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Review

The Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette / Joe Lovano / Esperanza Spalding / Leo Genovese

The Spring Quartet -  DeJohnette / Lovano / Spalding / Genovese, Town Hall, Birmingham, 04/04/2014.

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Photography: The Spring Quartet. Photos James Adams, Jimmy Katz, LaNita Adams, Carlos Pericias. Sourced from [url=http://www.thsh.co.uk]http://www.thsh.co.uk[/url]

by Ian Mann

April 07, 2014

/ LIVE

Adventurous music making from four highly accomplished musicians. Spring Quartet is a super-group that works

The Spring Quartet - Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding & Leo Genovese
Town Hall, Birmingham,
04/04/2014.


I’m usually wary of all star collaborations such as the Spring Quartet, these types of aggregation often promise much but ultimately the whole frequently adds up to rather less than the sum of the parts. I made a last minute decision to check out this superstar outfit based on previous performances that I’d enjoyed by the band’s two elder statesmen, saxophonist Joe Lovano at the 2007 Brecon Jazz Festival and drummer Jack DeJohnette leading a similarly stellar line up at Birmingham’s Adrian Boult Hall in November 2012. Bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding is currently one of the hottest properties in jazz but my previous live sighting of her with the all female ACS trio (also featuring pianist Geri Allen and drummer Teri Lyne Carrington) at the 2013 London Jazz Festival was less successful, partly due to an indifferent sound mix at the cavernous Barbican. The fourth member of the Spring Quartet (and the only non American) was the Argentinian pianist Leo Genovese, a totally new name to me but one that I’ll be keeping an eye on in the future.

Although the group was originally conceived by DeJohnette (perhaps the result of Spalding’s contribution to his 2012 solo album “Sound Travels”) the members of the Spring Quartet are keen to emphasise that the group is very much a democracy and that there is no single “leader”. I’m also pleased to report that this was no all star jam, instead of tired readings of standards we were treated to an adventurous series of compositions sourced entirely from within the ranks of the group. This was adventurous music making from four highly accomplished musicians who had “played in” many of the tunes at earlier gigs in the US and Europe but who were still “pushing the envelope” and having “serious fun” with some pretty challenging material. They were well served by a good sound balance, with good definition between the instruments, one of the best mixes I’ve heard in this venue, so hats off to the on-stage sound engineer.

As the musicians filed on to the stage at a packed and expectant Town Hall it was obvious that Spalding had a problem, hardly able to walk she was assisted by her long term collaborator Genovese who helped her on to a tall stool and picked up and handed her her double bass. It wasn’t made clear what ailed Ms. Spalding (reviews from the quartet’s shows in the US have made no reference to this, so I guess it must be quite recent) but it looked as if it may have been a lower back problem, possibly a slipped disc or something of that nature. It was ironic that this should have afflicted the youngest member of this multi generational band, Spalding is twenty nine, DeJohnette seventy one. Fortunately Spalding’s injury didn’t affect her bass playing, or her vocal cords, and with the superior sound mix she actually sounded much better than she had done in London with ACS.

The quartet began with a segue of tunes, the first being Lovano’s “Spring Day”, an appropriate title that featured the composer on his trademark tenor sax, immediately stamping his identity on the proceedings with a solo of remarkable fluency and authority. He was followed by Genovese at the piano who also signalled that he was a musician to watch, exhibiting high levels of inventiveness and a good right hand / left hand balance. Spalding was the next to feature in a composition that introduced the solo voices of all four members of the band with DeJohnette subsequently exploring his substantial kit above an insistent piano/sax vamp. Finally Lovano returned to reclaim the tune as his own with a second solo, swooping up and down the full range of his tenor and adding r’n'b style honks and squawks, a rousing opening.

As the applause died down the quartet went straight into DeJohnette’s Herbie Hancock tribute, the punningly titled “Herbie’s Hands Cocked”. Spalding introduced the tune with a passage of solo bass before being joined by Genovese on electric piano and, subsequently synthesiser. The Argentine deployed a variety of keyboards throughout the set, sometimes doubling up on acoustic piano and one of the electric models in the style of a 70’s prog rock keyboardist. DeJohnette’s composition was based around insistent ostinato patterns which formed the jumping off point for probing and imaginative solos from Lovano on tenor, Genovese on acoustic grand piano plus a final feature for the composer at the drums.

At this juncture DeJohnette introduced the individuals in the band to considerable applause before announcing that the next tune would be Lovano’s “Birds Of Spring Time Gone By” (something of a theme here, methinks). The composer introduced the piece with a passage of suitably feathery and fluttery solo tenor which developed into a more orthodox solo in the ballad style as the rest of the band came in. Spalding’s bass solo was both lyrical and resonant, here feature subtly merging with Genovese’s acoustic piano solo. Lovano’s second solo took the music away from ballad territory as the harmonies and accompanying rhythms became more hard edged and inventive, terrific stuff.

The first set concluded with a feature for Spalding’s voice, her wordless singing dovetailing beautifully with Lovano’s soprano sax as the latter demonstrated his considerable abilities on the straight horn. Spalding’s singing is always a favourite with audiences and this piece, simpler and more fundamentally charming than some of the heavyweight stuff that had preceded it, ensured that the first half ended on an upbeat note. Unfortunately we never did get to find out what this item was actually called.

The second set began in blistering style with Genovese’s “Ethiopian Blues”, the piece that had whetted my appetite for this event due to the fact that the quartet’s performance of this piece in New York could be heard via the Birmingham Town Hall website http://www.thsh.co.uk as a taster for tonight’s event. As I write it’s still available to listen to.
The piece is rather more than “just a blues” as DeJohnette opened the piece by standing to coax some appropriately “ethnic” rhythms from the various small percussion instruments assembled around his kit. Meanwhile Genovese slammed out complementary rhythms with his feet in a rare show of theatricality before seating himself at his array of keyboards. Tonight’s interpretation sounded different to the new York version with Lovano deploying clarinet as well as tenor. The insistent rhythms, dynamic drumming and tumultuous piano remained with DeJohnette unleashing salvoes of thunderous, dramatic “tympani” like drumming. Meanwhile Genovese’s stand out acoustic piano solo incorporated rumbling, often dissonant left hand figures and tumbling left hand runs, really attacking the keyboard in a series of dazzling exchanges with DeJohnette. Lovano eventually switched to tenor for a powerful solo with Spalding content to anchor the whole thing together from the bass. This was a rousing and exciting, if sometimes challenging, start to the second half.

A segue of DeJohnette’s “Song For The Rainforest” and Lovano’s “Mystic” offered something of a pause for breath after the intensity of Genovese’s composition. This was introduced by Spalding at the bass with Lovano featuring on clarinet with a gently probing solo followed by a delightful dialogue between bass and piano as DeJohnette put down his sticks. As Spalding and Genovese duetted Lovano switched to flute as the music took a more impressionistic turn, his warm sound featuring on both a lengthy unaccompanied passage and a more conventional solo complete with band accompaniment. I’ve always thought of Lovano as something of a tenor specialist but tonight’s performance was something of an eye opener for me as he demonstrated his considerable ability on a variety of horns.

The second set concluded with Lovano’s lengthy composition “Folk Art” which began with DeJohnette’s whimsical, faux na?ve vocalising in duet with the composer’s tenor sax. Eventually DeJohnette picked up his sticks to lay down an odd meter groove in conjunction with Spalding and Genovese as Lovano’s tenor took flight on a powerful, urgent,big boned solo. DeJohnette took a lengthy drum solo which was greeted with whoops of delight from the Birmingham audience. The elder statesman of the band impressed throughout with his power, precision and fluidity, but thanks to that perfect sound balance he was never allowed to dominate unnecessarily and impressed equally as a supportive accompanist over the course of the evening. Lovano returned with another burst of fiery tenor leaving Genovese the unenviable task of following these two big guns. He responded brilliantly with another feverishly inventive solo that once again revealed him to be a highly original piano stylist and definitely a name to look out for in the future. More impassioned tenor and incendiary drumming brought this tour de force to a close and drew a standing ovation from the Birmingham audience, such reactions seem to have been a frequent occurrence on the Spring Quartet tour although the sometimes challenging nature of the material has also alienated a few dissenters, including some who would have preferred to hear rather more of Spalding’s vocals.

With Spalding’s health a concern it wasn’t immediately apparent that we were going to get an encore despite our very obvious enthusiasm. However after what seemed a rather protracted wait the quartet returned to the stage with DeJohnette seating himself at the piano. Meanwhile Genovese picked up Spalding’s double bass and Lovano seated himself behind the drum kit. Instrument swappage has been a feature of this tour with both Spalding and Genovese joining Lovano in the sax section at the American shows for a take on Spalding’s composition “Shake the Shark” Tonight as DeJohnette played suitably authentic blues piano Spalding took up the vocal mic to sing the song “Night And Day”, her rendition soulful, and increasingly joyous and playful as she encouraged the audience to sing along with the chorus. This was a bit of light relief after some of the complex material we’d heard previously and ended the evening on a relaxed note. It certainly increased my respect for Spalding who’d obviously performed through the pain barrier.

Let’s hope she’s feeling better for the group’s London show at the Barbican tonight, April 7th 2014.
Since Birmingham the quartet have also played at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival and are due to head for mainland Europe. Reviews from the States suggest that no two shows are the same, the quartet’s repertoire includes material that wasn’t heard this evening including DeJohnette’s “Ahmad The Terrible”, the drummer’s tribute to pianist Ahmad Jamal. 

Spring Quartet is a super-group that works and it is to be hoped that they get the opportunity to document their music on disc, either in the form of a live recording culled from this tour or a later visit to the studio. Tonight was a prestigious event for the Birmingham based Jazzlines association as their illustrious guests rose to the occasion to send the near capacity audience home feeling very happy. 

 

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