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It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

Heard David Smith's and Adam Kolker's groups last night at Smalls in Manhattan.

The Brooklyn Jazz Underground had (I think) 5 groups playing at Smalls last night, and the place was so packed that there were lines outside waiting to get in. Dave Smith's quintet was first up.

Dave - trumpet
John O'Gallagher - alto
Aruan Ortiz - piano
Gary Wang - bass
Anthony Pinciotti - drums

They played their collective asses off! Don't know the rhythm section players, but all of 'em sounded great both as a section playing behind Dave and John's solos and as soloists themselves. Ortiz's solos stretched and twisted the time quite a bit, and the way he and Wang/Pinciotti would suddenly and unexpectedly come together to bring burning time back reminded me of Herbie/Ron/Tony in Miles' group.

I have one of O'Gallagher's cd's titled Abacus - which I definitely recommend - but had never heard him live. I was absolutely knocked out. Beautiful fat/rich/dark sound, fantastic chops and facility, and very hip lines. After hearing that SOB I'll probably get very bugged at my own playing when I practice later today.

If you've heard Dave's cd's you already know he's a smokin' trumpet player who writes unique tunes. All the music they played last night was excellent, but the 2nd piece in particular killed me. Very uptempo and EXTREMELY hard, and really unusual and interesting trumpet/alto lines - partly unison partly harmonized counter lines. Man, I would have to shed that chart for I don't know how long to be able to play it, but Dave and O'Gallagher played it perfectly, and with great pitch too. An absolute knockout piece from beginning to end, with great solos from everybody and propulsive time.

Suffice it to say, if you get a chance to hear Dave Smith's group live you should. His music is creative, his trumpet sound is incisive and fiery - but also warm/rich, and the lines he plays are consistently interesting. A couple of his tunes had long sustained lines, and Dave's sound was beautiful and nuanced. On other tunes like the uptempo one I mentioned his time was scorching. As with Dave's other groups, this iteration had killer players.

Tenor player Adam Kolker's group was the 3rd group to play last night. I met Adam 8-9 years ago when he subbed on my band. I still remember the first solo he took at a rehearsal on one of my charts with particularly difficult changes and 6 bar phrases. He sight read it and played my own composition much better than I did. Adam got too busy teaching in Massachusetts to record with us the first time, but I was very happy that he was able to play on my big band's 2nd cd. Like David Smith, Adam is a fantastic musician and always leads killer groups.

Adam - tenor
Steve Cardenas - guitar
Mat Penland - bass
Billy Mintz - drums

Dunno exactly how old Billy Mintz is, but he appeared to be a geezer around my age. His playing sure ain't antique, and Adam's set started off with a long solo drum intro to the first tune. Sparse and interesting highlighting the *sound* of his drum set rather than pyrotechnics, perfect segue from solo to setting up the tempo for the tune. Mintz's time, accents and volume level the whole set was perfect. Really enjoyed hearing him.

Had never heard Cardenas or Penland live either, and they were both standouts. Haven't mentioned it yet, but Small's is, ahh, small. Thankfully both Dave's and Adam's groups played *acoustic*, including the bassists. Penland had a nice big sound, great chops, and his solos were very melodic.

Cardenas was a perfect foil for Adam. Hip and somewhat sparse voicings, interesting rhythmic accents when he was comping, and when he cut loose on solos his lines were surprising and fresh.

IMO Adam is one of the best tenor players around nowadays. Great everything - chops, big beautiful sound (never over blows), interesting lines. He usually plays some standards as well as originals. Last night he played I Wish I Knew on bass clarinet. Gorgeous sound on that axe. He later played one of his own angular and unpredictable Monkish tunes on bass clar. and knocked everybody out. Its a difficult instrument, and Adam is one of the few who has the ability to play it with unrestrained facility. His tenor solos were, as expected, just plain great. If anything, his sound has gotten even richer and more evocative over the years I've known him.

Man, I'm really glad I took a chance on getting soaked last night to go out and hear Dave's/Adam's groups. As it turned out I made it home before the rain got heavy, and the music was so good I wouldn't have minded if I did get soaked. For those who think jazz after the '60's is stale, boring, and a slew of notes signifying nothing.........you literally don't know what you're missing if you don't get out and hear current groups like those led by David and Adam.

BTW - if you're around the NYC area I highly recommend checking Smalls out. Nice vibe, lottsa good groups play there, and for whatever reason the acoustic sound in the room is very good no matter where you sit/stand.





Edits: 08/13/14

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Topic - Heard David Smith's and Adam Kolker's groups last night at Smalls in Manhattan. - Rick W 12:05:13 08/13/14 (3)

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