George Garzone, Peter Erskine, Alan Pasqua, Darek Oles – 3 Nights in L.A. – [TrackList follows] – Fuzzy Music PEPCD027, 67:56, 71:47, 67:52 [8/16/19] ****:
(George Garzone – tenor saxophone; Peter Erskine – drums, producer; Alan Pasqua – piano; Darek Oles – bass)
It doesn’t get more swinging than the 3-CD live outing 3 Nights in L.A. How about this line-up? Tenor saxophonist George Garzone (he’s toured with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and performed with Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, John Patitucci, and lots more; his students include Joshua Redman, Donny McCaslin, Branford Marsalis and other notables); drummer Peter Erskine (a member of Weather Report and Steps Ahead; has been a co-leader with John Abercrombie, Larry Goldings and Jan Garbarek; and currently teaches music at USC); pianist Alan Pasqua (he has toured and recorded with Bob Dylan, Eddie Money, Joe Walsh and assorted others; and is also a USC music educator); and bassist Darek Oles, born Darek Oleszkiewicz (he’s worked with Brad Mehldau, Bill Cunliffe, Bennie Maupin and a host of other artists; and also is a USC music instructor). Erskine, Pasqua and Oles have played together; Pasqua and Erskine have known each other since the early 1970s; Oles and Pasqua have been in the same studio sessions; Erskine and Garzone met in the late 1990s. Obviously there is plenty of collective experience, interests and camaraderie and it shows on 3 Nights in L.A., which was issued on Erskine’s own imprint, Fuzzy Music.
In January 2019 the quartet got together at new Los Angeles jazz club Sam First, near the L.A. airport. It was miserable outside but there were three hot evenings of jazz inside. Garzone—who was in town to teach a master class—joined the three L.A. stalwarts for a mix of swinging standards by Rodgers and Hart, Oscar Hammerstein II, Billy Eckstine and others, plus likeminded originals from all four quartet members. The result is three CDs culled from three nights of time-honored jazz performed with passion, expression and adeptness: that’s 20 tracks and approximately 208 minutes of prime jazz.
The 68-minute first CD commences with the first of three versions of the popular Rodgers and Hart song, a 10:32 adaptation of “Have You Met Miss Jones?,” previously done by Stan Getz, Ahmad Jamal, Art Tatum and loads more. That’s followed by a fast-paced, fun run through Jerome Kern and Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are” and then the quartet switches gears a bit for Garzone’s modernist tribute, “Dedicated to Michael Brecker,” an homage to Garzone’s friend and fellow sax player. The touching commemoration is heartfelt and emotive for everyone: Erskine and Brecker were both in Steps Ahead; and Brecker was featured on Pasqua’s 1994 album, Milagro. Another standout is Erskine’s “Twelve,” which he initially did as a trio tune on his 1999 ECM release, Juni. Hearing how a horn takes on this piece’s chromatic moments is wonderful as is the interplay between sax, drums, piano and bass. The first CD’s lengthiest number is Garzone’s “Tutti Italiani”—which translates as ‘All Italian’—which comes from Garzone’s 1995 record, Four’s And Two’s, which had two horns. For this rendition, Garzone showcases his significant chops, his commitment to swinging and his intuition to go right where the music needs to go.
The 72-minute second disc opens with a bright and breezy translation of Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke’s “Like Someone in Love,” covered by everyone from Sinatra to Bud Powell to Paul Bley. Erskine’s percussive approach is matched by Oles’ buoyant and charming bass stance, while Garzone is all over the main theme, taking the melody to several interesting places. The band slows down with Billy Eckstine’s “I Want to Talk About You,” where the group evokes the suaveness and subtle sophistication of Eckstine’s romantic and ruminative tune. Another highlight of CD 2 is Pasqua’s moving composition “Agridolce”—named after a traditional sweet and sour sauce in Italian cuisine—which comes from Pasqua’s 2017 project, Northern Lights. The track launches with Pasqua’s serene piano introduction before the rest of the quartet slips into the understated tune. The second rendering of “Have You Met Miss Jones?” isn’t radically different from the first, but the noted fluctuations are evident and intriguing to compare to the one on the first CD. The second CD closes with Oles’ “The Honeymoon,” a brisk and lively item where Pasqua and Garzone are brilliant during their solo sections.
CD three begins with a 15-minute excursion through “I’ll Remember April,” a composition permeated by nostalgia. It’s been formerly recorded by Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Yusef Lateef and dozens more. The quartet provides a bouncing quality and a memorable romp throughout the extended piece. One surprise is John Coltrane’s “Equinox,” which Coltrane taped in 1960 although it was not issued until four years later, on the 1964 LP Coltrane’s Sound. “Equinox” is typically performed as a minor blues, so the foursome sustains a lingering, mid-tempo feel. During “Equinox” Garzone nicely echoes Coltrane’s tone and texture. Garzone supplies another complimentary cut with his somewhat somber “To My Papa,” an earnest accolade to an important paternal figure. The CD concludes with two striking tracks. First is the sublime and refined “Sky Shines on an August Sunday,” penned by Garzone’s friend, Catalano Liana Valeria; and finally, the third variation of “Have You Met Miss Jones?,” which brings the three-night/three-CD program to a fruitful and frolicking finish. 3 Nights in L.A. has marvelous auditory finesse. The concert recording characteristics are vividly incisive and vibrant. It seems Sam First is a ‘listening’ room, as there is no discernible noises—other than clapping—which creep into the taping and thus this is a must-hear for fans of live jazz projects.
Three gigs by four classic jazz artists is an essential live album.
TrackList:
CD1:
Have You Met Miss Jones?
All the Things You Are
Dedicated to Michael Brecker
Twelve
I Hear a Rhapsody
Tutti Italiani
The Honeymoon
CD2:
Like Someone in Love
Invitation
I Want to Talk About You
Hey Open Up
Agridolce
Have You Met Miss Jones?
The Honeymoon
CD3:
I’ll Remember April
Equinox
To My Papa
It Will Happen to You
Sky Shines on an August Sunday
Have You Met Miss Jones?
—Doug Simpson
