Keep Your Friends Close: Joe Fonda Quartet Plays Northampton

Bassist Joe Fonda is a working jazz musician, defined as someone who earns most of their income from gigging. For all but a chosen few, that’s a tough row to hoe. A handful are gainfully employed on Broadway, late-night TV, in military bands and a variety of commercial work; a small-percentage have achieved commercial success. But Joe Fonda is an independent contractor, chasing down gigs where ever they appear. Because he brings good energy and virtuosity to every musical situation, because he is open minded and open hearted, and because he is flexible and has a ton of experience, he is constantly working and often gets invited back.

Joe Fonda made his latest visit to the Pioneer Valley on April 18, when he brought his Quartet to the Parlor Room in Northampton. Alongside Kenny Wessel, guitar, Sam Bardfeld, violin, and Rob Garcia, drums, Fonda shared his joy of music making with 70 lucky souls.

This was Fonda’s 11th Jazz Shares appearance, and his first as an outright leader. (He has co-led performances by the NU Band, Conference Call, New Origin Trio and the Satako Fujii/Joe Fonda Duo.) He keeps getting the return call because he’s deeply musical, never fails to lift the bandstand, and has become a friend.

The 90-minute set was filled with Fonda originals that gave the band room to swing and fully express themselves as mature musicians. He told me that for some time he has wanted to write compositions “in time” and work them out with a band of his choosing. This Quartet fulfills that wish. The band knew the material from the inside out and nailed the exacting heads and endings. They soloed with distinction and created a group sound that was a thing.

Fonda is a long-time fan of keyboardist and bandleader Joe Zawinul. “Syndicate” was inspired by the great fusionist and provided Fonda the opportunity to expand his technique by playing endless series of 16th notes designed for the electric bass on its bigger acoustic cousin. Fonda’s funky bass line, clearly heard and articulated, was one of the evening’s many highlights.

Another memorable moment came when Wessel saved the day by catching Fonda’s bass after he lost control of it. Fonda will occasionally rake his strings, then shake his instrument to increase its resonance. As he was jiggling, the neck slipped from his hand, and Wessel, who was situated slightly in front of the leader, averted catastrophe with a nice grab. The crowd gasped, the band laughed, and hardly a beat was missed.

When not rescuing errant instruments, Kenny Wessel was creating conditions for the band to thrive. His mood-creating guitar fills offered delicate curlicues and massive sound washes, and his solos and twining statements with Bardfeld were expressive and bold. On the groove oriented pieces, he brought to bear his 12 years of experience with Ornette Coleman’s free-funk juggernaut, Prime Time. He and Fonda are touring Europe this fall with Thomas Heberer and Lou Grossi as the NU Band.

Like Fonda and Wessel, Sam Bardfeld is a graduate of Wesleyan University, known for their strong music focus. The violinist has gone on to perform and record with a dizzying array of musicians, including: Bruce Springsteen, Willie Colon, Anthony Braxton, Red Clay Ramblers and Steve Bernstein. In his Downbeat review of Bardfeld’s The Great Enthusiasms (Kris Davis, Michael Sarin), Bill Milkowski characterized Bardfeld’s playing as “combining a touch of Stuff Smith's playfulness with a Charles Ives aesthetic.” An accurate summation. Bardfeld made a key intervention during soundcheck, when he suggested that he move to the other side of the stage, away from the guitar. That allowed for proper sound separation and a satisfying listening experience.

I wish I had read Rob Garcia’s bio before he arrived, so I could have talked to him about his role in creating a thriving, community-based Brooklyn jazz scene through Connection Works, Brooklyn Jazz Underground and the Douglass St. Music Collective. I would have also liked to ask him about being an ordained minister and his holistic healing practice. Looking forward to next time. Garcia kept the Quartet tight all night. He read down meaty compositions with lots of tempo shifts and mood changes, all while propelling the band higher and higher. He gifted me his latest recording, his 10th as a leader, Works, (Michel Gentile, Daniel Kelly), which sounds fantastic.

Because he has spent much of his 40 year career engaging with some of the world’s fiercest improvisors, Joe Fonda has been typecast as an avant-guardist. So it was great to hear this crowd pleasing Quartet play “in the pocket” for much of the evening. We responded to the music because everything about it was life affirming. A number of people, including members of the band, encouraged Fonda to record this project. Perhaps another visit is in the offing.

The Natural Flow: Stephan Crump's "Slow Water" at the Shea Theater

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 Whatever you call it: chamber music, new music, or jazz, what composer Stephan Crump has created with “Slow Water”, his 70-minute suite in celebration of H2O, is beautiful and evocative. Two days after performing it at Roulette in Brooklyn, his sextet: Patricia Brennan (vibes), Carrie Frey (viola), Erica Dicker (violin), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Kenny Warren (trumpet) and Crump (bass), shared the music with 75 avid listeners at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls, MA.

Inspired by “Water Always Wins”, a book by science writer Erica Gies about humankind's relationship to water, Crump’s work unfurled with unhurried majesty and a deliberate brilliance. The piece was largely through-composed with improvised interludes, and it showcased how much emotional punch you can pack into slow tempos.

The book, whose subtitle is, “Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge”, lays out the precepts of what Gies calls the Slow Water movement. In the midst of our ubiquitous built environment, the book asks the radical question, “what does water want?” Gies reminds us that water’s true nature is to flex with the rhythms of the earth: the slow phases absorb floods, store water for droughts, and feed natural systems. Figuring out what water wants—and accommodating its desires within our human landscapes—is now crucial for survival.

Without lyrics or program notes, the relationship between the music and the message was left to the individual. Song titles like “Sediment & Flow” and “Pooling”, shed some light on Crump’s distinctive melodies and deliberate rhythms. “Eager”, a lumbering paean to the critical role beavers play in directing water, was built on a series of pleasing two-note figures passed around by bass, brass and vibes. “Dusk Critters” began with the uneven pattering of Brennan’s vibes before the others entered with scurrying phrases.

Crump was at the center of it all. It was his concept, compositions and band, after all, and his bass lines framed each piece. On “Outflow” he played a series of simple, slowly formed notes that provided the basis of the music. Situated between the strings and brass, he cued the ensemble with his body language and facial expressions. His mic work with the audience was eloquent and engaging.

The concert largely conformed to Crump’s excellent 2024 recording on Papillon Sounds. (Violist Joanna Mattrey and violinist yuniya edi kwon are on the record.) The musicianship, all told, was outstanding. Frey, who is currently writing her dissertation on the Wet Ink Ensemble, and Dicker, who has performed throughout the world in various Anthony Braxton ensembles, are integral parts of the New York contemporary music scene. They are part of a growing number of instrumentalists who are high functioning in both the written and improvised music worlds.

Similarly, Jacob Garchik is comfortable in multiple music contexts. Over the last 19 years he has written hundreds of arrangements and compositions for the Kronos Quartet, and has performed and recorded with Miguel Zenón, Mary Halvorson, Anna Webber, Henry Threadgill and John Hollenbeck. He also co-leads Brooklyn’s premiere Mexican brass band, Banda de los Muertos. Born in Denver, Kenny Warren has lived in New York since 2002, where he is active on the experimental, jazz, folk, and world music scenes. His trio, Sweet World, with Christopher Hoffman and Nathan Ellman-Bell, will perform in next season’s Jazz Shares.

This was the fourth Jazz Shares appearance by Patricia Brennan, including her Quartet appearance at the Institute For the Musical Arts in 2022. As the music demanded, she put aside her note-bending pedals and jaw dropping technique and instead spent the evening distilling the musical essence of every note. She told me she loved playing that way.

Together, the ensemble breathed life into the written material.

In contrast to the complex, demanding compositions of say, Ingrid Laubrock, Steve Lehman or Matt Mitchell, Crumps’ “Slow Water” oozed with the direct, unfettered style of a Wendell Berry. It was uncomplicated, long form music and required patient listening, but the rewards were considerable. “If you listen carefully, the music is yours,” writes John Corbett in his handy book, “A Listener’s Guide to Free Improvisation”. I’m glad I invested the effort to listen with intent. I felt rejuvenated and relaxed after the concert, as if I’d just taken a walk in the woods.

Good Energy: Gordon Grdina/Christian Lillinger Duo

Hot on the heels of presenting The Tokyo Trio, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares hosted the Canadian guitarist Gordon Grdina and the German drummer Christian Lillinger in concert. Most U.S. jazz audiences are unfamiliar with musicians from other countries, and despite their international reputations, it’s safe to say very few local patrons had heard of Satoko Fujii’s threesome or our latest guests. The onerous cost of a work visa and a lack of decent paying gigs, paired with Trump’s America First rhetoric and a provincial jazz audience, all make it increasingly difficult to get international artists to our country.

So we felt ourselves fortunate that Grdina and Lillinger brought their talents to the Blue Room in Easthampton’s Old Town Hall on April 6. Seeing them for the first time was a revelation and a unique sonic experience. The music was dense and driving, but not overly loud. For the first time, we provided ear plugs at the front table, but none were needed. In addition to Grdina’s guitar, midi-guitar and oud, and Lillinger’s drums, they each commanded electronics, reaping heaps of vibrations. Not sheets of sound, but an oscillating wall.

Grdina began and ended the show playing oud, the ancient, Middle Eastern lute. While he played abstractly with electronics in the first instance, he concluded the evening showcasing his deep understanding of traditional Arabic music. Although he has not performed publicly in western Massachusetts, Grdina has been part of several Arabic Music Retreats, held annually at Mt. Holyoke College each August.

Grdina’s career has been distinguished by a restless energy. Since Think Like the Waves, his 2006 debut with Paul Motian and his mentor, Gary Peacock, the 48 year old Vancouver resident has produced north of 30 albums, including ensembles exploring Middle Eastern repertoire, as well as with jazz titans like Mark Helias, Matthew Shipp, Matt Mitchell, Jim Black, Mat Maneri, Shahzad Ismally and Christian Lillinger.  

Sunday’s Grdina/Lillinger concert had the same rock/punk vibe as their 2024 release, Duo Work, and although the program differed, we heard the same precision amidst the mass of sound. The melodies were embedded in the aural landscape and passed without song breaks or attribution. Closed eyed listening freed us from the futile attempt to identify who/what was producing a particular reverberation, allowing us to revel in what felt like a wordless rock opera.

Closed eyed listening, however, would have robbed us of the thrill of watching Christian Lillinger. The 40 year old drummer moved like a dancer over his instrument, making large, inflated gestures with his arms, torso and face. It was wonderful to watch him move with, and reflect the music. Aside from his animated percussion attacks he manipulated an iPad propped on his music stand, and occasionally reached far to his side to hit a small, thin cymbal with holes in it. The spectacle was not only visually engaging, but his approach: rigorous, exacting, abrupt, jagged, served as engine and architecture.

Lillinger was born in the East German city of Lübben, and has lived in Berlin since 2003. His 25+ recordings as a leader for Clean Feed, Intakt and his own Plaist label, feature artists like Peter Evans, Mat Maneri, Elias Stemeseder, and lots of European musicians we’ve never heard of. When I would mention Lillinger’s name to visiting musicians, they would just laugh. It was the same reaction I got years ago when Tyshawn Sorey’s name would come up. Just a unique and crazy talented artist.

We are so happy to expose Valley audiences to world-class musicians from faraway places. Everyone everywhere deserves to experience the work of artists who have been nurtured in different environments. That’s how fertility works and cross-pollination happens. In such a world Gordon Grdina and Christian Lillinger would not be strangers.

Dream addendum: Jazz has thrived because of talented local musicians who mentor others and enrich their community. What if every region throughout the world had their own all-star ensemble that would travel (with support) to other locales, creating work and raising the profile of their music scenes? The Denver Dream Team, the Berlin Blasters, and so on. A grand international exchange of creatives, on loan to other cities for a couple of weeks. Why not include visual artists and galleries as part of the plan?