Swerve Control Debuts at Keys Jazz Bistro

Last night my wife and I went over to Keys Jazz Bistro for the world premiere performance by Swerve Control. This is a quartet led by percussionist Dillon Vado, last seen at Keys when he played drums for Sandy Cressman around the middle of last month. The other Swerve Control performers were Darren Johnson on trumpet, guitarist Kai Lyons, and Rob Ewing on bass. According to the background material I received, the group’s approach to improvisation was inspired by the recordings Miles Davies made during the Sixties. Individual members of the group have been experienced with Brazilian, Cuban, and Balkan rhythms.

For all of that background, last night’s performance had its own distinctive freshness of immediacy. There were only seven selections performed during the first set, but all of them were both generous and engaging. All four members of the quartet contributed compositions. They accounted for five of the pieces on the program, the other two being Victor Jara’s “The Right to Live in Peace” and Lonnie Liston Smith’s “Beehive.”

The diversity of the works themselves inspired an even wider diversity of imaginative improvisation. Johnson introduced his offering as having been inspired by Greek dance rhythms; and he gave it the title “Fragments of Olympian Bossa.” He also cited the struggles in bringing his efforts to a successful conclusion after previous frustrations, meaning that last night was the real world premiere of his work!

The quetzal bird that inspired Kai Lyons’ composition (photograph by Flickr user chdwckvnstrsslhm, from Wikimedia Commons)

Lyons, on the other hand, turned to natural history for his inspiration. “Quetzal” is named after a bird found primarily in Central America. As can be seen above, it is distinguished by a bright red belly (sharply contrasting with the robin), covered golden-green feathers.

Whatever the inspirations behind the performances may have been, the listening experience itself turned out to be visual, as well as auditory. One could observe processes of invention unfolding by each of the performers, with the essence of the results captured not only in the sounds but also in body language and facial expression. One could almost come away with the feeling that one had been watching a film entitled “Genius at Work!”