Nussbaum, Anderson & Noy: 3/4 of the group Bann Play the Turning Point Cafe

The Turning Point Cafe in Piermont , NY
photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2011

Twenty-six miles from New York City in the charming little village of Piermont, NY., is the home of the  Turning Point cafe and restaurant. The town picturesquely sits at the edge of  a wide section of the Hudson river and  in the shadow of the Tappan Zee Bridge in Rockland County, New York. Owner John McEvoy, has a penchant for blues, folk rock and "shit kicking" music and he has been bringing national and local acts to this area for the last thirty-five years. For the last three seasons McEvoy  has been collaborating with jazz saxophonist & promoter John Richmond to bring top notch jazz to this intimate music venue, mostly on Monday and Sunday nights.

Oz Noy, Adam Nussbaum & Jay Anderson of BANN
 photo
 by  Ralph A. Miriello  c 2011

This past Sunday, I made my way across the bridge to see the trioof drummer Adam Nussbaum, bassist Jay Anderson and electric guitarist Oz Noy perform. Together with tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake, they make up the group BANN
( an acronyn for their last names Blake, Anderson, Nussbaum and Noy.). I recently reviewed their most recent offering  "As You Like", recorded at Anderson's Mountain Rest Studio in nearby New Paltz, NY and thought it was a top notch effort. (check out my review by clicking here).


I have seen drummer Adam Nussbaum perform before with guitarist John Abercrombie, with whom he regularly works. He is a drummer's drummer who always seems to have a coterie of other fellow players who come out to see him perform. He is a muscular, animated drummer with a firm attack and a keen sense of time. He is deft with brushes and uses his cymbals tastefully. Nussbaum is originally from Norwalk, CT and  has worked with John Scofield, Dave Liebman and James Moody to name a few.

Adam Nussbaum
photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2011

Jay Anderson is the consummate journeyman bassist. His resume includes stints with Maria Schneider's award wining "Sky Blue" orchestra, singer/songwriter Michael Franks, the late great saxophonist Michael Brecker and Crusaders pianist Joe Sample as well being a first call  sideman for many other musicians. He can keep impeccable time or produce poignant solos with his facile technique.

Jay Anderson
phtoto by Ralph A. Miriello c 2011

Israeli born guitarist Oz Noy is the youngster in the group and the wild card in the deck. His playing is an odd amalgam of jazz, rock, funk and blues. His slant on the music always comes from a contemporary point of view. He crosses between genres with ease. He is an exciting player who doesn't play conventionally. His  excursions can be  surprisingly brilliant or conversely  leave you and  his fellow players scratching their heads. Besides working with Adam and Jay in BANN, he has played with super drummers Dave Wekl, Vinnie Colaiuta and Anton Fig along with bassists Will Lee and James Genus in his own power trios.

The group started their set at the Turning Point with an unusual take on the Jerome Kern classic "All the Things You Are", one my favorite cuts from their recent album. Noy uses an array of electronic devices to supplement his guitar sound and he modulated through the changes as Nussbaum used subtle brush strokes and soft traps with Anderson gently loping on his bass. The result was an old standard that  took on a new and contemporary sound.

The group included the  Thelonious  Monk's tune "Evidence" as a starting point for its exploration into staccato syncopation. The trio was able to negotiate the jagged starts and stops of the tune with a loose precision as Noy lead the way and Anderson and Nussbaum followed the chicane of changes in joyful tandem.  You could see these guys were having some fun.

Jay Anderson's decidedly western sounding "At Sundown" , also from the latest album, is a classic piece of Americana inspired music. Here Noy skillfully employs a glass slide to create the sound reminiscent of a pedal steel guitar. Using his brushes once again, Nussbaum animatedly hushes his cymbals at precise breaks in the music to great effect. Anderson's bass is warm and inviting, as Noy's guitar sounds like it is taking a page from the Bill Frisell play book.

Oz Noy
photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2011

Noy's "Hot Peas and Butter"  found the guitarist getting  into some adventurous improvisation with a line from Jimi Hendix's " Third Stone from the Sun" figuring prominently during part of his solo. The band seemed a bit afloat on this one.

The group broke for a brief intermission and came back with a crowd pleasing Nussbaum blues titled "Sherwood Baby", with  Noy and Anderson both playing soulful solos.



Almost immediately after this blues, Noy started to  noodle on a lick from the melody "If I Only Had A Brain"from the  musical the Wizard of Oz. . His angular approach was immediately picked up on by his fellow band mates to the delight of the crowd. I am not sure if this was a part of the planned repertoire. It seemed more like a spontaneous response to a fleeting riff and it was fun to watch it develop.This is what makes "live", in the moment music so special.

In what was perhaps my favorite performance of the night, the trio did a wonderful ballad version of
John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" at a slow, sauntering pace that allowed for some beautiful solo moments from the three musicians. Anderson was particularly poignant on his bass solo.

The final three tunes were Monk's "Straight No Chaser"; Noy's catchy "Minor Shuffle" which could easily become a it's own minor classic and a finale of Miles Davis "All Blues" with tenor saxophonist John Richmond sitting in for the last song.

It was a great evening of music and the Turning Point cafe is a wonderful venue that will hopefully continue to provide another needed place for great jazz to be experienced.

This article is also posted on The Huffington Post at
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ralph-a-miriello/nussbaum-anderson-noy-34-_b_887239.html

Review of Walter Smith III "Live in Paris" The Magic of Chemistry

Artist: Walter Smith III

CD: Walter Smith III “Live in Paris”

Recorded:  “Live” at Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club, Paris, France July 2008


The soon to be thirty, Walter Smith III is a maturing voice on tenor saxophone who seems to be at his best when in the accompaniment of a fine trumpet player. He has front lined with some notables including the prolific Terrence Blanchard, as well as the up and coming Christian Scott, and the fiery Sean Jones all with laudable results, but it is with the prodigious Ambrose Akinmusire where he seems to have found a true kindred spirit.

On “Live in Paris”, Smith’s second album as a leader, the interplay with Akinmusire is visceral and palpably energetic. This set was recorded in July of 2008 in the club Sunset-Sunside in Paris and subsequently was released in October 2009. Ben Ratliff of the New York Times did a favorable review back in March of this year (click here to read Ratliff’s review). A friend recently turned me on to this powerful performance.

The opening salvo, “Blues” is an extended session on the blues with some fine individual moments On the introduction Smith delves deeply into a thoughtful solo exploration on his tenor. He has a strong, clear, deep-throated tone. He creates his own landscape of sounds, using a combination of slowly brewed tonal ideas that he intersperses with rapid crescendos of free flowing notes. He and Akinmusire take a brief but rousing duet at the head, showing a strong, unified symbiosis that has roots in some of the stellar sax/trumpet front lines of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers but with a modern edge.

This band is a fully integrated unit that plays with the precision of a Swiss timepiece. Ambrose Akinmusire’s trumpet is beautifully emotive on this cd. He employs soft, demurred passages, slickly slurred lines and poignant punctuations that show great sensitivity and impeccable timing. It is hard to say who spurs on whom on this frontline since both Smith and Akinmusire seem to be invigorated by each other’s solo work.

The rhythm section is an essential part of this wonderful chemistry. Aaron Goldberg has a tremendous ear for picking up fragments of ideas from his fellow musicians and expanding on them. He uses these fleeting thoughts to prod both Smith and Akinmusire in a continuous flow of rapid-fire dialogue and as a source of inspiration for his own solo explorations.

An introductory solo by Matt Brewer aptly titled “Bass Solo” leads into the breezy “Aroca”. Aaron Goldberg’s solo work is particularly lyrical and moving as he dances with a light touch that has a crystalline quality at times. Smith takes this cue during his own thoughtful solo, undulating his way through the armature of the song like the gentle ebb and flow of an incoming tide. Akinmusire’s solo is a model of restraint, deftly accompanied by Brewer and Marcus Gilmore’s timely accents.

Another highlight is the group’s take on Benny Golson’s “Stablemates”. The song’s jagged lines offer the two frontline horns a chance to do a bit of a dance around each other before they each go solo. Akinmusire muses over Brewer’s wandering bass lines. Smith takes flight with a fluid tenor solo before Goldberg adds a magical interlude that sets the stage for some wonderful conversational work between the three members of this potent rhythm section.

Goldberg starts the intoxicating sway of the rhythm on “Shed” on solo piano before the frontline play the exotic melody in unison. Smith is at his most sensual here using delicate slurs and sonorous screeches to accentuate the anguish he feels from the melody line. The inventive Goldberg takes you on his own journey maintaining the ostinato of the bass line with his left hand as his right hand flourishes off a series of unexpected sidebars. Akinmusire enters using thoughtful, measured phrases that glide across the melody, slowly building tension with ever increasing intensity in a sustained, controlled manner. He chooses not to use firebrand pyrotechnics on his trumpet (more Miles than Freddie) but is nonetheless very effective.

The final song of the set is Sam Rivers' “Cyclic Episode” which has become a staple of Smith’s repertoire. The driving force of Brewer and Gilmore create the atmosphere where Goldberg, Smith and Akinmusire can shine during their individual solos. Smith is particularly flowing here with Gilmore spurring him on with timely crashes and rolls.

This is a top notch ensemble that has the magic of great chemistry on their side. Hopefully we will be able to hear more from them while the magic is still alive..



Musicians: Walter Smith III (tenor saxophone), Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Aaron Goldberg (piano), Matt Brewer ( bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums).

 Here is Walter Smith III with Ambrose Akinmusire's Quartet Live at the Jazz Standard