Curtis Brothers Quartet Concludes Season 5 of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares

On stage and off, family was front and center on Saturday, June 17 at the Community Music School of Springfield, as the curtain came down on Season 5 of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares. We got to meet Curtis family members: pianist Zaccai and bassist Luques led their working quartet; older brother Damien, who sat in quite ably on piano was in the house, as were parents Ted and Abby, Luques’ wife and young daughter, some extended relatives and lots of friends.

The love and familiarity gave the evening a celebratory feel, and despite the marble walls and imposing scale of Robyn Newhouse Hall, a warm vibe permeated the space. The concert marked the recent release of the Curtis brother’s latest recording, Syzygy, on their collectively run label: Truth Revolution Records.

The 80-minute concert featured a number of titles from the recording, and 75 audience members were treated to an evening of Latin jazz of the highest order. Featuring Richie Barshay on drum kit and Reinaldo de Jesus on congas, the Quartet was polished and professional.

Although only in their mid-thirties, the four have decades of experience on the bandstand. Collectively, they have been in the employ of Herbie Hancock, Eddie Palmieri, Lauryn Hill, Donald Harrison, Chick Corea, Bill O’Connell and the Klezmatics. Zaccai, who was an engaging master of ceremonies, told us that he and his brother already have 20 years of experience of playing with Barshay. In 2005, I hired their larger ensemble Insight, to open for Ray Barretto at UMass Amherst.

Originally, Jazz Shares was supposed to present the Ralph Peterson Trio featuring the Curtis brothers, but the great drummer was recovering from recent surgery. Zaccai gave a health update and a beautiful tribute to his mentor. Joe Henderson’s composition, Inner Urge, featured on the Trio’s release, Triangular III, served as the concert’s encore.

At one point Zaccai broke down the effective marriage of African-American swing and Afro-Cuban rhythm by asking de Jesus to lay down a typical Abakuá rhythm in 6/8, then having Barshay swing in 4/4 on his ride cymbal, then Luques joined in, floating between both worlds. The diasporic coming together made perfect sense, resulting in compelling music.

The concert included two soul pop standards, Thom Bell’s Betcha By Golly Wow and Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, Bud Powell’s bop classic Hallucinations and the Zaccai Curtis original Syzygy, all featured on the new record. Another highlight was their up-tempo rendition of Charlie Palmieri’s Start the World I Want to Get On. The piece is from Palmieri’s landmark release A Giant Step, which served as a critical signpost in Zaccai’s development. The driving son montuno got a handful of audience members out of their seats and moving.

An astronomical term, syzygy is the alignment of three celestial bodies, such as the earth, moon and sun. On Saturday, the music gods were aligned as these young talents brought us together in community to give thanks and revel in musical fellowship.

Gratitude abounds for our family of 90 shareholders and 18 business sponsors who made Season 5 of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares such a success. We are now 50 concerts into our little experiment in collective concert production. We are excited about Season 6 and, with young veterans like Barshay, de Jesus and the Curtis brothers, the future of our music.

Complex and Diverse: Harris Eisenstadt’s Old Growth Forest

Gone are the days when drummers were considered musically illiterate timekeepers. Today many bandleaders who play drums also write, and in the span of two weeks, Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares has presented two of the most compelling drummer/composers in jazz. With few others, John Hollenbeck, who performed with his Claudia Quintet in Holyoke on May 27, and Harris Eisenstadt, who brought Old Growth Forest to Northampton’s Parlor Room on June 11, stand among the preeminent composers who play drums.

But Eisenstadt is a case apart. In all of his projects (Canada Day, Golden State, September Trio, Old Growth Forest) and on all his recordings as a leader (20 and counting), he is the sole composer, and a convincing one. His set in Northampton featured 10 new, unrecorded originals that showed the full range of his composing skills.

Old Growth Forest is Tony Malaby, tenor and soprano saxophone, Jeb Bishop, trombone and Jason Roebke, bass. The new book of tunes, honed during a February tour (their Jazz Shares stop was snowed out) and a June 10 hit at the Lilypad in Cambridge, were complex and richly expressive. The Jazz Shares concert was professionally recorded; perhaps we will get to hear it again someday.

Each piece in the set, such as Shade Canopy and Biomass, referenced some aspect of the forested world. The music was as varied as the ecosystem it references. Tempo shifts, and the mood along with it, often occurred within individual compositions. The range of cleanly articulated sound that emanated from Tony Malaby’s saxophones was spellbinding. His front line partner Jeb Bishop delivered a diverse set of complete ideas with the full-throated vocal quality we look for in a trombonist. Whether in lock step or at cross rhythm, Roebke and Eisenstadt were in shared mental space. The swing sections seemed deeper surrounded as they were by periods of suspended time, the ambiguity heightening the experience of certainty that comes with a groove.

During our post concert hang, which for Bishop and Roebke extended to the following day, we got to find out more. Bishop is learning the Boston jazz scene, having relocated from North Carolina a little over a year ago. Although born in the Tar Heel state, he came of musical age in Chicago and is closely identified with the creative music scene in the city. He has deep roots there.

So does Roebke, who has longstanding associations with Mike Reed, Jason Adasiewicz and Jason Stein. The bassist recounted the completely unique experience of playing free jazz in some of the biggest arenas in North America. Roebke, along with drummer Mike Pride are two-thirds of bass clarinetist Jason Stein’s Locksmith Isadore. Opening more than 60 shows for Stein’s sister, Amy Schumer, brought them to Madison Square Garden, Air Canada Centre and Joe Louis Arena, playing for thousands more than the few dozen denizens who usually turn out for avant-garde music. We talked about the AACM and the challenges of keeping organizations vibrant, and we talked about Roscoe Mitchell, who Roebke saw every day for a year and a half as his copyist.

As Jazz Shares prepares for a smooth landing of Season 5 on Saturday, June 17 with the Curtis Brothers, it is a joy to reflect on all the good music that came our way this year. Here’s to more years and more inspiring music.

A Band for the Ages: the Claudia Quintet Plays Holyoke

It’s not often that intellect, passion, and creativity on stage comes together with a receptive audience in the right surroundings. When those stars align, like they did on Saturday, May 27 when the Claudia Quintet performed at Gateway City Arts, the result is transcendent. One’s reaction to music is personal and dependent on many factors of course, but the overwhelming consensus of the 100 lucky people who found themselves at Vitek Kruta and Lori Devine’s resplendent Holyoke hot spot was extremely positive. The standing ovation and resulting encore was but one indication.

John Hollenbeck is a smart cookie, and a talented one. He has managed, with one personnel change, to keep the Claudias (Matt Moran, Chris Speed, Red Wierenga/Ted Reichman and Drew Gress) together for 20 years. That is no mean feat. He has also marshaled the resources to keep his miraculous Large Ensemble afloat (a tour and recording is in the works.) In today’s jazz world, that is very heavy lifting.

Hollenbeck is a commanding, dazzling, melodic drummer. His only unaccompanied solo of the evening began quietly and tuneful, melody emerging from the variety of ways he struck the drumheads. His time on Philly, dedicated to drum legend Philly Joe Jones, was just where you’d expect it to be. All night he provided exactly what the music needed.

He is also a gifted composer, currently teaching the stuff at McGill University, in Montreal. The concert’s set list, all Hollenbeck originals, brought us on a journey through many textures and tempos, eliciting moods of various colors. Post-concert, more than one Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares regular made comparisons to previous concerts by Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth and Allison Miller’s BOOM TIC BOOM. Although the instrumentation and sounds are different, what they share is a strong compositional voice, which nods to the beautiful, catchy and idiosyncratic, while swinging in many styles.

Tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Chris Speed was last seen in these parts in March, performing with Mary Halvorson’s Reverse Blue. What a pleasure to hear him with the Claudia’s line-up of vibraphone, accordion, bass and drums. His brawn during the swing portion of Philly, was much welcomed. His clarinet joined with Wierenga’s accordion to produce sound beds that were, by turns, plush and provocative. By 6:15 am the next day, he was home to Los Angeles.

Vibraphonist Matt Moran seemed to be at the center of things, the glue or the focal point of the music. Once he played laconic chords along with sax and accordion, while bass and drums were swinging furiously. Other times he was driving the music forward, making like Milt Jackson. Moran, who is childhood buddies with Mystery Train Records owner Josh Burkett, gave a memorable performance last November with the Nate Wooley Quintet at the Shea Theater. His next appearance in the Valley will be at UMass’ Bowker Auditorium in November featuring his nine-piece Balkan/Soul/ Gypsy/Funk band, Slavic Soul Party! In that musical world, Moran keeps his vibes packed and plays traditional Balkan percussion.

Thank god for the accordion. It’s what distinguishes the Claudia Quintet and gives the band its resonance. Wierenga provided dense chordal foundations throughout and took it out when it was his time to improvise. When I told him I had presented accordion master Guy Klusevcek at UMass in 2013, he told me that listening to Klusevcek was what inspired him to pick up the instrument. Nice.

What a pleasure to hear Drew Gress play bass. My friend and colleague Jason Robinson, who uses Gress in his Janus Ensemble whenever he is available, talks about the peace of mind that comes with having Gress on the bandstand. His impeccable time, robust tone and creative response to what is going on about him make Gress a perennial most valuable player. My guess is that John Hollenbeck agrees.

The story of how the band got its name is wonderfully described in Steve Smith’s 2001 liner notes from the first, self-titled Claudia Quintet record. (http://johnhollenbeck.com/sound/the-claudia-quintet/) It illustrates the capricious nature of life and the music that results from it. When openness to happenstance is combined with rigor, creativity and diligence , as it is with John Hollenbeck, you get a seminal ensemble (think Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, MJQ, Bill Evans Trio, Art Ensemble of Chicago, AIR, etc.) The Claudia Quintet is such a band. It will be talked about and listened to a long time from now.