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The Juilliard School
Presents the
Daniel Saidenberg Faculty Recital Series
Juilliard Jazz Quartet
(Juilliard Jazz Web Page)
With:
Ben Wolfe on Bass
http://www.benwolfe.com/
Ron Blake on Saxophones
www.ronblakemusic.com
Frank Kimbrough on Piano
(Kimbrough Website)
Carl Allen on Drums
www.carlallen.com
At
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
155 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
212.721.6500
Media Relations: Gloria Gottschalk
Dr. Roberta E. Zlokower
September 17, 2013
Program:
“Second Thoughts” (M. Miller), “Ah Rio”, “For Toddlers Only” (R. Carter), “Spiritual”, “Waltz for Gwen” (R. Blake), “Kudzu”, “For Duke” (F. Kimbrough), “Nutty” (T. Monk), “Little Jordan” (C. Allen).
What a wonderful venue for experiencing jazz. The ambiance is quiet and reverent, seating is raised with full view of, yet intimacy with, musicians, and you can hear the artists’ comments to the audience. The Juilliard Jazz Quartet, which I had recently reviewed at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, performed tonight at Juilliard in its Peter Jay Sharp Theater, conveniently located on West 65th Street. Although Ron Carter could not perform this time, Ben Wolfe, on bass, was resonating and ebullient. Joining Mr. Wolfe, the other three musicians were Ron Blake on saxophones, Frank Kimbrough on piano, and Carl Allen on drums. Band members’ original compositions, as well as those of Thelonius Monk and the late Mulgrew Miller were featured. The evening was called “A New Day, New Beginning”.
The program opened with Miller’s “Second Thoughts”. Ron Blake was in the lead, with breezy soprano saxophone in a swing beat. Atonal brassiness soon fused with Frank Kimbrough’s keyboard interpretation of the sax theme. Carter’s “Ah, Rio” was next, with soaring melodies from sax and piano, smooth and tropical. A warm, mambo rhythm ensued, assisted by Carl Allen’s clavé drums and cymbals. In the next work, Blake’s “Spiritual”, Ben Wolfe was featured on bass in melancholy refrains, before the tenor sax infused a midnight mood. The piano passages were played with crystalline clarity, with syncopated sax and the quartet’s echoing phrases. A drum-sax riff had engaging tempos, while the music ended with Mr. Kimbrough’s melancholy, ethereal piano. Blake’s “Waltz for Gwen” followed, opening with his own tenor sax, in an upbeat rosy theme. The energy of this sound was bluesy, yet effervescent, danceable, yet introspective.
Monk’s “Nutty” included piano trills and a great percussive solo by Mr. Allen. The audience was enthused, as the drum riff had an encore. There was a marching motif, with voluminous flourishes. A tribute piece, to four renowned jazz artists we recently lost, Mulgrew Miller, Cedar Walton, Marian McPartland, and George Duke, was next, composed by Kimbrough, “For Duke”. It was mournful and compelling, with a soaring tenor sax, as the audience sat in attentive awe. It played like a soothing slow dance, with candlelight and cognac, enhanced by Mr. Blake’s poignant saxophone. Carter’s “For Toddlers Only” opened with a sumptuous tenor sax and generous piano solo. Allen’s “Little Jordan” had a blasting sax and drum theme, rambunctious and enthusiastic. The piano keys seemed to fly. Kudos to all.
Pianist Frank Kimbrough, Bassist Ben Wolfe,
Saxophonist Ron Blake, Drummer Carl Allen.
Courtesy of Hiroyuki Ito
Pianist Frank Kimbrough, Bassist Ben Wolfe,
Saxophonist Ron Blake, Drummer Carl Allen.
Courtesy of Hiroyuki Ito
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