Not every performer is out to set the world afire, invent a new musical language or blow away listeners with dizzying virtuosity.
Certainly those are not the goals of the two exquisitely understated tenor saxophonists who opened Tuesday night at the Jazz Showcase. So listeners expecting Scott Hamilton and Harry Allen to evoke, say, the fiery exchanges that Zoot Sims and Al Cohn used to ignite would have been disappointed.
To Hamilton and Allen, the two-tenor format affords an opportunity to create long strands of melody, finely detailed counterpoint and–on occasion–a bit of harmonic tension between two mutually respectful players. Judged on these terms, the tenorists produced an appealing set that never lacked for heartfelt expression or a straightforward, unaffected manner.
At their best, Hamilton and Allen proved that there’s much more to mainstream swing tradition than fast tempos, combustive rhythms and perpetual-motion passagework. Quite the contrary, the duo took its sweet time even on a burner such as “Cherokee,” for decades a mettle-testing showpiece that the nerviest players take at a hysterical clip.
So more than a few clubgoers must have been surprised by the relatively casual pace that Hamilton and Allen set, a medium-swing tempo that wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere. Those who missed the sense of frenzy and risk-taking that the tune typically invites nevertheless had a good deal to savor this time around.
For one, the relaxed tempo enabled listeners to appreciate the big, barreling sound of two tenorists simultaneously working the lower registers of their instruments. Every passing sixteenth note meant something at this tempo, Hamilton and Allen producing a complex, richly textured tone that withstood scrutiny.
Even so, you could tell these players apart with your eyes closed. Hamilton’s big, airy, bluesy sound found ample contrast in Allen’s pungent, tart, pointed tone. Together, the duo created a sound so full and vibrant as to sometimes make one wonder if there was a third saxophonist.
But the most sublime duetting of the evening came in the Gershwins’ “Embraceable You.” Hamilton and Allen, melodicists to the core, communicated with each other as lucidly as if they were speaking, one phrase sweetly answered by the next.
Though most listeners probably focused on the two tenors, their eloquence owed at least in part to the sterling Chicago rhythm section swinging in the background. With drummer Charles Braugham never letting rhythmic momentum slacken, bassist Marlene Rosenberg playing perpetually jaunty eighth notes and pianist Mike Kocour spelling out the chord changes with unrelenting forward motion, Hamilton and Allen didn’t have to worry about creating rhythmic propulsion. It already was there.
Kocour, especially, played with a remarkable combination of melodic creativity, textural variety and digital sparkle. Though called upon to work within a fairly restricted harmonic and stylistic range, Kocour provided solos so distinctive in touch, tone and melodic invention as to inspire strong rounds of applause. Each was deserved.
Even Hamilton and Allen appeared transfixed by Kocour’s pianism, the two at various junctures ogling the keyboard to study Kocour’s solos. The evening may not have yielded fireworks, but there was no resisting its underlying warmth.
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The Scott Hamilton-Harry Allen Quintet plays through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave. Phone 312-670-2473.
