Spent a slice of the weekend hemming and hawing over whether to scribble something on last week’s Ornette concert. Coleman touched down in the Twin Cities with his working quartet of Tony Falanga and Greg Cohen basses, Denardo on drums; their gig the apex of a three-day celebration dubbed somewhat clumsily: The Festival Dancing in Your Head. Tix were steep at a Grant-spot apiece, but damn, it’s Ornette & if The Eagles can command a hundred a head then he’s certainly worth half that bread.
Thinking long and hard I decided my post-performance equivocal feelings weren’t worth the virtual ink. I also skipped out on the remainder of the fest that sandwiched the show, a sprawling conglomeration of artists ranging from a handful of bands in the Happy Apple/Bad Plus orbit (drummer Dave King could easily give Matt Shipp a run for the money in any brazen self-promotion contest) to Bang on a Can, George Cartwright, Douglas Ewart and Anthony Cox among others. So instead of plastering up my lukewarm broodings on a hero’s less than transcendental showing, I figured more ardent hagiography would be better, compliments of my pally Ted in Brooklyn.
Ted had the extraordinary good fortune of attending two nights of the Joe Maneri Quartet’s three-evening stand at Barbe’s [I’m hoping our man Michael Anton Parker also made the scene and is prepping a celebratory piece on all the happ’nin’s as I type this]. I last caught Joe at the ACME Fest a little over a year ago. He wasn’t entirely well health-wise and had to wheel an oxygen tank beside him, but the inconvenience did little to hinder his gregarious spirit and good humor. The chimney-like environs of The 40 Watt Club only exacerbated the circumstance, but an impromptu smoking band mandated by Ken Vandermark saved the day and Joe’s lungs (not to mention the audience’s). That joyous experience still fresh in my mind I bemoaned being stuck in land-locked Minneapolis while the action went down on Eastern shores. Coleman’s gig ending up a somewhat flimsy consolation only added to the sting. Oh, and those early rumors of a farewell send-off seem to mostly be the product of a clever ploy to move merch. Anyway, to cop a tag-line from LA jazzbo Fred Jung, here’s Ted’s take “unedited and in his own words”:
“Joe was looking great. No tanks. He sat there all quiet for at least 45 minutes beforehand. Think there was some family besides the wife. Joe started talking and livened up a little before the set. The rest came in. Mat looking all slick with no band on his finger and all darkly dressed with some drink in his hand. Think he had some ladies there. Not sure who was family though so don't quote. Joe opened with a poem. He wished for love and all the right notes (but not correct). Mat plugged the CDs while the cameras got ready. Mat had his homemade jammy for the first set. They sounded good and then Randy just ripped shit up on the traps and everything just changed. The intensity was heavy. The room was small and most seemed enthralled (except for the Skippy wannabe who snapped 8000 digital pics all sitting in the front row--no flash but the back had the viewer and the light kept blinking.) I was in the back and Joe was still maybe 15 feet in front of me. The first set was nice but drinks were flowing and everyone seemed happy. It was more boisterous for the second set. Joe told everyone to buy the damn CDs already to shut Mat up. Then he confessed he couldn't buy any because he couldn't afford them. It came out so earnest that the laughter didn't end for minutes. He is the sweetest. The second set just raised the roof. Shit was intense. Mat had the viola out now and him and pop were just in some mode with Mat lightly behind him creating almost an echo while Joe is all there with his shit sounding layered. Man, I was shaking it out afterwards. Randy still ripped but after that insane solo in the first, he tried to compete but never got back up there. Besides, Matt Moran was all shining on the vibes creating an electric forcefield of high pitched tones and the drums just sounded too damn hard. One duet with Joe and Mat was exceptional. Everything stayed on that eastern european dirge/funeral feel except for the drum solos. The drums just kept it sounding so jazz. Not necessarily bad but there is a sound there that gets lost when the rhythm is more traditional. Well, traditional in an improvised way. When do I get to hear the wedding music? Anyway, it was great and I told you to call so I could put you on speaker.”
[special gratitude goes out to Jon Morgan for the lead snap- d.t.]
Posted by derek on April 25, 2005 3:56 PMDerek and Ted, thanks, this is great stuff! Yes, I'm planning to get a blog entry up about this, but it turns out I haven't had a chance to sit down at the computer for more than a few minutes since Friday... Ideally I'd've hit the keyboard Saturday morning, but it was impossible... I expect to have some time this evening finally though.
As far as family, Joe's wife Sonja was in front of Joe next to the piano and Mat's brother Abraham was sitting next to her during that first set the first night--no other family members there, but certainly a lot of intimate friends and supporters of Joe and Mat.
Yeah, Randy's solo in that first set was unbelievable. They really jumped into the heavy stuff pretty quick that night, not much in the way of preludes!
Posted by: Michael Anton Parker at April 26, 2005 5:26 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................