Just the other evening I was walking down a Manhattan street when I felt the first hint of autumn’s chill; the cool breeze that heralds New York’s transformation back into Woody Allen’s town, the city I fell in love with so many years ago. I stopped on the sidewalk, knowing it was time to head indoors for some real music. I slipped into The Jazz Standard and sank into one of its lovely curved red booths. There I heard some beautiful sounds. Great original jazz compositions were performed by composer/bassist Ben Wolfe, pianist Orrin Evans, Drummer Donald Edwards and sax master Stacy Dillard. And smoking plates of haute barbecue were everywhere. What a fine evening it was.
Wolfe, known for playing bass with Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis and other luminaries, commenced with his attention-grabbing "The Good Doctor" from his 2013 album From Here I See. He then stepped forward to blithely announce that he was dispensing with his play list because he felt like performing his ballad "Love Is Near". This lovely serenade placed Dillard’s saxophone front and center. But it was the brassy "Community" that really brought out his inner Coltrane. The night kept getting better.
"Heroist", an obvious favorite of the composer (and for good reason) was up next and it was magical. Wolfe, who had kept himself in the background as far as his instrument went, really started to take center stage to show how dynamic a double bass can be. This thrilling composition took many guises, at times it sounded like music from a chase scene from a classic movie thriller. Other times it drifted into odd, unexpected realms allowing Evans’s piano and Wolfe’s bass to have their own conversation in one style while Edwards’ drums and Dillard’s sax made their own very different connection. Then it got really intense; Edwards’ drums sounded as if two drummers, each with a different style, were playing at the same time. Dillard, now on soprano saxophone, became frenetic and alarmingly free. Then the whole thing slowed down and ended in an eerily calm, minimalist stop that was reminiscent of the iconic ending of John Adams’ classical piece "The Chairman Dances". Then it was over. Whew! "Heroist" would certainly be great in a movie, perhaps for something in the vein of the Louis Malle/Miles Davis classic Elevator to the Gallows.
The meditation on tone called "The Balcony" was quite bold; Wolfe allowed himself several minutes at the beginning and the end of the piece to play alone, just the bass, contemplative, trying out new paths here, there and everywhere. Evans’ piano was equally daring, often calling up memories of Bill Evans, but without much of the late master’s brightness; rather there was just a touch of dark menace coming through. It was haunting and mesmerizing. I was quite surprised later on to discover that this piano master is only 36 years old; he plays like someone who has been around forever, and I mean that as a compliment.
Dillard is a star in the making with a style on both tenor and soprano sax that is his very own, both elegant and restless. Wolfe’s compositions allowed him to really stake out his own claim again and again, and at one point when the others were playing for a while without him, he actually stepped aside and let them take the entire stage without him. When he came back, returning to the tenor sax, it was grand.
Edwards has a mastery over the drums that is truly astonishing. Just when I thought I had begun to grasp what his influence was (Afro-Cuban?) he fearless launched into something that sounded quite modern, as if someone else had taken over. Marvelous.
Could an hour and a half have gone by that fast? When the music is that fine, I guess the answer is yes. So I am telling everyone I know, get out of the sun now. Fall and winter are on their way, and New York City is coming back to life. It’s time to go back inside where the magic is.
For information on upcoming shows at the Jazz Standard click here.
