Recapping Shows by Charles McPherson and Michael Formanek Drome Trio

Without even taking the pandemic into consideration, I've missed too many live shows due to work schedule conflicts or lack of planning or the inability to escape the gravity force of home. Last week was NOT going to be one of those weeks. On Thursday night, I made it down to Kingfly Spirits and caught nearly all of the music from Jeff Berman's BLINK project. Then on the weekend, I hightailed it out of work to a show each night. Saturday night, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson played at the New Hazlett Theater. On Sunday night, Michael Formanek's Drome Trio breezed into Alphabet City.   

Here are their stories.

While rushing from the parking garage to the Hazlett, I left my phone in the car. At first I figured it was just as well because I didn't need to keep checking it during the show. It wasn't until I sat down that I realized there'd be no pictures either. Hopefully the following words will make up for that. 

One of the things I like about going to a show presented by Kente Arts Alliance - aside from the music itself - is the welcome the audience always gets from either Gail Austin or Mensah Wali, the organization's directors. This time, it was Mensah's turn to get everyone excited with a few choice words. "In the beginning, there was the Word," he said. "And the word was Bird." Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, he explained, was someone who studied that word. In fact, in the film Bird (like it or not), McPherson provided the alto parts for the film's protagonist. Not to mention those 14 years he spent with Charles Mingus.

At 82, McPherson is still blowing with plenty of power. While soloing, he stood very still, letting his fingers do all the work. When he and  his quintet played "Just Friends" it was no overplayed standard. He tore into some double-time lines, winding up at the top of the horn's register, evoking Eric Dolphy in a way, in terms of rapid ideas and adventures with harmonic choices. 

Throughout the two sets, McPherson pulled out some bebop classics, including "Cherokee," "Embraceable You" and "Old Folks," the latter title not describing any of the players onstage, especially him. Everyone played as if they knew they had to add something new to songs we've all heard many times. Their arrangement of "Nature Boy" was taken in tempo, with a piano vamp from Jeb Patton that gave it a hard-bop-meets-bossa-nova feel. 

But the music wasn't merely familiar works either. They opened with "Seventh Dimension," a McPherson original that drew a little bit from "The Sidewinder" (in the opening vamp) and "Well You Needn't" (in the melody). They also played "Delight" from Jazz Dance Suites, a 2019 album that came through a collaboration with his daughter, a dancer in the San Diego Ballet. 

The frontline was shared with trumpeter Terell Stafford, whose volume almost overshadowed the boss. He often took the lead on the themes, with McPherson adding counterpoint, and his solos were on fire throughout the evening. McPherson's son Chuck was the drummer, and bassist Nathan Pence rounded out the group. There were a few moments where the rhythm section didn't seem like they were completely in sync with the horns, which could very well have been a sound/mixing issue. But it didn't detract from the set, overall.

The next night, I knew I'd miss a bit of Michael Formanek's Drome Trio since the show was beginning right as I was clocking out of work, but I knew whatever I saw would outweigh the late arrival. And if the length of the track on their new CD is any indication (27:00), I still got there during the first tune of the set, "Tattarrattat." Drummer Vinnie Sperrazza (above) was in the middle of a solo that evoked the song's title, a James Joyce term for a loud knocking on the door. (It's also a palindrome, a theme that ran through the set.)

The next piece featured Formanek playing a solo that sounded both funky and angular at the same time. Chet Doxas (on tenor for this one) started off playing smoky long tones that later turned into fast runs up and down the horn. Sperrazza, at one point playing with only one hand and still filling out the sound perfectly, toyed with playing a 4/4 beat but changed back to something a bit more open. So much happened that it was hard to tell if they were playing sections of a bigger piece or playing solos over a structure. Regardless, it flowed beautifully and I was feeling glad that I didn't miss this night.

Another highpoint of the set was "Gone Home," which was written in homage to people who have passed on in recent times. Formanek played a beautiful chord - or was it a double or triple stop - across the neck while Doxas, on soprano, helped the piece sound like a free spiritual. Sperrazza, who often looked as excited by his bandmates' performances as the audience did, played a few passages just on cymbals, which fit perfectly to create the mood for the song, something that reminded this writer of Paul Motian, a guy who did as much with a ride cymbal as some drummers do with a whole kit.  

Both those shows required patrons to wear masks and it seemed like everyone complied. If we can keep be sensible, maybe we'll be able to leave the masks at home before too long. In the meantime, be safe, be smart and come on out to shows. We miss you.

PS The Formanek Trio's album is Were We Where We Were on Circular File Records.