Copy bands are for kids and tourists, right? This wasn't that. Broken Shadows' tribute to the music of Ornette Coleman, Charlie Haden, Dewey Redman and Julius Hemphill hit a resonant mix of love and individual character, in full knowledge that whatever these four did, it would not be "the same." Even the band name (after a 1969 Ornette tune) rang with self-deprecating irony. Wholeness and physicality ruled, though.
The quartet made an engaging visual impression. Tim Berne was the big guy with the little alto sax, Chris Speed the little guy with the big tenor. The other pairing showcased two tall skinheads, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King.
The contrasts extended to the sounds, with Berne & Speed's long familiarity showing in their loose ease, while Anderson & King snapped with the grooving precision they developed over decades with The Bad Plus. The big pic: Broken Shadows came equipped with sheets, keel and anchor. It sailed.
Although a certain risk applied to covering more familiar tunes, Berne & the boys' renditions of the hits avoided too much comparison. Their take on Coleman's "Un Muy Bonita" replaced the L.A. chica's sunny innocence with a Manhattan strutter's sophistication but retained the observer's pure joy. While Ornette's "Lonely Woman" had hung on the brink of despair, Berne's woman harbored hope that the check was in the mail. For many of us, Haden's "Song for Che" comes loaded with the sadness and chaos of revolution betrayed; although Anderson dug into the bass strings with fervor, his union with the gentle horns left us feeling comforted, understood.
Hemphill's "Body" jumped with an Ornettish rhythm and tunefulness; Redman's "Walls-Bridges" busted out the stop-start aggravation and free bluster he learned from Coleman. Broken Shadows carried the O virus with their own mutation: a steadier, rockier (but eyeball interactive) clip from the rhythm section, and a lovely unison/harmony/solo reed partnership characterized by mahogany-toned bop (Speed) and jagged avantation (Berne).
Broken Shadows played for 90 minutes straight, encore included, without referencing the astringent romance of "Broken Shadows" itself. Berne said afterward that he forgot, but maybe he just wasn't feeling shattered. We in the audience certainly felt completed.
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PHOTOS BY FUZZY BAROQUE.