The band playing this week at the Jazz Showcase strays so far from the club’s typical fare that Showcase regulars may think they’ve wandered into the wrong venue.
Granted, at first glance vibist Gary Burton would seem a fairly predictable Showcase headliner, his famously fleet style and four-mallet virtuosity representing a high point in the evolution of his instrument.
But the quintet that Burton brought to the club on Tuesday evening played a music far removed from the traditions of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and other bebop icons. At the very least, club-goers had to be pleasantly surprised by the tone of the music-making.
Burton calls his band Generations, a reference to young players assisting a seasoned master (and to the title of the group’s Concord Records release of last year). Focusing on repertoire penned by Burton’s youthful collaborators, Generations excels at a music that’s decidedly less frantic, harmonically complex, rhythmically driven and texturally dense than the bebop fare that has defined the Showcase agenda for more than 50 years.
Instead, Generations yields a sound that’s melodically direct and simple, texturally transparent and unapologetically accessible to listeners unversed in jazz orthodoxy.
It’s not the most challenging or complex music ever heard at the Showcase–far from it. But for a balmy summer’s eve, it plays surprisingly well.
From the opening number of Tuesday’s first set, Burton and friends offered a bright, feel-good music in the form of guitarist Julian Lage’s “First Impression.” The genteel tintinnabulation of Burton’s vibes elegantly countered Lage’s soft-spoken guitar, the two unfurling ebullient phrases with seeming nonchalance. Though the musical material may have been a bit light for some listeners’ tastes, there was no denying the polish or precision of its delivery.
To their credit, the musicians upped the intensity level in “Early,” a stylized tango by Lage in which the band reveled in the atmosphere of European and South American folkloric traditions. If pianist Vadim Neselovskyi’s opening solo was badly over-pedaled, rendering it considerably less brilliant than he may have believed it to be, Burton’s crisp accents and pinpoint attacks made up for it.
Ultimately, though, the band thrived in softly stated tone poems, such as Oscar Peterson’s “Wheatland,” and delicately wrought ballads, including Mitch Forman’s aptly named “Gorgeous.” In both instances, Burton stood at the fulcrum of the ensemble sound, crafting lines that discreetly rose and fell with ineffable grace.
Perhaps as a concession to the setting, Generations played a more straight-ahead, bop-tinged reading of the standard “My Romance,” with drummer James Williams generating some of the most aggressive playing of the set. But, for the most part, Generations made its points in gentler ways.
Gary Burton’s Generations Quintet
When: Through Sunday
Where: Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave.
Price: $20-$25; 312-670-2473
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hreich@tribune.com
