless depth of the man’s creative well from which he draws makes High Standards a delightful album that offers the listener hours of enjoyment.