Sunday, January 8, 2023

Long-Time Friends Unite at Bird & Beckett

John Schott with his guitar (from the Bird & Beckett Web page for the performance being discussed)

Last night Bird & Beckett Books and Records hosted a performance by the Actual Trio, led by guitarist John Schott. The other members are Dan Seamans on bass (bowed as well as plucked) and John Hanes on drums. For this occasion the trio was joined by a special guest at the piano, Maya Kronfeld.

Kronfeld is a native of Berkeley, and she and Schott have been friends for a long time. Currently, however, she is teaching both philosophy and literature at Princeton University; and, from what I could pick up from the chatter, she was back in the Bay Area for a convention. Fortunately, she was able to put her academic commitments aside long enough to jam once again with Schott, along with his trio.

Watching the livestream from home, I found the performances to be capable but not consistently engaging. Both Schott and Kronfeld contributed compositions, and all four of the players exhibited accounts of solid technique. However, by the time the first set had concluded, I felt as if I had had my fill.

Nevertheless, there was one offering that definitely drew and sustained my attention. This was Thelonious Monk’s “Introspection.” Schott introduced this piece by observing that it had been recorded only twice, both very early and very late in Monk’s discography. More specifically (from my own research), the earlier release came from Monk’s second recording session with Blue Note. This took place on October 24, 1947, when he led a trio whose other members were Gene Ramey on bass and Art Blakey on drums.

Mind you, last night’s performance was not an evocation of the past. The quartet clearly “introspected” Monk’s music and then charted a path of their own. Nevertheless, there was something refreshing about encountering a Monk composition that I had only known through my collection of recordings.

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