Don Byron at Village Vanguard with Jason Moran,

[maren]

January 27 through February 1 at the Village Vanguard, NYC.

[Deep Groove]

I'm hoping this one will be hot...I'm definitely there one of those nights.

[sal]

Wow....I wish I could see that!

[Deep Groove]

It's snowing here in "The City," and I just back from the first set of the first night of this group's gig at the Vanguard...there were probably a grand total of 15 people who made it through the weather outside this group, and we were all duly rewarded.

The set started a little bit slow, with the band doing some tune based on the changes of "Perdido." Moran threw out what a sick (as in amazing) solo, but Byron just kind of noodled around for 10-15 minutes. Maybe there was a direction there, but it was geared to more sophisticated ears than mine, and from the expression on the faces of most of the audience, he clearly lost them as well. I even started thinking, "Too bad the Vanguard serves watered-down Glenlivet"...a stiff scotch could have taken the edge off that laborious (for the listener as well as Byron) solo.

However, the second number the band did was a ballad, and Byron was amazing. There's an edge to his playing when he gigs that often isn't there for me on his cd's...Moran didn't avail himself as well on the ballad--could it have been "Say it (over and over again)"?--as he did on the up-tempo number, but Byron was great, and Billy Hart kept it rolling with fierce filling on the cymbals.

The best number to my ears, though, was the next one...I'm not certain but I think it was a late Miles piece...and the band just smoked it! Plaxico and Hart introduced the beat, with Plaxico playing this stuttering "Duh-duh...(silence)...dah-duh-duh" bass signature that kept the groove going for the entire piece, and Hart throwing in mad rhythmic figures along the way. Moran started out laying down the riff, and Byron solo'ed above it. Later, when it was Moran's solo space, Byron stepped back and blew the riff figure, leaving Moran free to throw all sorts of his characteristic block chords at the piece. Long and poorly 'ritten review short, they had the whole place noddin' to the beat, which is a lot to say when the room is filled with middle-aged white guys (a demographic I'm soon to join)!

The group rounded out the first set with a great blues, which featured Plaxico on the bow--it would have been worth the price of admission alone.

In short, and--DISCLAIMER--to this amateur's ears, this was a don't-miss gig. If you live in NYC, it's easily worth the $ 30 door.

I'm deeply groovin'...

[Peter Johnson]

Nice review, DG! I'm going to try to get up there this weekend--hopefully this slush will clear the hell out by then....

[GA Russell]

Thanks for that review! I didn't know that Byron played with the likes of those other three.

[sonnyhill]

Hey Deep Groove, I was there on Tuesday(Billy Hart was late). It is definitely an engagement that should not be missed. The VV was jazz heaven for the few brave souls who showed up despite the blizzard.

Your review was on the money. I agree with you about Byron's first long solo, but he was just warming up. I stayed for the second set, it was also great. I will probably try to make it another night this week.

The guy sitting next to me recorded it on his md player. I didn't notice until he was about to leave or else I would have given him my address and tried to get him to mail me a copy.

The Miles piece they played was a medley of "In a Silent Way" and "Shh/Peaceful."

If you live in or are close to NYC, DO NOT miss out on this one. It definitely will be one of my jazz highlights of the year.

In two weeks, Mark Turner is playing the VV with his "FLY" Trio. I will be there.

Edited January 29, 2004 by sonnyhill