TT 419: Gigs and Paintings

Langnau and Florence, including the latest Bad Plus

(selfie in the map room at the Uffizi)

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Last week at Langnau Jazz Nights I caught up with a few peers in concert.

(Aaron Goldberg and Gregory Hutchinson after the gig)

Aaron Goldberg, Reuben Rogers and Gregory Hutchinson played a beautiful set. Back in the day this was one of Joshua Redman’s finest rhythm sections; they have also done a lot on their own as a trio.

The arrangements were complex and energetic: they could shout the blues or just ease along at a murmur. This trio concert showed all three musicians at their best.

Dreaming of freedom (Jacques Schwarz-Bart)
Tokyo Dream (Goldberg up Bb blues)
Recorda-me (JoeHen with new changes)
One’s a Crowd (JoeHen “Serenity” with a bar missing)
With Me (Goldberg even-8th)
Beija Flor (Goldberg very soft ballad)
Shed (Goldberg 5/4)
Lambada de Serpente (Djavan)

encore:
OAM’s blues (Goldberg up F blues)

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(Chris Speed, Dave King, Reid Anderson, Ben Monder)

The current line-up of The Bad Plus has Chris Speed and Ben Monder along with original members Reid Anderson and Dave King. The band is always tight and occasionally explosive, but this edition is also devoted to being moody and atmospheric. The musicians are on the same page, creating a unique band sound.

It was all relatively new repertoire, or at least new to me, with the exception of long-term fan favorite “Anthem for the Earnest.”

Casa Ben (King)
French Horns (Anderson)
Anthem of the Earnest (King)
Tyrone’s Flamingo (King)
Grid ocean (Anderson)
Sick Fire (King)
Motivations II (Anderson)
Not Even Close to Far Off (King)
You Won’t See Me Before I Get Back (Anderson)

encore:
The Dandy (King)

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I didn’t get a photo of Melissa Aldana’s quartet with Pablo Held, Pablo Menares, and Kush Abadey, but they delivered a notably strong set of Aldana’s sophisticated music. My favorite piece was “Los Ojos de Chile.” The revelation was Pablo Held, a remarkable pianist based in Germany. He’s very much in the modern idiom (Fred Hersch to Brad Mehldau to Aaron Parks) but has something quite daredevil and relaxed in his phrasing. Melissa told me it was Held’s first night with the band. Very impressive.

It was all Aldana compositions with the exception of the old standard “For Heaven’s Sake.”

Unconscious Whispers
A Story
Echoes of the prophet
Los Ojos de Chile
For Heaven’s Sake
The Bluest Eye

encore:
Beyond the Blue

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I was mostly in Langnau to teach at Langnau Jazz Workshop. My “Next Generation” ensemble included Natalie Andreae (vocal), Hermes Schmid (piano), Samir Rachide (trumpet), Jose Vazquez Calatayud (trombone), Leander Schöpfer (bass), and Noah Studer (drums). Our concert at the festival was notably successful thanks to these bright young talents.

(Hermes, Noah, me, Natalie, Jose, Leander, Samir)

The faculty included Reuben Rogers, Sara Serpa, Greg Ward, Kendrick Scott, and Gilad Hekselman. Aaron Goldberg taught a class as well. (Ed Simon and Dave Douglas are not pictured but were also on faculty.) It was great to hear everybody play all week. Greg Ward knocked me out: a tough Chicago alto with plenty of Bird in his style.

Walter Schmocker started Langnau Jazz Nights; Walter is also a fine bassist who can be heard on records with George Adams/Hannibal, Hal Crook/Jerry Bergonzi, Arnett Cobb/Jimmy Heath/Joe Henderson, and a rare but beautiful album with Carlos Ward/Woody Shaw. “Sundance” features Walter Schmocker playing a fat groove.

These days, Angela Schenker helps her father run the festival and the workshop. Langnau Jazz Nights is a really great time and my impression is that the students get a lot out of it.

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At the Uffizi Gallery in Florence yesterday I saw "Perseus Freeing Andromeda," painted by Piero di Cosimo in 1510 or so.

Well, well, well. The center of the action will have to be the cover of my eventual best-selling tell-all autobiography, Iverson’s Odyssey:

and what are these musical instruments?!?

The Uffizi is amazing! The old building with a heritage going back hundreds of years is amazing even before you get to the art! But I was also reminded that most imperial statuary and religious iconography is simply not to my taste.

However, I was pulled up short by a pair of paintings by Francesco Granacci (1469 — 1543).

(Granacci: “Joseph Presents his Father and Brothers to Pharaoh,” 1515)

(Granacci: “Joseph Led to Prison,” 1515)

Florence is one of the very best cities for casual tourism. An aimless wanderer finds the very old and the very glamorous around every corner. Statues, churches, and Gothic arches abound.

Granacci lived in Florence, and the two Granacci paintings above are anachronistic, for he places biblical stories against the architecture of his everyday city.

While considering Granacci’s surreal images, the penny dropped. Burbling in the back of my consciousness was the name Giorgio de Chirico. Forty years ago, one of my dad’s art books had a reproduction of “Mystery and Melancholy of a Street.” I responded strongly to the image and even named one of my first high-school “moody” jazz compositions after the 1914 painting.

(image stolen off the internet)

After walking Florence and contemplating Granacci I looked it up. Yes: De Chirico spent time in Florence creating his famous style Metaphysical (of which “Mystery and Melancholy of a Street” is a notable example). I am now convinced that de Chirico went to the Uffizi (which was already a famous museum) and looked at Granacci’s “Joseph Presents his Father and Brothers to Pharaoh” and “Joseph Led to Prison.”

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Just last week, before coming to Europe, I instagrammed a photo taken above the Prospect Park Expressway in Brooklyn. I am no kind of serious photographer but this was a pretty good shot. With apologies to de Chirico, I called it “Mystery and Melancholy of a Street.”