By: Rudy Lu
It was a homecoming. Alex Slomka is an metro NY based trombone player originally from Schenectady. Per his own words, he learned to sight read on the fly with the Keith Pray Big Soul Ensemble, cut his teeth with many of the local musicians, before working in NYC.
For this homecoming, he chose a drummerless trio of 518 musicians to be a vehicle for an evening of standards with a sprinkling of originals. Guitarist Wyatt Ambrose and Lou Smaldone were his companions .
Although, we are in full swing of summer here, we were reminded that fall is around the corner with “September In The Rain” a standard that has been sung by many including Frank Sinatra and Dinah Washington.
“If I Had You” followed, the trio or bandmates would listen to each other, comp, solo or play the melody as needed.
Alex Slomka’s sole EP Box of Sox ( digital only on streaming services) was mixed into the set, the first number played was “Yellow Moon” , a NOLA tune done by the Neville Brothers. It had that exotic sound greatly accented by Ambrose and Smaldone playing in the higher registers of his bass.
Al Green’s “Stay Together ” followed.
The passing of Tim Coakley was noted by playing Count Basie’s “Lil Darling”. A yet unnamed tune followed. It was tentatively named “Panara” for a relatively unknown tribe in South America, but will on second thought would remain unnamed out of respect for the tribe.
More from the Basie Songbook was pulled “After Supper” followed by “Shining Stocking”.
The trio then brought the audience into the clouds with “Mamatus”.
Some ska was introduced into the mix with a cover of the Specials “Message to You”. The band decided to stay in the Carribean with Sonny Rollins “St.Thomas”.
Switching back to Bop with “Polka Dots & Moonbeams’, the band then closed with “After You’ve Gone”.
This was the first of the “Community Based Jazz” series sponsored by the Van Dyck Music . This series will be based on suggestions from the jazz community and will be sustained by the donation box or electronic versions of it .
This next jazz performance at the Van Dyck will be the Joe Barna birthday celebration on 8.22. Hope to see you there.
