Last night I returned “virtually” to Bird & Beckett Books and Records, thanks to the fact that the concerts they host on Friday and Saturday evenings are live-streamed. The program announcement caught my attention, because I realized that it had been some time since I had listened to jazz clarinetist Beth Custer in performance. The performing group was called Russian Telegraph and it was a “synthesis” of combos led, respectively, by Custer and guitarist David James, both of whom doubled as vocalists. The front line also included violinist Alisa Rose; and rhythm was provided by Jordan Glasgow on keyboards, Keith McArthur on bass, and John Hanes on drums.
from the Bird & Beckett Web page for the concert being discussed
As the above poster shows, the group’s name has nothing to do with either technology or countries that span two continents. It is a whimsical nod to a geographical vision of San Francisco where the only thing you can see in the Bay is Alcatraz. The distance between the two hills in the cartoon suggests the differences in styles associated with Custer and James. The latter has sharper edges venturing into soul, funk, and African jazz. Custer, on the other hand, cultivates the impression of jazz as classical music by other means (unless it is the other way around). The presence of Rose’s violin reinforces the classical side of the mirror, but she is no stranger to jazz rhetoric. Having followed her for several years, I have enjoyed experiencing the ways in which her approaches to improvisation have gradually become more adventurous.
Bird & Beckett is not the most conducive setting for a six-player combo, particularly when the space also has to accommodate all the technology for live-streaming. Indeed, I was a bit disappointed that Rose did not have her own microphone, but it did not take long for me to appreciate her capacity for making herself heard. Similarly, the rhythm section was barely visible behind the front line; but that was no serious impediment when Hanes launched into an extended drum solo.
As in past videos, microphone placement did little for any spoken introductions. Fortunately, those were kept to a minimum. To this listener all the selections spoke for themselves with no need for introduction. One could simply sit back and take in the diversity of tunes that reflected the different styles and rhetorics that unfolded through the interplay of the six performers. The program was planned as a two-set evening, but I must confess that I was already too saturated by the inventive diversity of the first set to come back for more after the break.
Hopefully Russian Telegraph will sustain long enough for me to experience them in their physical presence, rather than through streaming.
No comments:
Post a Comment