Berkshires arts reviews

October 6, 2007 performance reviewed by Ronald K. Baker.

A touch of autumn was in the night air as thundershowers ushered in some needed rain to the parched Berkshire Hills Saturday night. The celestial fireworks seemed to lend excitement to an already much anticipated evening of jazz at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church located on Park Square the epicenter of Pittsfield, MA.

Those who thought the concert might be in the downstairs hall were surprised to learn otherwise. Concertgoers were able to seat themselves in the cushioned, well appointed pews whose straight backs gave one a new appreciation of rigorous Episcopalians.

While the changeover from summer was taking place outside, the audience could be seen shedding outerwear as ventilation inside seemed to be at a premium. There was nary a fan whirring or a portal to be had to allow for any pulmonary or thermal respite.

Irrespective of all that, Peggy Stern and her aggregation were sublimely cool. She introduced the title track of her new CD, “Blood and Treasure,” a bossa-nova that featured a different chord nearly every measure. Guilio Martino, on the tenor sax, established himself as a fluid and gifted soloist exhibiting a mastery of both tone and range in an outstanding, seemingly effortless, although somewhat restrained performance.

The quartet was at its finest in pieces with Latin flavor. All three of her sidemen are of Italian extraction and the group has a decidedly European penchant. One can only speculate that what came across as lack of spark may have been travel fatigue or reverence arising from playing on the richly adorned church altar.

The group was exceedingly tight and the sound was perfect with just the right level of additional amplification. The players showed a high degree of musicianship both as sidemen to Stern and as individual soloists. As a pianist, Stern seems to lean rather heavily on broken chords for her improvisations eschewing traditional eighth note based passages. Hence she never quite matched the lyricism of Martino on sax. But she has an excellent feel for all things south of the border. Her original compositions, be they Samba, Meringue, or Salsa, are pensive, evocative and fun. She has found three talented, like-minded players who share her gusto.

When Grace Kelly joined the Peggy Stern Quartet as a guest soloist Saturday night, she cranked the energy level up a notch. Adorned in a black evening gown that was cut rakishly in front to above the knees, wearing the hat bestowed on her by alto sax legend Phil Woods and a pair of fancy new sneakers, she bopped and danced along with the music.

She provided what seemed like the first real signs of life up on the stage. The quartet responded with a memorable performance of “Stella by Starlight” as a bossa. With her infusion of motion and energy, she was a harbinger. There was a veritable Tsunami waiting to take the stage in the person of Claire Daly with her baritone sax and overwhelming presence.

The three saxes jumped into a rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is” in three part harmony viewing what may have been hastily scripted parts on a lead sheet. Stern and Martino evidenced a musical intimacy tantamount to reading each others thoughts. Then the horns embarked on a whimsical improvisational excursion that bordered on tomfoolery.

There was point and counterpoint, theme and variation, imitation, diminution and even, dare I say, women’s intuition. It was clearly one of those classic musical moments. It was so good, so spontaneous and so amorphous that there was simply no way back to the real world. Not a problem. Veteran bandleader that she is, Stern made the decision to dissolve parliament.

She brought the music to a halt, counted four and started fresh even reining in the tempo slightly as the saxes returned to the head of the tune. The momentary meltdown was a small price to pay for the delicious journey that had preceded it.

Following intermission Claire Daly and her group took over. Eli Yamin wasted no time letting it be known he was here to groove. His free-swinging comping powered the quartet that featured Dave Hofstra on bass and a punchy Peter Grant on drums. Daly’s let it all hang out style brought new life to an audience also refreshed by a brief stretch in the cool night air outside.

She joked with the crowd about her sweating but proceeded to just plain blow everyone away in spite of it. The band is a well oiled machine of nine years running with Daly. She gets down and dirty they get nastier and gritty. The listeners were treated with a good dose of jazz standards including ones from Kenny Drew, Frank Foster and Dexter Gordon to name a few.

Eli Yamin was masterful on piano using a full range of lyrical improvisations that featured technical prowess, power and expressiveness throughout. His free-wheeling, lilting approach was a breath of fresh air lacking earlier in the evening. His talent as a composer came through on a piece he wrote for the late Illinois Jacquet entitled “Jacquet’s Meditation.” It was broad, thoughtful and compelling. The aggregation showed repeatedly that they were of one mind. Grace Kelly joined back in as they pounded out a fat-back shuffle blues on Dexter Gordon’s “Society Red” making it hard to suppress a smile.

It’s hard to imagine what the future may hold for the young alto sax player when one considers that a year ago Phil Woods has bequeathed her his hat and she’s only 15. Still Claire Daly’s awesome power was impossible to trump. She won the audience over with the sheer force of her personality and had people singing along with her on “Heaven Help Us All,” a note of protest for the current administration in Washington, DC.

Grace Kelly showed her versatility as she sang “East of the Sun.” The audience reaction was luke-warm. Perhaps she could have chosen a song with wider interpretive possibilities. Still there’s apparently no stopping her. Doubtless she had a hand in choosing the closing number, “Summertime” as it blended a funk-rock beat and an almost rap style background harmonic scheme for the soloists. Daly’s band got a chance to max out and stretch as the piece built and developed. Yamin was dazzling with innovative figures based on semi-tonal dissonance and rhythmic imagination.

Again attendance was not what it could have been or should have been. But it didn’t seem to matter for the musicians or the listeners. Perhaps from these small beginnings …

Kudos to Ed Bride and all involved for another memorable Pittsfield CityJazz Festival.

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