Photos: Rudy Lu
When the final line up was announced, a great performance was anticipated. “Tain” was leading an all star band consisting of James Francies-piano, Ravi Coltrane-saxophones and James Genus on bass. The confluence of various birthdays, death days may have lead “Tain” and Company to curate a set to celebrate the lives of some maestros that have passed on. Before the performance, a toast was dedicated to guitarist Russell Malone, who died of a heart attack just a few days before after a gig in Tokyo.
But once the music, the band took no prisoners with a wild rendition of Thelonius Monk’s “Brilliant Corners”. “Tain” set an ever changing pace to the piece, alternating between different accents along with fast and slow tempos, but always swinging. The band always stayed with him. Coltrane’s swaggering saxophone, Francies’ exploratory piano and Genus’ enthusiastic bass also created their own pathways.
The self penned “Of August Moon” was next. Francies opened with mysterious tones, “Tain”‘s drumming prophetic of impending seasonal change, Ravi Coltrane’s saxophone was sometimes silent but when he played it was repeating his band mate’s themes.
“Newark Flash”is an original composition dedicated to the late Wayne Shorter, his nickname based upon his now known nerdy obsession with science fiction. It captured this portion of Shorter’s personality well.
Power drumming with mallets was demonstrated with a piece from Tain’s first solo release Citizen Tain, “Attainment”. He quipped, “Really, I’m not an egomaniac”, causing the audience to chuckle. The influence of Alice Coltrane, could clearly be heard. The dynamics of James Genus bass were featured.
Vodkaville, named after vodka and a piece that was provoked by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina followed. Both intense jams.
“412”, a ballad dedicated too the late Geri Allen followed. Geri collaborated with Tain and many others. She originally was from Pittsburgh as are many other jazz stars.
The encore was “Jitney Cab”, slang for the unlicensed cab service that developed to service underserved areas in many urban areas. Tain’s father moonlighted in one to make ends meet.
The set was a celebration of Tain’s past and the past giants of the genre. This is done with much humor, without solemnity and much love. Tain is normally a pretty funny guy, this evening the humor seemed to be channeling the late Russell Malone. Russell was well known for joking and socializing offstage.
I was not just an observer of this performance, I had brought my BBQ version of Tandoori Chicken for the band. This dates back to an FB conversation I had with James Francies 3 years ago.
This was the celebration of the entire cycle of life.
Setlist:
Brilliant Corners, Of August Moon, Newark Flash, Attainment, Vodkaville, Katrina Jam, 412, Jitney Cab
