Near Perfect: Ralph Alessi Quartet in Springfield

A rare confluence of sublime writing, stellar musicianship and well-rehearsed playing came together in the elegant Robyn Newhouse Hall at the Community Music School of Springfield on May 2, as the Ralph Alessi Quartet wowed 60 of us with a set of transcendent music. The concert, the 22nd of the year in Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares’ 14th season, featured trumpeter Ralph Alessi alongside Matt Mitchell (piano), John Hébert (bass) and Ches Smith (drums/vibes). The 70 minute set included music that was recorded by the Quartet last year, to be released on ECM Records this July.

The band just got back to the States seven days ago, after spending two weeks touring Europe. The music, full of idiosyncratic twists and complicated turns, felt lived in and as comfortable as a pair of broken in jeans. Alessi’s compositions ranged from high tempo bebop, to fractured funk, to melancholic ballads, and they contained logic, beauty and heart across many moods. When you put compositions that engage the ear in the hands of virtuoso instrumentalists, the results are thrilling. The forthcoming record, A Sun That Never Sets, will be Alessi’s 6th as a leader for ECM, and includes as special guest his brother Joseph Alessi on trombone.

To say that Ralph Alessi comes from a musical family is an understatement. His parents met as performers at the Metropolitan Opera: his mother, Maria Leone Alessi, sang in the chorus; his father, Joseph Alessi Sr., was principal trumpet for nearly 15 seasons. His older brother Joseph is principal trombone with the New York Philharmonic and an esteemed professor at Juilliard. Also classically trained (he performed with the San Francisco Symphony as a teen), Ralph made a detour to CalArts, where he studied with Charlie Haden and first met Ravi Coltrane, who has become a long-time collaborator.

To say that Ralph Alessi is technically proficient would also be understating it. His attack was crisp and articulate, with enough coloring outside the lines to keep it interesting. His tone was inviting and his ideas were fresh, and he kept our attention without needing to expand the instrument’s sound producing playbook.

Matt Mitchell and Ches Smith were each making their third Jazz Shares appearances of the season. These artists, both north of 50 years old, are among the most celebrated musicians on the planet, and in constant demand as leaders and sidemen. Mitchell, who performed with the Jon Irabagon Quintet (November) and in duet with Sara Serpa (December), possesses unlimited technique and creativity. The same can be said of Smith, who visited western Massachusetts in October leading his group Clone Row and in January as part of the Anna Webber Nonet.

A couple of piano interludes with Smith on vibes provided celestial palate cleansing, and his two drum solos confirmed for me that Smith is among the top percussionists in jazz. His sideman work with Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, Mary Halvorson, David Torn and John Zorn justify that conclusion, and in the last five years the records he’s produced under his own name (Path of Seven Colors, Interpret It Well, Laugh Ash and Clone Row) have solidified his stature as a first-rate composer/conceptualist. Those wanting to find out more about Mitchell are urged to check out his six Pi Recordings as a leader and his sideman work with Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, John Hollenbeck and Miles Okazaki.

I first met John Hébert in 2015 when he performed at the Magic Triangle Jazz Series with the Fred Hersch Trio, and again at UMass in 2018 as part of the Angelica Sanchez Nonet. He has a big, round sound, a robust imagination, a surplus of technique, and a thorough knowledge of jazz history. Since Hébert first came to prominence in the bands of Andrew Hill, with whom he played from 2001 until the pianist’s passing in 2007, the New Orleans native has become one of the most in-demand bassists in jazz. Along with the rest of the rhythm section, Hébert easily negotiated the shifting meters and tricky harmonies imbedded in the compositions, while adding a major dose of life energy.

Over 35 years, I’ve produced lots of concerts by some of the world’s most creative musicians. This one was special.

Keep On Keepin' On: Anders Nilsson's Hesa Gun in Holyoke

How many bands are there in the jazz firmament committed to creating new work on a high level? I’m guessing hundreds, if not thousands, around the world. When you couple the limited number of paying gigs with a capitalist system that sucks resources to create a few “stars”, one gains a new appreciation for the fortitude it takes to make significant art in late-stage Amerika. 

I thought about that stacked deck as we hosted Anders Nilsson’s quartet, Hesa Gun (pronounced “goon”), on April 11 at Holyoke Media. The group: Sam Kulik (trombone), Dave Ambrosio (bass), Vinnie Sperrazza (drums) and Nilsson (guitar), all in their 40s and 50s, are piecing it together and continuing to make beautiful, thought-provoking music. With Brooklyn rents what they are, not to mention the obligations of adulthood (including raising children), devoting the time necessary to make meaningful music requires both talent and perseverance.

Sperrazza told shareholder Ron Freshley that the band had four, 4-hour rehearsals in advance of Saturday’s concert. That represents a big (unpaid) investment in getting it right. And get it right they did. The 90-minute set flew by, with the quartet navigating Nilsson’s inventive compositions like they were their own.

It was big of Nilsson to allow Sperrazza to have the first spotlight, with the drummer tossing off understated drum fills on the slowly evolving “Synopsis”. That was followed by “Let’s Have a Dance Party”, where the drummer laid down a funky backbeat in support of Nilsson, who danced over the fretboard with ease, while Kulik supplied a growling gutbucket groove. Nilsson listens to a lot of Brazilian music at home, which inspired, “Laugh or Cry”, based on a 19th century song form called “choro”. Nilsson’s original borrowed the choro rhythm, while he colored the melody with modern notes and harmonies. The strong writing throughout the concert was matched by virtuosic playing and spirited delivery.

Anders Nilsson has a light touch as a band leader. He didn’t hog solo space or dominate the proceedings and was low-key while guiding the band through his intricate compositions. Born in Eslöv, Sweden, a town of about 20,000 people in the southern part of the country, Nilsson came to New York in 2000 and never left. His close relationship with Barbès, the Brooklyn club that hosts jazz and music from around the world, has shaped his current interests. I met him in 2014 when he performed in Greenfield with the Fay Victor Ensemble. He is extremely facile on guitar, and I’m guessing he has long blown past 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. Yet despite his considerable chops, honed in rock, metal, and jazz settings, Nilsson never played louder or played more notes than necessary. There was no guitar-hero grandstanding.

Sperrazza hails from Utica, NY, the same city that gave the jazz world JR Monterose and Jimmy Wormworth. From his undergraduate days at William Patterson University, where he was mentored by pianist James Williams, to his current work with Ember (Caleb Curtis, Noah Garabedian), Hank Roberts and the Mark Morris Dance Group, a through line for the drummer has been teaching and writing. His Substack Chronicles is filled with insights about jazz and the people who make it, and he has the first two chapters of a book on the evolution of jazz drumming written. Sperrazza is from the talkers, a charismatic guy who loves music and the people who make it; he was fun to talk to. His stage presence had similar energy, and his playing, puckish and inventive, was always in service to the compositions. Peak Inn, his first recording as a leader, was released in 2008 and features pianist Jacob Sacks and Dave Ambrosio.

Ambrosio led a quintet called Civil Disobedience at the Iron Horse the day after his work with Hesa Gun. That project showcases jazz composers from the late 1960s Blue Note Era, and featured Donny McCaslin, Jason Palmer, Bruce Barth and Rudy Royston. They’ll be at Joe’s Pub on June 11. He is conversant with Afro-Cuban batá drumming, and co-leads Grupo Los Santos, a band that incorporates tap dancing, flamenco, jazz, Brazilian and Cuban music, so Ambrosio is comfortable in a variety of settings. He nailed his bass lines with aplomb, subtle yet self-assured.

I got to know Sam Kulik through his father, Stephen Kulik, who represented the 1st Franklin District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1993-2019. Steve was a jazz lover, a big WMUA fan and a supporter of live music. When he passed in 2022, he asked people to donate to Jazz Shares in his memory, and Suzanne Kulik remains an active Jazz Shares member. Suzanne also got to see her son in action last year when Sam played with Moppa Elliot’s quintet, Advancing on a Wild Pitch. The trombonist sounded fantastic in the context of Nilsson’s open compositions, freely employing a range of sounds and techniques. We had the added bonus of spending time with Sam’s partner, Emily and their daughter, Eo.

“Thank you for the priceless chance to dive into music and share it with this community, very organic and sincerely felt,” Nilsson wrote after the concert. “An audience that embraced over an hour and a half of music they’ve never heard, played by people they are just meeting!”

That’s why we do what we do.

Just Due: Marilyn Crispell/Harvey Sorgen Duo at IMA

The old saying, “good things come to those who wait”, suggests that patience and persistence will eventually lead to reward. It actually happens sometimes in the jazz world, as veterans blossom to master-status and get their just deserts. Pianist Marilyn Crispell, who celebrated her 79th birthday on March 30, is enjoying such a moment in time. On April 2 at the Institute For the Musical Arts in Goshen, MA, she and drummer Harvey Sorgen gave 55 of us a profound lesson in the art of invention.

Crispell’s career - deeply touched by Anthony Braxton, Reggie Workman and the Creative Music Studio – has brought grants and accolades throughout the years, along with some high profile concerts and recordings. But in the last twelve months she has been awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, and a Jazz Legacies Fellowship, a prestigious lifetime achievement honor bestowed by the Mellon Foundation and the Jazz Foundation of America. She’s also on the April cover of New York City Jazz Record. The laurels are starting to accumulate.

Her long time musical partner Harvey Sorgen, 69, has also amassed an impressive musical resumé. In addition to his work with Ahmad Jamal, Karl Berger, Joe Fonda and Bill Frisell, he was Hot Tuna’s drummer throughout the 1990s. Hot Tuna would tour with the Allman Brothers, and Jaimoe would insist Sorgen sit in with Gregg, Duane and the band. In those years he also got  a chance to play with Carlos Santana and Bruce Hornsby. When Sorgen was in high school he participated in a workshop by drummer Jack DeJohnette which consisted of two hours of non-stop playing. His mind was blown and his life-path revealed. DeJohnette became a mentor and was instrumental in getting Sorgen to move to Woodstock, NY in the mid-80s. They remained friends and neighbors until his passing in October. He was wearing Jack’s shoes at the concert.

It was impressive to see these two seasoned musicians shape a concert. The evening contained a multitude of moods, swinging from gorgeous, tear-welling melodies to seismic rumbles that shook the room. Like Hiromi and Zoh Amba, Crispell generates a volume of sound out of all proportion to her physical stature. After the concert, people reported seeing the piano shudder. For the most part, the music was composed on the spot, with melodies by Paul Motian, Arild Andersen and Crispell used as fleeting signposts. Sorgen’s use of Hang drum added a soothing, mellifluous dimension. Pronounced “hong”, the instrument was developed in Switzerland about 20 years ago, and consists of two steel shells bonded at the rim, creating a hollow, resonant chamber. Sorgen gently played the instrument with his hands, producing a subtle, but resonant sound. Crispell’s ringing response simulated a choir of bells.

At Charlie Mariano’s suggestion, Crispell spent the summer of 1977 at the Creative Music Studio (CMS) in Woodstock, NY, where she still lives. “You were living and eating and hanging out with the guiding artists in this country motel setting,” Crispell recalled in JazzTimes. “People would be up all night making bonfires and playing outside on the lawn with musicians from all over the world. It was a very important human experience and I met many of the people I ended up playing with,” including Roscoe Mitchell, Don Cherry, Wadada Leo Smith and Oliver Lake. Another of those musicians was Anthony Braxton. Crispell, Mark Dresser and Gerry Hemingway played in his quartet from 1983-1995, touring the world, making records, and reaching a wider jazz world. She also met Anthony Davis at CMS and performed in the premiere of his opera, X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X with the New York City Opera.

For the past eight years she’s toured the world with Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry and continues a 30 year musical relationship with the Swedish bassist Anders Jormin. Trio Tapestry has three ECM records to their name, while Crispell and Jormin recently unveiled Memento, also on the Munich-based label. Crispell’s long relationship with ECM founder Manfred Eicher has given her a larger audience, and her 1997 ECM debut, Nothing Ever Was, Anyway: The Music of Annette Peacock, featuring Gary Peacock and Paul Motian, has been followed by a half dozen important solo, duo and trio releases.

Crispell is becoming more selective in what she says “yes” to these days. She and Sorgen had just played the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, and were heading to Portland, ME to play a concert in Paul Lichter’s Dimensions in Jazz Series. Relationships are important determinants for her, and there were lots of friends in IMA’s big barn. Michael and Rosemary Lategano, who are active in A Place For Jazz, made the trip from Albany. Jazz Shares member Richard Murphy has known the pianist for decades, and Sorgen’s partner, Donna was there, and they made new friends, too. To be in an intimate setting with such an important musician felt special. And the music Crispell and Sorgen gave us filled our hearts and minds with wonder.