Multi-Reed Artist Ted Nash and his Quintet at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola

Ted Nash Qunitet live at Dizzy's Coca Cola  Plastic Sax Records

Often musicians come from musical families and so is the case with the saxophonist/composer/arranger Ted Nash. Both his father and uncle were accomplished jazz and west coast studio musicians. Father Richard “Dick” Nash’s work can be heard on albums by discriminating arranger/composers like Lalo Schifrin, John Williams and Pete Rugulo. Perhaps his most important association was as Henry Mancini’s favorite trombonist, playing with the maestro for over forty years from 1959 through 2000.  Ted’s uncle and namesake, Theodore Malcolm “Ted” Nash, was also a studio musician who played with Les Brown and was also favored sideman in Mancini’s band. Here is a recording the brothers did together.

With this pedigree, it is no wonder that our now modern-day Ted, a seasoned fifty-eight year old professional musician, should follow in these imposing footsteps. Not only has Nash made his own mark as a first call multi-reed artist - for the last nineteen years he has been a key member of Wynton Marsalis' Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra- He has established himself as a top rate composer and arranger. In 2010 Nash's Portraits in Seven Shades, a creative work of seven movements, each depicting the modern painters Chagall, Dali, Matisse, Monet, Picasso, Pollock and Van Gogh, was nominated for a Grammy. In 2017 his ambitious Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom won two Grammy awards, one for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and one for "Spoken At Midnight" for Best Instrumental Composition. 

Nash is the consummate musical explorer, he has never let his love for big band music get in the way of his playing creative improvised music in a myriad of settings. He has been an integral part of projects like his work with bassist Ben Allison on The Herbie Nichols Project or the trio with Allison and guitarist Steve Cardenas that celebrates the music of Jim Hall and Jimmy Giuffre on Quiet Revolution.  Not to be pigeonholed as a pure traditionalist he made his own free jazz explorations of the music of Ornette Coleman on his Quartet album The Creep.

With such an unquenchable thirst for ever expanding his musical horizons its nice to hear Nash play “live” on his latest album Ted Nash Quintet live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. The line up is superb with trailblazers like Warren Wolf on vibes, Gary Versace on piano, Matt Wilson on drums and the glue that holds it all together the veteran bassist Rufus Reid.

Nash and company offers up seven delightful compositions two of which, the opener “Organized Crime” and the next to last song “Sisters” are Nash originals. The remaining fare is a thoughtful assembly of songs by Chick Corea, Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk, Johnny Mandel and Henry Mancini.

The pace quickens right from the opening lines of Nash’s “Organized Crime.” Reid’s bulbous bass notes accentuating the rhythm under Wilson’s polyphony of bombs and crashes. Wolf offers a distinctive solo before Nash plays a searing, Coleman-esque alto solo.  Wilson’s playful antics are fill the air with electricity. The energy is palpable.

The band moves on to Corea’s masterpiece “Windows,” this time with Nash on flute reminiscent of the work on this by the great Hubert Laws. Wolf’s vibes and Versace’s piano lend an airy feel to this as Reid’s steady hand is probing with authority. Nash has wonderful intonation on the instrument. Versace, a pianist who deserves greater recognition, dances with superb sensitivity along with Reid in a gorgeous display of intuitive grace that is a highlight of the album.

Herbie Nichols, a cult figure on the piano known for his unique style, composed the next tune “Spinning Song.” Nash on alto and Wolf on vibes play the main theme in step. As the song changes to a slow swing Wolf again shows why he is a master of invention. The song has interesting breaks which the group navigates with effortless polish. Nash’s alto tone is rich and luscious as he trades notes with a lone Reid holding the line. Nash finds a delicate balance between a classic and modern tone. His playing brings you to the precipice at times but you never feel like you re in danger of falling off. 

What would a set list be without at least one Monk tune. The one Nash chooses is “Epistrophy,” brilliantly lead off by Wilson and Reid and played in unison by Versace, Wolf and Nash on alto. Monk would be shaking his leg in approval. Nash wails on his alto expressing a deep affection for the changes here and showing how well he has absorbed the tradition. Wolf loosens up the tune with his own excursion, a fountainhead of ideas, while Reid relentlessly lays down the powerful bass line. Versace’s piano solo is a marvelously twisted piece of invention as Wilson lands bombs and crashes behind him. This one is just a delight.

Nash takes to the microphone to explain how the next piece, Johnny Mandel’s beautiful ballad “Emily” is a dedication to his transgender daughter once Emily now Elias. This is a special moment for Nash, a man publicly acknowledging his unconditional love for his child. Played gorgeously by Gary Versace in duo with Nash’s transcendent clarinet, this one is special. Nash and Versace make beautiful music together and from Nash’s reaction that is caught on mic, Versace surprises him at times with his spontaneous and nuanced inventiveness. 
I recently praised a duo album by Fred Hersch and Anat Cohen using the same isntrumentation where I thought the two showed remarkable afinity for each other. Nash and Versace reach that same unfathomable simpatico here and it is just a treat to behold. You can tell by the complete and utter silence that the two command the room. The audience is spell bound. Bravo gentlemen!

Another Nash original, "Sisters," finds the saxophonist returning to his alto with relish and gusto on this quick paced swinger. Reid's bass line is in double time and flawless. Nash, Wolf and Versace all take turns burning down the house with their fleet, adreniline-paced inventions. 

The Nash-Mancini connection is inescapable and so it was appropriate to end the set with Mancini's playful "Baby Elephant's Walk." Nash plays the piccolo, an instrument rarely heard in jazz. Like the legendary Pied Piper, Nash leads the group on this rousing blues with joyful abandon, ending the show and the album on the perfect high note.

Live albums can at times be spoty or unisnpired, but Ted Nash Quintet live at Dizzy's Coca Cola is one of those rare recordings that has captiured a special moment in time, a moment when all things were working at the highest level and the only regret is that you weren't there to witness this for yourself.

The Harmonic Sorcery of Jerry Bergonzi's "Spotlight on Standards":

Jerry Bergonzi Spotlight on Standards SCD 2158

The Boston based tenor magician Jerry Bergonzi returns to the organ/tenor/drums format to spin his harmonic sorcery on his latest offering titled Spotlight on Standards. The saxophonist/educator known as the Gonz, while lauded by the insular community of his peers, is not a household name among the general public. He is known for his muscular, hard edged sound, his exquisite fiery technique and his boundless creativity.

Jerry Bergonzi grew up in Boston and started on clarinet at age eight. He credits a musical uncle who used to live upstairs from him with turning him onto jazz early. In youth bands  he learned from  two of the best instructors, John Laporta and Joe Viola and eventually studied  music education at University of Mass in Lowell, MA.  Bergonzi spent several years in New York developing his sound, jamming and shedding with other notable musicians of his era before getting a call from pianist Dave Brubeck. With Brubeck, Bergonzi traveled and played some of the largest and most prestigious festivals and venues in the world. It was a liberating experience and a steady paycheck. The first recording on his discography is from 1973 on Brubeck’s Two Generations of Brubeck. The now sixty-eight-year-old Bergonzi was the saxophonist with Brubeck’s Quartet from 1973-1975 and then again from 1979 to 1982. By the early eighties Bergonzi was back in Boston and began his teaching career, first with private instruction, then publishing books on improvisation and eventually becoming a full time professor at The New England Conservatory of Music where he teaches to this day. Over the years Bergonzi has written upward of one hundred songs and played as a leader or sideman on over thirty records.

On his latest, Spotlight on Standards, Bergonzi is joined by organist Renato Chicco and drummer Andrea Michelutti. This organ trio format is one the saxophonist last used with organist Dan Wall and drummer Adam Nussbaum back in 1999.

From the opening lines of the Cy Coleman classic “Witchcraft” you can hear Bergonzi’s muscular tenor is not about to play this or anything else straight up. It is his resolute willingness to re-harmonize the theme in his own unique way that makes the music so much more than a re-hash of an old standard. This is a re-imagining of the song where the melody is a mere armature upon which to reconstruct something fresh and new. Coupled with his signature saxophone sound the song takes on a new life.

The next four tunes are all Bergonzi originals. His distinctive technique uses creative articulation, a fluidity of thoughts and innovative dynamics to achieve that most precious of commodities- originality. Listen to the elastic logic of his saxophone on his composition “Bi-Polar.”  The notes gush like a wellspring of exploratory thought from a savant’s mind.  On “Blue Cube” he creates a memorable repeating motif. Chicco and Michelutti sustain the easy shuffle over which Bergonzi offers a series of deliberate, sometimes searing lines. He often takes no easily readable path, but nonetheless he lead you to his intended destination. Chicco’s B3 soloing is subtly but equally probing.

“First Lady” is an interesting composition with an uplifting, almost Bossa feel. Bergonzi’s use of the lower register of his instrument never fails to swing. He drifts over the changes with an airy lightness and solid conviction. Michelutti is a master of interjecting timely accents while maintaining a rock-steady rhythm.

Bergonzi’s mournful “Gabriella” is perhaps his most sensitive ballad on this album. The plaintive tenor sound is quite compelling throughout, offering a window into the deepest recesses of the artist’s soul.  It is a wistful cry that cannot be ignored. Chicco’s deft church-like organ brings a pious, religious quality to the whole proceeding. Bergonzi’s command of his instrument, using it as an extension of the human voice,  is extraordinary.

The program returns to the American Songbook with “Dancing in the Dark,” and “Out of Nowhere.” At all times the group displays a solid swing and a masterful ability to create surprising iterations of the melody.  On Johnny Mercer’s “Come Rain or Come Shine” we find Bergonzi’s at his best. His punchy sound articulates with authority as the rhythm section grooves along. He seems to draw from an inexhaustible well of ideas that never seem to repeat and never fail to surprise.

Ned Washington and Victor Young’s venerable standard “Stella by Starlight” is treated with authority and conviction when Bergonzi and company re-imagine this classic. The solid swing, the aggressive declaration of Bergonzi’s saxophone with his  rapid fire lines and Chicco’s unusual B3 musings that seem to directly descend from Larry Young, make this one special. It’s almost an entirely new song. Bergonzi’s solo is overflowing, bursting with ideas, Chicco’s playing is stellar and Michelutti is so subtly correct as to be transcendent.

Here is a link to hear "Witchraft" from Spotlight on Standards

https://soundcloud.com/highnote-savant-records/01-witchcraft-jerry-bergonzi

A Birthday Celebration Kenny Garrett’s 50th Birthday Celebration at The Iridium October 9, 2010

At fifty years old, the saxophonist Kenny Garrett has definitively come into his own. Despite forever being associated with Miles Davis, where he spent five years with the iconoclast trumpeter from 1986 through 1991, he is only credited on one Davis album “Amandla” from 1989.  It is time to evaluate the fine saxophonist on his own merits and not on his past associations, no matter how storied they may be. 

On this evening of celebration, Garrett who was celebrating his fiftieth birthday that night at the Iridium, rose to the occasion with a level of maturity and intensity that mesmerized the partisan audience.  Joined by the astute

Nat Reeves on bass, the irascible Benito Gonzalez on piano  the muscular drumming of Ronald Bruner Jr, and the subtle accents of Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Boccato, Garrett went through a repertoire mostly culled from his “Beyond the Wall” cd from 2006. He and his fellow musicians were using this gig as preparation for an upcoming tour of China. 

The atmosphere was expectant as Garrett and company took the stage. They started the set with "Calling” a Coltrane-like homage, reminiscent of the master’s clarion piece “A Love Supreme”. With Gonzalez’ heavy chordal piano work setting the ostinato mode over Reeves repeating bass line and the punishing drumming of Bruner, Garrett gave us a glimpse of what it might have been like to have watched Coltrane in one of his seminal, trance-like explorational sessions. Garrett’s searing alto builds to ever increasing intensity, over the steady rhythmic background. The bell of his horn pours out an explosion of cascading notes, delivered at a frenzied pace, each note clearly articulated. He has mastered the idiom. 

On “Beyond the Wall” we are treated to a hard bop, carpeting vamp from pianist Gonzalez, who is clearly from the lineage of  McCoy Tyner.  Nat Reeves is a pleasure to watch. He plays his upright bass at a frenzied pace with an almost straight-jacketed posture. All the while he has a joyful composure, as his fingers move up and down the fret board with astonishing speed and nimbleness, while the beads of sweat pour down his face. The sun glassed Bruner plays with such pounding intensity you think he is going to put one of his sticks right through the skins of his drum set. His attack is probably the hardest I have ever witnessed and a bit more than I think is required, but there is no doubt that he drives Garrett to new heights with his hard driving intensity. Mr. Garrett, as Howard Mandel once wrote for Downbeat, is a "righteously devoted musician working toward a purpose somewhat higher than mere entertainment,". I witnessed the trance-like state he achieved during one of his solos where he played his alto in a Middle Eastern motif that was absolutely hypnotic.  

When soloing Mr. Garrett rocks back and forth with his horn in a manner that looks and feels like the motion often exhibited by religious zealots as they reach a state of enlightened euphoria. It is this quest to achieve enlightenment through his music that earmarks his music, much as it did Mr.Coltrane’s before him.  He can wail with an earnest purity in the higher registers, with the influence of Pharoah Sanders, another galactic traveler, most apparent.

Despite these powerful influences, Garrett has expanded his musical vision well beyond these, his formidable predecessors. He has incorporated elements of soul, funk and hip-hop into his repertoire with no preconceived notion as to their hierarchical value. His ending rap on a vamp based on Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon”, showcased some piano work by hip-hop producer Carlos McKinney and offered Mr. Bruner a chance to show off his funky side.

About midway through the first set Mr. Garrett introduced Wang Guowei, who is a master of the two-stringed Chinese instrument the erhu.  


 On “Tsunami”, a delicate ballad that mixes Americana influences with Asian sounds, Mr. Garrett went to the piano and Nathan Webb took over the drum kit. The ehru emits a sorrowful sound that is strangely emotive and under the skilled hands of Mr. Guowei it was like being transported to an intimate venue in mainland China. Mr. Webb’s skillful and delicate touch was in perfect harmony with this sensitive music. Garrett’s skill at composing such a unique piece of music with its’ Asian influence bespeaks highly of the many facets of this talented musician. 

The saxophonist did a marvelous duet with the gospel pianist John Mercier on the classic from the Billie Holiday songbook,  “ We’ll Be Together Again”. Mr. Garrett has a firm understanding of the tradition of this music and in this most beautiful rendition he evoked the tonal elegance of Johnny Hodges, as Mr. Mercier gently accompanied unobtrusively behind him.  On the second set, Garrett was joined by the pianist Mulgrew Miller for this song> D driven by the more exploratory Mr. Mulgrew, Mr. Garrett’s horn took on a more searching less honeyed tone. The two pianists, Mr. Gonsalez and Mr. Mercier, watched in awe from the sidelines, as Mr. Mulgrew’s worked his magic.