Our man in NYC 1

CJ Intern's NYC Adventure Part 1: Does Anyone in This Town Have a Functioning Bass Amp?

by Jeremy Tsuei

One of the hit songs in Hamilton is, of course, "The Room Where It Happens". Three days in, and I think it's very apt to describe New York as very much "the city where it happens". I won't bore you with all the touristy details, but I do have a few updates on the music front...

Thursday: Kenny Garrett at the Blue Note

What a way to start! This one was unfortunately marred by tech difficulties at the beginning, with the bass amp not working when the band kicked off. Still, a powerful opening to the set, put together to promote Garrett's latest album, Sounds from the Ancestors. Despite knowing about the faulty gear, the bassist persisted with taking a solo during the opener, with the techies frantically going at it as he did so. Fortunately the sound was restored - to much applause from the audience. Although sound issues persisted - Kenny had some rapping/ spoken word sections which seemed to get drowned out when it reached the bar area - the overall sound was great, combining gospel, Afro-Cuban, and fusion influences. There was good use of texture with strong vocalists and percussion, and some very singable melodies. A special shoutout to the nice aunties whom I sat next to, who heard my thick Aussie "Good onya" as something like "Gouda Enya". We all learnt something from each other, and what a venue for it!

Friday part 1: Smalls Afternoon jam session hosted by Andrew Kushnir

It's always been a dream of mine to jam in New York City, and well, this was it, warts and all. Once again, a non-functioning bass amp, although the house bassist and I figured it was likely a bum cable. Luckily the house bass - fitted out with Spirocores and medium-high action - gave out plenty of acoustic sound. Shoutout to Tony, a guitarist who had just moved to NYC from Melbourne - and whom I had jammed with before, at the one Blondies jam session I've attended! Good luck for your audition man. This one you can watch online! I come on about halfway through: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn_oDjotUcw&t=9327s

Friday part 2: Il Travatore at the Met Opera

This one came recommended to me by a drummer friend of mine, Paul. An amazing sound and a really jaw-dropping revolving set. During intermission, a fellow remarked that this one was a bit "sleepy", but (for this first-time Met Opera attendee, anyway) I found the pace to be very quick - we got to intermission before I knew it. Perhaps the quick nap I had in my seat before the concert opened helped with this. The singing was top-tier (what else would you expect), and the orchestra sounded fantastic. Sitting at the very back, however, the small scale of the actors contrasted with the intensity of the tragedy - it was like seeing microscopic minions with maximum melodrama. A fanfare in the middle of the first act was particularly impressive, featuring some powerful cast percussion. In Canberran pro-am and community theatre, we generally try to limit the cast's access to percussion as much as possible. But here the cast handled it with aplomb.

That's it so far! I'm about 10% through my trip, so I'm sure you'll be hearing more as I go along. For now - Jeremy the CJ Intern signing out...

More Smalls

I've commented before that Wayne Kelly's Trio leading a Wednesday night jam session at the Old Canberra Inn is our local Smalls. I got there last Wednesday. It was cold, cold outside but snug inside with wood fires behind glass and the unexpected warmth of a slab hut, no doubt sealed against drafts. So the venue was hot, good for boutique beers, and the music was too. The band was Wayne, Ben and Mark. The sitins were three drummers, one bass, one trumpet, one piano, one vocal. The piano and vocal were a pair who play Cuban music locally, so we got some great, infectious latin grooves. This really is something special. Elizabeth and Jonathan play in the local band, Clavemania, most recently at Vivaldi. Matthew was the trumpet, a local boy now student at the James Morrison Academy in Mount Gambier. Very nice playing, not least on Joy Spring. The drummers were Ken, Mitch and Andrew. I got to play bass on three favourites: Caravan, Alone together and All blues, mostly with Wayne and a variety of drummers and Matthew. Good fun and nice to play Ben's German trade bass.

But a further Smalls matter has also taken some recently. I thought the Smalls online feed was shut, but no, it's free with registration for live shows and charged for the historical collection. Three sessions each night, 7.30am-4am NYC time, about 10am-6pm AEST. Neat. Two bands then a jam session. Funny thing, over a few days I saw both Ari Hoenig and Joe Farnsworth, two renowned NYC drummers who visited Canberra in just the last few weeks. Small world; Smalls and the world; our small Smalls.

Wayne Kelly (piano), Ben O'Loghlin (bass) and Mark Sutton (drums) lead the weekly jam session at Old Canberra Inn, 7-9pm Wednesdays. Sitins this evening were Matthew Nicholls (trumpet), Andrew Howard, Ken Nosworthy and Mitch Preston (drums), Elizabeth Obando Paz (vocals), Jonathan Cohen (piano) and Eric Pozza (bass).

Smalls NYC live stream

After hours

After Blue Note, to a true jazz dive. Smalls is different. Small, lax, informal, cheap, downstairs, full of local musos searching for contacts and a hip audience that feels like the beat generation must have been in the fifties. (And a few snappily dressed characters with references to other eras. It’s interesting how themes re-emerge. We talk now of hipsters. The original hipsters – or hepcats - were from ~1940 and led to the beat generation.) This is a place of informality although there’s a seriousness and passion here; it’s just expressed easily. We heard two bands then the start of a jam session that would presumably go for the night. Frank Lacey (trombone) led a driving hard-bop Smalls Legacy Band with Duane Eubanks (trumpet), Stacy Dillard (tenor), Theo Hill (piano), Russell Hall (bass) and Kush Abadey (drums). Plenty of hard driving swing from Bobby Watson, Freddie Hubbard and the like. Russell Hall stayed on to play with a trio of Kyle Poole (drums) and Emmet Cohen (piano). They played a short contemporary set with close interaction, open eyes and lots of smiles before opening up for a Next Generation (read, jam) session. We heard a few trumpets, a few guitars, a tenor, replacement pianists and bass before we set off, but it was going strong. Smalls is obviously a community as well as a venue and we were just visitors but it remains a special place on my jazz map. Just some pics.

More jammin’

I saw a description of Smalls as a great and involving club, but one that you can’t make a living playing at. I doubt it’s an MBA-grade business model but it’s got a great community with jams that trail into the night. I certainly didn’t outlast this one. There are some decent players visiting, some very good. I met Sagit Zilberman who’s an alto saxist and graduate of Berklee, but there are tons of others hanging out for a jam at Smalls and a number of other local bars. You can see the anticipation on their faces. Nerve-wracking but great fun. Here are some pics, although mostly without names.

What connections!

It’s a tale, tall but true, that those who survive are well connected. In jazz, performers note their connections as their CV. I looked up those for Don Friedman’s quartet on Wikipedia and it’s a stunner. It includes, but doesn’t stop at, Ornette Coleman, Chet Baker, Pepper Adams, Booker Little, Michel Petrucciani, Stan Getz, Pointer Sisters and Dionne Warwick. I could have guessed. These guys were mature, capable, absolutely swinging and committed and hard working. The long first set said it all. This was a blast. Hot and inventive playing, impassioned and hard-hitting. And in a little club like Smalls where they have to climb over you just to get gear in and out.

First on I noticed a seventies world-jazz vibe. Perhaps it was the rippling piano, the earnest flute and the syncopated bass that reminded me of a favourite album by Norman Connors. I mentioned it to Don and he didn’t recall it. But then into good solid hard-bop with piano that was nicely behind the beat in solos. Bass that was hard swinging, unintrusive in accompaniment with steady and beautifully predictable patterns, but authoritative solos that steadied then exploded up the neck with runs of easy speed, soft tone and accurate pitch. This was two hands as one on piano, all melded together to express easy chords over varying ranges. Soprano sax that also fit the ‘70s era with indistinct pitches pleading through various alterations and perhaps Arabic scales. Most of the tunes were originals, and mostly they were approached as hard-bop, sharing solos and swapping fours between heads. But there were also ballads and a classical interlude with Don’s Chopinesque and a new melody to the chords of All the things you are, called Almost everything, rewritten in the tradition of the boppers. They finished on a What is this thing called love, with a final touch of Hothouse. And hot it was in Smalls. This was hot and loud playing, committed and powerful swing and I loved it.

Don Friedman (piano) led a quartet with Mel Martin (flute, soprano, tenor sax), Harvie S (bass) and Eliot Zigmund (drums) at Smalls, NYC.

The Aussies have it

I was surprised to be catching an Australian at the local jazz club on my first night in NYC but I shouldn’t be. There’s a great awareness of Australian actors here in the USA. JC Stylles is not a household name like Kate Blanchett or Russell Crowe, but he put on a lovely, rollicking show with his organ trio. Organ trios are like that: sweet flowing music with softly rounded tone and those wonderful chordal swells that only an organ can do, with the bouncy, fresh guitar. JCS did a fine job with crisp acoustic tone, delicate pick work and rapid runs that played with the wispy music that supported his solos. I loved Pat Bianchi’s organ. He looked around and played joyfully behind the guitar, but for solos his eyes were closed in a sly grin of comfortable concentration and the lines were busily arpeggiated and rich in easy-going dissonance that did no disservice to the cheery nature of this format. The drummer was Carmen Latorre who swung with ease and stunned me with what must have been the loudest snap this side of Philly (but this is a small room). This was the downtown release of JC’s new CD, although the drummer was changed. An entertaining and lively concert in the fine mainstream tradition of the organ trio.

JC Stylles (guitar) led an organ trio at Smalls Jazz Club, NYC, with Pat Bianchi (organ) and Carmen Latorre (drums).

Big city, small club

We’d arrived by bus from DC at Penn Station on 9th Ave. We staying at W4th street, right down 9th Ave, right in the heart of the West Village. All thanks to Megan who had found an apartment just a short block from Smalls and Village Vanguard. This is cool. I saw the sign as we passed for Smalls Friday afternoon jam session. We lodged our luggage and managed 30 minutes and the two bands we saw were both decent with two good double bassists. The first was playing a bop blues as I entered – a common one that I could recognise but not name. The second band was led by a singer, so attractive and involving. An Australian was playing that evening, JC Styles. He was having a CD launch for his organ trio early on. We had a local Italian dinner (very good and homely, as I reckon Italian food should be). I made a return to Smalls (more later). As the name says, it’s small, but drinks are OK and entry covers the whole night and there’s no compulsion to buy drinks (although I do), unlike other clubs. So far, this is jazz Heaven. You’ve maybe seen it on the internet video feed, but here are some pics. The website is wonderful, but live audio feeds and recordings of numerous performances.

Smalls