Jazz From the Past Month. Were You There?

Our journey back to shows that occurred over the last few months takes us to early May and City of Asylum, or more specifically to Alphabet City, CoA's performance space/bookstore/restaurant. The organization has been presenting their Jazz Poetry events since 2005. Although they have not been booking national jazz acts as frequently as they were a few years ago, they still remain a vital part of the community, where people come to absorb the music and poetry of the night.

This year's Jazz Poetry series kicked off with a performance on May 7 by the Messthetics & James Brandon Lewis. Dr. Lewis (he is one now) is no stranger to CoA, having played their last year for the event, and the group also rocked Club Cafe a couple times. But this was the first time this particular unit collaborated with exiled poets sponsored by their hosts.

The blend of poets and free jazz musicians could be a recipe for disaster. But the writers who come to City of Asylum (from various countries around the world) have always been consistent in both their writing and their reading skills. No overly dramatic delivery or up-tics at the end of lines. 

Rania Mamoun, Volodymyr Rafeyenko and Mark Andryczyk (who acted as translator for Rafeyenko) all delivered strong performances, and the quartet came up with music that was loose and open but ultimately complemented the writers, definitely not overpowering them or underscoring the musical aspect.

Then it was time to rock out. I wondered how the literary and jazz crowd would take to a band that includes the one-time rhythm section of Fugazi, a guitarist who uses multiple effects pedals to shred and a tenor saxophonist who can stand toe-to-toe with these cats. Things were loud enough that Lewis had to gesture to the soundman several times to get his monitor level turned up, but it didn't detract from his playing. 

Anthony Pirog is sitting in the picture above, but that shot was taken when he was playing with the poets. For his set, he stood and the electric fans on stage got his hair blowing, which made him seem like the Rock God that he is. After kicking off the set with the title track of their latest album, Deface the Currency, they immediately dug into "That Thang" a track from their previous album with a dirty, funk vamp, which was deep in the pocket. I was satiated there but there was plenty more to come.

Bassist Joe Lally was a study in understatement. He didn't get flashy, but he built a solid foundation for his comrades, which is exactly what they needed. On drums, Brendan Canty set the grooves on fire, kicked up the energy for Pirog and Lewis, and ringing that bell of his.

No one ran away screaming that night because of the volume. Like their last visit to town, they brought love to the room with their aggressive music.

The following Thursday pianist Marta Sanchez played a Jazz Poetry night, but I missed it, due to work. But I was at Government Center on May 15, for an evening that celebrated the release of 2 of 3, an album by bassist Dylan Zeh, drummer Ross Antonich and saxophonists Erik Lawrence and Derek Bendel. (Each side features one of the saxophonists with Zeh and Antonich, hence the album title.)

The festivities, so to speak, began with Lawrence playing in a duet with vibraphonist Jeff Berman. The former played a couple different flutes (love the bass flute) and saxophones (including a curved soprano and baritone). These guys have a long-standing rapport and it was clear during their set, which was purely improvised but often had the feel of composed work. Or maybe they instinctively went into a tune together. 

It should be mentioned to 2 of 3 is actually the third album that Zeh has released on his Fleur imprint, all of which feature Bendel. Their first release was the bold Musically Yours - A Tribute to Sam Rivers, which was recorded just a few months after its honoree's 100th birthday. Zeh lived in Florida, where he was turned on to Sam Rivers' work, and it just so happens that the composer/saxophonist/flutist's archives are stored at the University of Pittsburgh, so he was able to look original scores when getting a set together. 

Lawrence doesn't appear on that album but he performed with the band live, which is completed by Antonich and flutist Trē Abalos. At the sessions for that album, Zeh and Bendel recorded a series of duets that were released in a self-titled disc with art tby Carol Goss that paid homage to a Sam Rivers/David Holland album that she also drew.

For the second set, the quartet from the album took the stage for a spontaneous conversation. Both saxophonists played together this time. Bendel doubled on bass clarinet, the sound of which carried a little better off the stage of Government Center. But as the video below shows, the baritone and tenor worked really well in tandem. (Maybe it was my ears that missed some of the sounds.) And Antonich  always conveys excitement by the way he looks while playing his kit. 

Towards the end, Berman came back onstage to get in on the action. 

I realize the audience for free music isn't huge but it would have been nice to see a few more faces from the Messthetics show in the crowd, checking this out. What would it take? More hustling? More info from people like, coming in a timely manner? 

I suppose this seems like a good time to plug Sonic Pit, the Substack page (or is it a blog?) that I'm doing with Scott Mervis and Manny Theiner. That site promises more previews of shows, something that Pittsburgh hasn't seen as much lately. It's free to subscribe, so check it out. And keep checking here too, of course.