by Dan Lehner and FoM
(See our Friday recap
here.)
It's a rare treat for jazz audiences to be able to hear a large work performed in its entirety, especially when the music on drummer
Dan Weiss's "Fourteen" is a Herculean task to perform just on record. However, Weiss didn't assemble his particular large ensemble on Saturday night just for the hell of it: they all shone through, even if some had to pull double-duty (e.g.
Matt Mitchell playing piano and glockenspiel;
Jacob Garchik on trombone and tuba). Weiss's music is an amalgam of his influences, requires a working knowledge of everything from Indian classical music to metal, and each ensemble member shared in the amalgam, through both their own parts and occasional group action, such as intricate clapping. The most impressive moments were found in the impossibly tight, unreal sounding vocal harmonies of Judith Berkson,
Maria Neckam and
Lana Is, as well as outrageously different trombone solo trading between Garchik's sonority and
Ben Gerstein's almost reversed-sounding idiosyncrasies.
Following Weiss at The Players Theater, alto saxophonist
Darius Jones was busy fleshing out his own diverse musical concept. Jones's group covered a free, textural, occasionally aggressive terrain, shaded with skittery drum n' bass hues from drummer
Ches Smith - which could turn to R&B-submerged ballad jazz or hardcore
Public Enemy-style boom-bap on a whim. Jones's unison duet with French vocalist
Emily Lesbros was particularly poignant, the singer explaining the piece was about tolerance and unity (a sentiment
sorely relevant in her home country right now). Jones's band also included the heavily used pianist
Matt Mitchell (who had just played a set before and would play a set afterward), who soaked up Jones's concept singularly, creating dirhythmic concepts with just his two hands.
Over at the Minetta Lane Theater, veteran band
The Cookers proved once again that music is the ultimate Fountain of Youth. Between them, the seven members of this jazz supergroup (
Donald Harrison (alto),
Billy Harper (tenor),
Cecil McBee (bass),
George Cables (piano),
Billy Hart (drums)
Eddie Henderson and
David Weiss (trumpets)) have more than 250 years of experience and have played on over 1,000 recordings. But, make no mistake: these septuagenarians still have serious chops, taking no prisoners with their ferocious blend of hard-bop. Harrison, the baby of the group at 54, was absolutely riveting, tossing out extended solos with power and finesse. Suffice to say: these guys know how to put on a clinic.