|
|
|
Tweet this article !
Bill Evans 
Saxophonist
SaxophonistJazz music is all about playing with convention, defying expectations and experimenting. Musicians only expedite the process when they change the nature of their instruments, such as plugging in and going electric, or playing musical styles previously unassociated with certain instruments.
Saxophonist Bill Evans has been confusing the identity of his sax for years by using it to play hip-hop, reggae, soul and Brazilian music. In a recent stint at the Iridium Jazz Club here in New York, he was joined by four other renegade musicians who together play what they term "Soulgrass." This, as you probably guessed, is a combination of soul, funk and bluegrass music and it's no easy listenin', folks.
Which is not to infer that it is anything but extraordinary. When these five men launched into what they appropriately called "the fastest song ever," trading musical solos like a game of hot potato, the effect was as far from mellow funk or laidback bluegrass as it could get.
The set featured songs attributed to Evans, as well as to Ryan Cavanaugh on the electric banjo (affectionately referred to by Evans as "Ban- Jovi") and also to Sam Bush on the electric mandolin. The group was rounded out by Dennis Chambers, of the Carlos Santana band, on drums and Richard Bona on electric bass. Needless to say, there was a whole lot of electricity coming from that stage.
The five men, all casually dressed in shirts and jeans, with Evans sporting a bandana a la Willie Nelson, were like animals at play. The sense of play, in fact, was palpable and infectious. Watching them was like seeing a conversation, more of a flirtation really, or an inside joke, played out between the instruments. The improvisation was as apparent as the sheer joy. There was not a moment of dead air in the 75 minute set, but it also never felt rushed or strained. The sense of bluegrass was owed primarily to the banjo, with its bright, non-linear notes. It was no coincidence, then, that the songs called to mind the recent music of Bela Fleck, whose transformative banjo has a similar effect on the sound of his band, the Flecktones. But when this Soulgrass band strayed further into the realm of soul, Cavanaugh's banjo sounded more like an electric bass than a banjo, with low, resonant, moody chords and vibrations.
In the hands of Sam Bush, the mandolin had a similar fate. The twangy little instrument sounded like it never has before; as if it wanted to grow up to be an electric guitar. But Bush never let you forget that it was, in fact, a mandolin: his fingers were flying over those strings like wildfire. He was playing like a bandit: clearly a trait of a mandolinist rather than an electric guitarist.
At the end of the set, when the audience was asked if they'd like to see Bill Evans and his Soulgrass band return to the Iridium, they couldn't cheer loudly enough. If anywhere is well suited for a little fast pickin' soul on an electric mandolin, banjo and a saxophone, it's New York City.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Web services: launchpadny.com