winter jazzfest 2016 - nyc [day 3]  jan 15

• photography by Clara Pereira / text by Filipe Freitas
• This article was also published in Portuguese on Jazz.pt Magazine

Day 3 - First Marathon

To open the first marathon, whose concerts took place in different venues spread across Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, I've chosen the guitarist David Torn, who performed solo at the spacious New School’s Tishman Auditorium. This stage was reserved for artists who recently have been recording under the prestigious German label, ECM, well represented on both days by its founder, Manfred Eicher. Mr. Torn appeared on stage carrying two distinct guitars, but only played one of them. He was more concerned with the multiple sound layers (created through electronics) that could better suit his guitar strokes. Inventive and contemporary, without a doubt, but never able to impress me with his textures devoid of time and space, Torn provided a lukewarm start that triggered some impatience among the attendants.

Then, on the same stage, we had Mark Turner and his quartet, playing the magnificent compositions from his latest record ‘Lathe of Heaven’, the first for the ECM Records. Just as in the album, Mr. Turner had the company of the fluent trumpeter Avishai Cohen, with whom he built an interesting melodic interaction punctuated by exploratory motifs, the bassist Joe Martin, and the drummer Marcus Gilmore. Competent, and yet far from outstanding, the concert maintained the same levels of intensity, always in an attempt to erect the urban scenarios that the album in question suggests.

In order to change the ambiance, we moved to another venue (still at the New School), only to witness the best show of the night. Sometimes accused of taking a more commercial path, the virtuous bassist, Christian McBride, soon demonstrated he wasn’t joking, silencing the ones who went to see his performance with suspicion. By mounting an articulated and swinging musical outburst, together with the super-drummer, Nasheet Waits, who kept disconcerting us with his tireless, complex grooves, McBride surprised everybody with a mix of authoritarian post-bop with hints of avant-garde. He also counted on the trumpeter Josh Evans, who contributed with memorable improvisations, and the saxophonist Abraham Burton, who opted to improvise in a more bluesy style. This intense, glowing jazz was instantly missed when the concert came to an end. 

The multi-instrumentalist and composer, Oscar Noriega, highly requested and celebrated in the contemporary avant-garde scene (he’s a member of Tim Berne’s Snakeoil and the trio Endangered Blood) was the protagonist of an excellent show at the New School’s Glass Box Theater. Equipped with creative, vigorous, and well-crafted arrangements, Noriega was exemplary in pointing the right direction for his band. He never lost prominence, even having at his side an incredibly expressive guitarist, Brandon Seabrook who also performed at the festival with his Power Plant project. Seabrook unfolded himself with contortions, not only harmonic and rhythmical but also corporal and facial, stealing the attention of the audience and drawing grins among the present with his dissonant and sometimes clangorous comping. Trevor Dunn on the double bass and Dan Weiss on drums showed why is this band considered a heavy quartet. 

We concluded the first night, once again at the space dedicated to the ECM, by listening to the gifted pianist, David Virelles, who presented pieces of his album “Mbókò”. Of the elements that recorded the album, only the Cuban percussionist, Ramon Diaz, was present. The portentous Matt Brewer replaced the two ‘original’ bassists, Robert Hurst and Thomas Morgan while Marcus Gilmore gave his place to Eric McPherson on the drums. More impactful in the studio than live, the compositions of “Mbókò” left the audience a bit numb.