Three Concerts: Michael Formanek/David Binney/Cyrus Chestnut

[relyles]

Last night I traveled three hours in rush hour traffic to Shapeshifter Lab in Brooklyn to catch the premier public performance of bassist Michael Formanek's Ensemble Kolossus. This big band featured a lot of heavy hitters. The trumpet section included Dave Ballou, Jonathan Finlayson, Ralph Alessi and Shane Endsley. The trombones were Alan Ferber, Jacob Garchik, Ben Gerstein and Jeff Nelson. The reed section was Chris Speed, Oscar Noriega, Loren Stillman, Brian Settles and Tim Berne. Finally, in addition to Formanek in the rhythm section was Kris Davis, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara and Patricia Franceschy on vibes and marimba. In both sets the ensemble performed Formanek's extended piece written for the ensemble titled Exoskeleton if I recall correctly. It is an eight part composition that evolves through a variety of moods, tempos and textures. It was a very structured piece with tight ensemble parts – which I appreciated a lot, but at the same time there were opportunities for expressive solos by just about all of the musicians. Very interesting. Hope they have the opportunity to continue to develop as a band and ultimately record.

Forgot to mention that last Friday I caught David Binney’s quartet at Firehouse 12 with Jacob Sacks, Eivind Opsvik and Nasheet Waits. I have been a fan of Binney’s music for a few years, but this was my first opportunity to hear him live. They did not disappoint. Binney was as to be expected – “heady”, but with a lot of fire when needed. I had never really paid attention to Sacks before, but he was impressive Friday night – kind of quirky like I like, but still swinging. Nasheet Waits may have been the star of the night. I have heard him live a few times and as always the rhythms he conjured and the manner in which he engaged with and pushed soloists was mesmerizing.

The final update on my live adventures is that last Saturday I caught Cyrus Chestnut’s Trio at the Artists Collective in Hartford. To be honest, although I appreciate Chestnut’s playing, he is not someone I would normally go out of my way to hear. On this occasion since it was five minutes from my home and free, I felt like I had to go. No real surprises on this night, but nonetheless some enjoyable, bluesy, swinging piano trio music.

Now my big decision after getting home at 2:00 am last night from my Brooklyn excursion is whether I venture back out tonight to Firehouse 12 to hear Larry Ochs and Donald Robinson?