Rick Mandyck Quartet at the Musicquarium

It's the week before Halloween, and with my dad in a bachelor mode tonight with my mom out of town, we headed to the Musicquarium to listen to four of our local favorites: Rick Mandyck, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop, and my brother Thomas. The Origin Mondays at the Triple Door's Musicquarium are always fun, and this night in particular, as a considerate, listening audience was present (as opposed to the potential inconsiderate, talking audience that tends to be present).

After scarfing down some Seven Flavor Beef, the band launched into a groovy version of Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise. They followed this with a saxophonist favorite, Take the Coltrane, side-stepped through a beautiful ballad (can't remember the name, now, of course), pounded away through Rick's composition, Side Air Bags, and ended the set with the Stanley Clarke composition that seems to make the rounds in every Seattle jazz group, Why Wait.

It should be noted that the Earshot Jazz Festival was in full effect in the large room with Dave Douglas and his Fatty Arbuckle tribute project. Dave took the time to check out a scorching trumpet solo by Thomas during the second set on Frank Foster's composition, Simone. He shoulda stuck around! The second set evolved with Rick's little ditty, Short Shorts, Wayne Shorter's This is For Albert, and closed the set off with more Wayne, this time something from the Miles Davis book, Fall. The short third set was made up of McCoy Tyner's The Greeting, Joe Henderson's Inner Urge, and Claudine Francois' Trapeze.

I love this band -- it presents four very unique, defined, and adventurous improvisors in one band, and yet they are all able to function in what seems like a position of comfort. Most of the time, the all-star concept doesn't work, for whatever reasons, but there is an air of mutual respect among these four that really makes for great music, and great music-making. John Bishop seems constantly involved with making something happen, even if that means taking himself out of the equation. Jeff Johnson, whether improvising from the melody or taking a more free approach, always contributes the right note for the soloist's melody. Thomas -- well, he is my brother, but I can't say enough about his playing of late; he sounds mature, confident, and fearless -- a winning combination for any trumpet-player. And then there is Rick Mandyck -- I've written so much about him on this blog already, but he keeps me coming back for more and more and more. If I haven't said it before (which I know I have), I'll say it again: go hear Rick Mandyck.

McCoy Tyner Trio at Jazz Alley

There isn't much you can say about the great McCoy Tyner that hasn't already been said -- he's a true piano virtuoso, a consumate composer, a seasoned bandleader, and a gifted and inventive improvisor. The Sunday night set was comprised of Tyner originals and classic standards, and while I've always enjoyed his open-harmony composition, the real highlight for me was his solo performance of We'll Be Together Again, which he recorded on one of his classic Impulse sides, Night of Ballads and Blues. His spontaneous reharmonizing of the tune, with a very free and exploratory introduction that almost gave the illusion of another tune, was jaw-dropping in my mind; the McCoy Tyner that everyone hears on the classic Coltrane albums is very different from the McCoy Tyner of 2005, and I think that his solo piano playing defines his own, unique style of today much more so than the trio rendition of Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit, one of his more recent, but nonetheless "classic", compositions. Not to mention that Charnett Moffett, also an extremely virtuosic bassist, seemed to "dumb down" the tunes in his solos -- Tyner is a chance taker and still proves to be that, while Moffett and the drummer (whose name I did not catch) were very safe, sometimes to the point of borderline corny-ness (for my taste).

While looking for a picture to add to this posting, I found a review of McCoy Tyner's trio at Jazz Alley from 1996 -- written by my brother Thomas for the University of Washington Daily. I was surprised to see how much we agreed on McCoy, despite the reviews being almost 10 years apart -- a true testement to McCoy -- and how the solo piano-playing really affected us both. To McCoy Tyner -- still pluggin' away, still kickin' ass and takin' names, and still a gentleman.

BMW Trio and Kathy Moore Situation at ToST

ToST is "Fremont's only martini bar / restaurant featuring live music and DJs six nights a week in a smoke-free (inside), industrial chic atmosphere." Yeah -- I'll go with that! Not nearly has yuppie as I expected after looking at the website, so I was pleasantly surprised upon my first arrival at the club.

As I had just come from the Musicquarium, I was already revved up and ready to hear more music, and the BMW Trio surely kept me in fifth gear. Made up of Ryan Burns on organ, Rick Mandyck on guitar, and Reade Whitwell on drums, the BMW Trio is SMOKIN'! If I didn't know all these guys and their playing really well, I might have thought I was listening to a blues band if I had walked in during the set. They opened with a solid organ-groove blues -- sadly, I didn't get the title or any information about it. They continued with a crazy blues in 19/8 (or a bar of 6/4 and a bar or 7/8) composed by John McLaughlin called Binky's Beam, recorded on his 1969 release Extrapolation. Talk about crazy! I'd be ready to shoot myself after a chorus on this tune, but these guys made some emotional music come out of it. Mandyck's The Way Back was a nice contrast, finally giving more of a jazz feel to the group sound. The set closed with Burns' Freedom from Commitment, a burnout-blues that gave the set a great bookend. A solid band with a solid set -- find out where these guys are playing and check 'em out!

The second set was by the Katherine Moore Situation, a rock-tinged group with Kathy Moore on guitar, Geoff Harper on bass, Reade Whitwell on drums and Ryan Burns on keyboards. While the tune titles weren't announced, I'm really excited about this group -- I've known Kathy for years, and with this group she seems super-comfortable, the songs were varied and well-executed, and she really knows what to do in front of a band. Her guitar playing has really found a voice in this style, and I can't wait to hear the group's upcoming release. From strong, hard rock grooves, to bluesier tinges and darker tones, The Katherine Moore Situation is a group on the rise -- hopefully they can get some recognition beyond the friends and jazz connections that were there last night. Go Kathy!

No Room For Squares at the Musicquarium

Monday night I had a chance to hear a ton of great music at two different venues. My first stop was at the Musicquarium at the Triple Door to hear Jim Sisko's quintet, No Room for Squares. Jim Sisko is a solid trumpet and flugelhorn player who has been on the Seattle scene for about ten years, both as a teacher and perfomer. He continues to bring forth solid bands steeped in the hard bop tradition.

I made it down to the club just in time to hear the second set. No Room for Squares is comprised of: Jim Sisko (tpt), Mark Taylor (tnr), Matt Jorgensen (drm), Geoff Cooke (bs), and Victor Noriega (elpno). The quintet opened with Lee Morgan's Mr. Kenyatta, a classic latin groove from Morgan's Blue Note album, Search for the New Land. Noriega and Taylor sounded especially strong, with Noriega keeping his Rhodes patch for the duration of the set. I mentioned to Taylor that his sound was "huskier" than I remembered, and he mentioned making a slight change in his reed selections -- good choice! The group continued with Sisko's arrangement of Falling in Love with Love, a great standard that just doesn't seem to get played as much as others. Sisko really shined on the classic ballad, Skylark, with a strong, fluid flugelhorn sound and a strong dose of blues inflection. Noriega also shined on this one, and while his physical mannerisms left me a little distracted, his strong playing really blew me away -- I've heard alot of music from Noriega over the years, and this sure souded like some of his strongest playing -- ever! The short set ended with a powerful performance of Chick Corea's Chick's Tune, a great head on the changes to You Stepped Out of a Dream and recorded by the great Blue Mitchell (and the composer) on the Blue Note album, The Thing to Do. Strong playing across the board on this one, and finally a solo from bassist Geoff Cooke! This quick and dirty set really got my blood flowing -- with another stop to make that night and two more bands to hear, I was certainly off on the right foot. Kudos to Jim Sisko, and if you get a chance to hear this fine quintet, in the words of Maury Finkle -- "Do it, do it... do it!"

Marriott Brothers Quintet at Tula's

This was a really fun gig -- nice to play with Thomas again, and always a pleasure to play with Matt Jorgensen, John Hansen, and Phil Sparks. Tula's has such a laid-back, easy-going atmosphere, both for listeners and performers. I've enjoyed playing there for almost ten-years, and this particular night was no exception. Three sets of fun and games, from straight-ahead bebop like Hank Mobley's This I Dig of You, to more progressive sounds like Hand Jive from the second Miles Davis quintet and Kenny Kirkland's Inner Peace. And I can't say enough about Matt, John and Phil -- consumate professionals, all three of them, who are always at the top of their game. I'm sure you'll be able to hear this group again in the future -- Tom and I both felt like this was the direction we want the quintet to go in. Thanks to all of you who joined us that night -- a great listening crowd of appreciative patrons.

Project Live at Jillian's

A very different Project Live gig tonight -- TRIO! With just MC Matt, DJ Frank I, and myself, we managed to make a night of music for a great audience at Jillian's. From improvised tunes, to spoken word-and-trombone, to full-on pop covers, I was thankfully surprised to find that we could actually sound like a full band and do "our thing" without the benefit of our usual 7-or-8-man posse. Ever evolving, Project Live continues to open up my own ears musically, and gives me some hope that the concept of "jazz" -- be it a style, genre, approach, or just a vibe -- will not die out in the 21st century.

Rich Cole Quartet at the Musiquarium

Arriving at The Musicquarium in time to catch the last tune of the second set, I was blown away by the energy coming out of Rich Cole's quartet. The group's version of Rhythm-a-ning was in high gear from the moment Rich started his solo. His playing is reminiscent of Michael Brecker and Joe Henderson at times, but Rich has a take on the "modern thing" all his own. With John Bishop, Jeff Johnson, and Bill Anschell providing ample support, I had to stick around to hear them finish out the night.

Sadly, it would only be two more tunes! But don't let the tune quantity fool you -- these guys played long and strong, and really take the time to develop a solo, not just dropping their latest chop-heavy cliches and rambling along as lesser players might. The first tune was a new original by pianist Bill Anschell, Morning Fog. A beautiful straight-eighth tune featuring Rich on soprano, be sure to look for a recording on Bill's upcoming CD project. The quartet finished the set with a rousing rendition of Joe Henderson's Inner Urge, giving it a lazy reggae feel on the head, but jumping into high gear as soon as the solos started. Jeff Johnson's lyrical playing on this tune was a great contrast to the high-power solos of Rich and Bill, but the real energy came from John Bishop, who was playing about as aggressively as I've ever heard him. A great quartet, I'll certainly be looking for my copy of Rich's Origin Arts release, A Glance Back.

Project Live Double Feature: Jillian's and Boundary Bay Brewery

Friday night at Jillian's was fun, but slightly cut-down: we lost both our drummer and singer for the gig within two hours of starting the show. We made do with one of the drummers from another band, stretched the tunes out a bit, and filled our set with a nice mix of spoken word, improvised jazz, and hard-hitting hip-hop grooves. Not the best gig by Project Live, but a solid outing. However, I hesitate to say that our gig Saturday night WAS our best gig!

Saturday night at the Boundary Bay Brewery in Bellingham -- who'da thunk that this would be the party center of the universe? The guys from Below Average Produtions and Space Band brought us up to do a quadruple bill, with Cast of Characters finishing out the night. It was a long afternoon getting up there, and even an longer night getting back to Seattle (5am), but the gig and brew environment was well worth the effort. Project Live is really starting to find a new voice and direction with the addition of Brian Hillman from BAP as our new vocalist. Brian can do it all -- I have yet to be disappointed or left wanting more whenever I hear Brian. Be sure to check out our next show to hear him do his thing!

Back from New York...For Good

Seattle, I've finally packed my final bags and belongings up and made it back to Seattle for the long haul. I know I haven't posted since the middle of August, but I have tons to talk about between then and now, so I'll be filling in the big gap over the weekend. I heard a ton of great music in the final weeks of August, and some great stuff in New York in September, so I'll be sure to get all of that stuff back up to speed. Sorry for the long dealy again, and be sure to check back soon for the Aug-Sept chronicles.

Marriott Brothers Quartet at the Musicquarium

After playing a function at Benaroya Hall for the Mayor's office, our quartet with Ryan Burns on organ and Matt Jorgensen on drums headed across the street to play at the Musicquarium at the Triple Door. If you've been reading this blog, you know I've come down many times to hear music in this venue, but this was my first chance to play here. We played a nice mix of jazz classics and originals by guys in the band -- standard procedure for the Musicquarium. The audience is always fairly balanced between listeners and non-listeners, but thankfully the listeners tend to sit toward the front! I had a great time playing here, especially in the organ group idiom -- this really tends to work at this club, the funky groovy thing. I look forward to playing here again because, as I said to Paul deBarros this summer, "This is my favorite new venue in Seattle!"