Jazz
In moments like these, the band Riverside captures the Jimmy Giuffre ideals of sonority and counterpoint — where even the drums act as another complementary linear voice.
“I love Fats Waller. Fats Waller will always be here because he is simply that magnetic a person(a).”
The first part of the evening worked: Robert Pinsky was a good enough actor, his poetry was sufficiently transparent, and Vijay Iyer proved to be a brilliant accompanist.
The five compositions and one de facto suite played at the NEC Winds and Winds Ensemble performance spoke with six different voices and carried six different messages.
The point of the Spring Quartet, one assumes, is to showcase its four multi-talented members, particularly their talents as composers.
Quatuor Ébène burst into song. And I think it’s safe to say singing of any kind is almost never heard at a strings-only concert.
“Music just comes, you know? You’re harvesting potatoes, and something happens and you have to put it immediately on paper.”
NEC is closed tonight but much of the repertoire on this program is also scheduled for a concert on March 6.
The Matt Wilson Quartet prides itself on variety: the band can play ersatz Indian music, free jazz, and funky rhythm and blues, as well as an occasional touching ballad.
In nearly 78 minutes of intensely concentrated playing, Jane Ira Bloom’s album offers some of the greatest ballad performances I have ever heard.
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