Christy Smith at World Stage, June 17, 2022.
The World Stage kicked off Juneteenth weekend with Christy Smith, an old-time California bassist who's found a home in Singapore for the last 30 years. Just like that, Smith assemble an expert quartet: Tapscott drummer Fritz Wise on drums, young phenom Jamael Dean on piano, and Poncho Sanchez saxist Javier Vergara on tenor. They whipped out some standards, old-skool.
Warming up on Monk's "I Mean You," the guys showcased why everybody likes Wise -- he throws down such a crisp beat, but keeps things hopping with those dramatic fills on the toms. The eyes of big-dreadlocked Dean scanned the ceiling as his fingers tumbled wildly across the keys on Cedar Walton's upbeat "Bolivia" and flowed dynamically through the Trane-via-Eckstine ballad "I Want To Talk About You." Dean cocked a special ear to Smith's bass choices; the two often traded phrases even when Smith wasn't taking off on one of his precise, quick, songlike solos. The versatile Vergara, though usually tapping his lode of energy and ideas, hit his most comfortable pocket in lowdown swinging Dex mode behind Dean's lighthearted tinkle on "Squeeze Me."
Though this was supposed to be streaming only, did we hear that the World Stage will soon be reopening for in-person shows? Fingers crossed.
Partch Ensemble at REDCAT, June 17, 2022.
Two uses for Harry Partch's microtonal instruments: one by a contemporary composer, one via works authored by the late iconoclast Partch himself.
The young guy, Taylor Brook, made a huge impression with the premiere of his "One-Footed." Centering Del Sol String Quartet in the semicircle of Partch's unique metallophones, bells, strings and organ, Brook utilized the entire spectrum of microtonal sound to conjure music of great textural complexity and deep feeling. This was truly American art, sometimes lilting with the harmonic simplicity of a country waltz, mostly tingling every synapse of our media-saturated nerves. String quartet and Partch Ensemble performed as one orchestra with one purpose, and the effect was cathartic to the point of tears.
Partch's own 1952 "Plectra & Percussion Dances" came off as confused and dated, despite valiant efforts by the multi-aged, mostly female dancers of choreographer Sarah Swenson's company. Vintage audio of a smirking Partch congratulating himself on how he was about to offend square sensibilities with his naughty approach to mythology didn't help. But then the reality of the music revealed the insecurity he was covering up: random eclectic ideas strung together with attempts at unity through "conceptual" tone assignments and a forced Castor & Pollux theme. A lot of Partch's stuff is like that, but thank god for the scales and the instruments.
Amendola vs. Blades featuring Skerik & Cyro Baptista at Zebulon, June 21, 2022.
Now here was a band to make the world stop missing Medeski Martin & Wood and maybe even the Meters. Items: You don't have a stereo system big enough to reproduce Scott Amendola's funky stomp, and Wil Blades leaned on his Hammond and clavinet hard enough to make Booker T. Jones and Stevie Wonder squirm in their pajamas. Add Cyro Baptista's galaxy of drums, cymbals, shakers, blowers, slappers & scratchers, and Skerik's tenor sax w/ 'lectronix providing a lead melodic voice, and this quartet was equipped for all contingencies.
Of course, these four were CREATING the contingencies, and it was the audience who had to figure out whether we were bouncing around in Crescent City, Motor City, Chocolate City or Electric Ladyland at any given moment. Whether grooving, tripping or groovetripping, we were happy, but none happier than 71-year-old Brazilian Baptista (John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno), who never stopped smiling while he was scraping a chest-hooked metal washboard, tooting some silly pipe, slapping his hands or just plain shouting. Damn it was fun, even when, near the end, the subtle chord changes of "Fabulous:Stupendous" (from Amendola vs. Blades' excellent "Everybody Wins") wrung cascades of emotion from the heart of beatdown. A+++.
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PARTCH BELLS PHOTO BY GOG BOG.
AMENDOLA VS. BLADES PHOTO BY FUZZY BRAZIL.