Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish)

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I saw the Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd quartet last night. I got a table in the second row from the bandstand, just left of center. A great start to a wonderful evening.
In my view, there are two types of jazz groups that are more likely to produce extraordinary music. One is a group where most of the musicians haven't played together much, or at all. In this situation the band often listen more intently to each other, and/or being excited about being in a new situation, solo more dynamically than usual. My other ideal type of group is a long-standing unit. The trio of Lacy, Avenel, and Betsch have been together over 10 years, while Lacy and Rudd have been playing together on and off for about 40 years. To quote Lacy from the liner notes of his latest release, "Monk's Dream":

"For me, jazz is about research, invention, history (tradition), and above all collaboration* and play*. When you work on interesting material with the same talented people over a long period of time, something organic takes place, and you have the possibility to create a certain spontaneous magic together." (*'d items italicized in original)

This is truly a great *group*, who continually listen to and interact with each other. As Roswell Rudd is once again steadily collaborating with Steve Lacy, he has now clearly established a rapport with Lacy's rhythm section of bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel and drummer John Betsch, and was riffing for/soloing with Avenel as well as Lacy. These episodes of collective improvisation may harken back to the beginning of Lacy's and Rudd's careers, when they played "traditional jazz" (Royal Garden Blues, etc.). The backings for improvisation were varied: some solos were clearly defined; others were accompanied by riffing/counterpoint from another instrument, and then sometimes the roles were reversed, with the new soloist becoming the lone lead voice.
Lacy always begins a set with a Thelonius Monk number, and, like Monk, his own compositions also often create solid structures for improvisation by incorporating repeated fragments and riffs. Perhaps why I enjoy this music so much is that, while improvising, the band is clearly mindful and respectful of the structure of the composition they are playing. Not one solo was a result of merely "running the changes."
Given the absence of a piano, Lacy and Rudd often employ pitches/sounds in their solos that defy accurate musical notation. The squeals and bent notes from Lacy's soprano sax and the growls and multiphonics from Rudd's trombone was an additional source of contrast throughout the evening. Being a collaborative effort, Avenel and Betsch were also frequent soloists, and, being marvelous musicians, produced consistently provocative and entertaining improvisations.
Given the nature of jazz, there is no such thing as being guaranteed a magical set or two when spending an evening in a jazz club. However, the Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet is about as close to a lock as you can get.

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Topic - Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish) - Alex V 18:08:09 03/10/00 (6)

Re: lucky guys... - Fernando 12:21:54 03/12/00 (0)

Re: - Dmitry 23:30:28 03/11/00 (0)

Re: Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish) - Serge 22:58:10 03/10/00 (0)

Re: Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish) - WWorth 19:57:21 03/10/00 (2)

Re: Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish) - Serge 23:06:18 03/10/00 (1)

Re: Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet (longish) - WWorth 15:22:33 03/11/00 (0)

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