Later in the night, after the book launch, is not so late for jazz these days. We must be an ageing cohort. Whatever, Ben Lerner was playing at Smiths at 7pm with his quartet on tour before recording an album with ABC and they were something pretty special. The others were Steve Barry, well known and big handed with busy, rich, arpeggiated solos; Max Alduca, for some time trained locally, of solid groove with busy syncopations and some quick fills up the neck; and Alex Young, new to me but again syncopated, intensely grooved, sharply snared and creatively responsive. They were all a pleasure, with Ben's lithe and expressive alto over, playing his compositions. I reminded me of bop, heads and solos and groove, but not neo-bop. That was conservative; this was more creative, open to broader stylistic influences, far more varied in chordal structures and not all 2-5s but you could still hear those pentatonic or other solo patterns that were just so effective from the alto and the heads were intriguing and often unexpected while the intensity and drive remained up. This was some fascinating music and it's not at all surprising that Ben is off to NYC and Manhattan School of Music. We can only wish him well but he's got a great start. In the meantime, I look forward to mixing his gig at Smiths and later hearing the band's take from whatever ABC studio.
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