Happy Returns
By Kirk Silsbee
The end of the year finds virtually all professional road travel among musicians curtailed, due to familial demands of the season. What a nice dividend, then, that two returning locals who have found success in New York will recombine at the Jazz Bakery on Friday. Pianist Eric Reed and drummer Willie Jones III – both of whom incubated at the World Stage – will convene with a bassist of their choosing. Reed can carry the lion’s share of pulse in his playing, or he can let the drummer have his head. Jones is simply one of the most right-on-the-money drummers to emerge in jazz over the past 10 years. Jones has also become a recording mogul with his WJ3 label, for which Reed has already recorded.
One of the best local CDs of 2007 may have slipped by you. The collective quartet of tenor saxophonist Benn Clatworthy, pianist Theo Saunders, bassist Chris Colangelo, and drummer Jimmy Branly recorded and released Live at Charlie O’s, a searching, searing meditation on the Coltrane Quartet and its ramifications. Clatworthy has developed a truly majestic sound with a mercury-like pliancy. Saunders remains one of the most versatile pianists in L.A., and his percussive contributions to “Love for Sale” spike the rhythm section’s mixture to fiery effect. Colangelo and Branly maintain a tension-and-release relationship throughout, both pulling and roiling each other. The band returns to the scene, Sunday at Charlie O’s, and what better occasion to reflect on the year while girding for the next one?
For info, see Jazz, Blues, Latin listings.
Published: 12/27/2007
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