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Saturday 7/28 @ Cornelia Street Cafe


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Part of the reason I went was that Ches Smith was listed as the drummer and when I arrived and noticed Cleaver at a table in the back I got a bit concerned. As good as Cleaver is, I’ve seen him on certain nights or with certain bands when (to my ears) he isn’t digging deep into the music. Maybe it’s the right thing for the band or him but more than a few times I’ve left shows being a bit underwhelmed by Gerald.

I was also concerned about Tim Dahl (who plays electric bass) as when I had seen/heard him previously (3 times I believe), his approach bordered on the psychotic with technique and effects seeming to take precedence over taste and the needs of the band and music.

as far as Ben Monder it’s also been hit & miss in the times I’ve seen him (only with Malaby). Sometimes his playing can veer to the ethereal lacking the bite or the grit I like from an electric guitarist.

then I get my typical seat right up front and the AC is uncharacteristicly weak up front so now I’m irritable to boot. A long time regular and I are both the first to order (me iced tea unsweetened) and him something to drink plus calamari. Fast forward that every other customer is served but us / but I digress.

good news is that my pal Zack shows up ~ 9:15 right before the show is starting and he ends up closer to Tony than I (he could have grabbed his arm as he played). Zack had come with me to see Randy Peterson & Mary Halvorson in January & to the opening night of Vision Fest in May plus he’s now listened to a bit of “out” jazz since plus he’s into metal, noise, more straight jazz and other stuff that only a few other 23 year olds like him would like. Point is he’s open. He also brought a friend and his fiancé who maybe smartly stayed towards the back of the long narrow club.

FULL packed house - not sure how many are unsuspecting tourists who were sent here by local hotels to go see some real NYC jazz but in any event as is his norm, no introductions and with this band, no charts and maybe no plans of any sort. I look down and that assortment of pedals for Monder & Dahl is overwhelming so I try to keep my head up or eyes closed. Tony starts on the soprano and I imagine more than a few must think he is just warming up and in a sense they are correct. Within a few minutes all concerns regarding Cleaver are gone - some heavy grooves are brewing and it is overall like December 2010 when I saw Gerald Cleaver’s Black Host for the first time only this past Saturday night it was almost like 1972 Jaki Liezebeit (from Can) was in the House!! And maybe 40 minutes later after the band went through a multitude of grooves and volumes and skronk and Beauty with Malaby switching off to his huge tenor and then taking his soprano playing to and beyond the edge of all possibilities, I’m astounded as is most of the crowd. They finish the set off with a 12 to 15 minute improvisation and some of await the second set with even I (me of the NEVER leave before the second set mentality as it is most often far better - and with Tony Malaby’s long form improvisational groups this is usually also true).

The soundscapes this band builds is really unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Impossible to explain except to know that despite my fears it worked way better than I imagined. Monder was strong and his sounds probably utilized less looping and effects than Dahl but I just let it all sink in. All of it was dazzling and the overall result as music was exceptionally loud but crystal clear and open. Malaby's playing for some will remain controversial as despite him being a very melodically based saxophonist, the dichotomy is that he is also maybe the most abstract and aggressively discordant saxophonist I know of. Maybe as biting or moreso than John Butcher but he is his own voice. Very little if any connection to the piles of post-Coltrane tenors and his soprano playing has become as strong and as scintillating in it’s own way as his playing on his primary horn. 

My pal is floored, his friend’s fiancé isn’t driving so she’s staying but she promises she’ll never hear anything like this again (maybe she said this after set 2!!) so we get ready for the second set. Zack asked me what could they possibly do to outdo that and I told him not sure they could but I’ve seen & heard it happen before so who knows??

The band starts together this time again with Malaby on soprano and again he swiches back and forth maybe every 15 minuted and for brief periods of time allows the other 3 to alter the crazy/insane rubbery foundation and for him to breath  - and 45-48 minutes later they are done and this round was maybe 30-50% even more intense and accomplished - a few of the sequences are right there with the best music I’ve heard in a bit and when Tony finished the last 6-8 minutes playing gorgeous more traditional tenor I’m again reminded why I see this music. 

 

 

peace and blessings

 

 

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