|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Day two of the Rochester International Jazz Festival had a certain fervor to it.
The weather was clearing up, the weekend had begun, and on the Jazz Street Main Stage, the Fairport High School Jazz Band was keeping the vibes fresh as festivalgoers swarmed the streets. People were already lining up for shows, discussing who to see, and amping up for another incredible day at the Jazz Fest.
Despite the large crowd sizes today, I was able to find a spare seat for the Brian Charette Organ Trio at Montage Music Hall. Just like every show I went to on Day 2, this one was completely packed.
Brian Charette was professional and subtle. He walked into his show with a warm smile, followed by his guitarist Gilad Hekselman, and his drummer Ari Hoenig. The show was presented in an organized manner, with Charette quickly introducing each song and jumping right in — each tune displaying the talents of the trio equally, with time for each of them to solo and build off each other. It is a formula that works, and one that works especially well for Charette, as his show was completely based around tension and release.
As an organist, Charette has many tools at his disposal. He has the privilege of controlling bass, melody, voicings and sustained chords. The movements of the organ required constant attention from the entire trio, but they all carried an impeccable understanding of each other’s style, making this trio one that easily moved through each piece with machine-like fluency. With slight waves of his hand, small acknowledgements, and quick smiles, Charette directed the trio with understated mastery.
His excellence at tension and release was most apparent in his composition “Standing Still,” which Charette said was the first song he wrote. The melodic pattern of the piece laid a solid groundwork for Hoenig to drive the intensity of the song higher. Bolstered by the conversational riffs from Hekselman, and Charette’s consistent manipulation of sustained notes, the song just begged to be finished off with an explosive drum solo. But it isn’t until the trio takes a quieter detour where Hoenig is finally allowed to bring the song to its logical conclusion.
Charette’s calculated and inventive use of all the tools available to him on the organ, Hekselman’s melodic variance and lovely use of guitar pedals, and Hoenig’s effervescent and bright drum fills made the Brian Charette Organ Trio a hit.
Next, I headed to another packed show: the Sasha Berliner Quartet at the Inn at Broadway, which quickly filled to capacity, leaving many people standing in the back to see the vibraphonist.
Sasha Berliner is one of the youngest musicians featured in the Club Pass series of shows, and as a rising star vibraphonist, she is ambitious and supremely talented. It was easy to get lost in her rapid mallet strokes, which made the whole performance exhilarating. The vibraphone was stationed between the drums and the piano, as a bit of a hybrid between the two, blending the keyboard layout of the piano with the striking and percussive nature of the drum kit. Berliner’s fiery playing contrasted perfectly with the soft, colorful stylings of Lex Korten’s piano as he constantly picked up on Berliner’s melodic ideas to repeat them back later.
Berliner had stunning dynamic control over the vibraphone. She was effortlessly changing the velocity of each strike between each note, making sure to mute the right ones with a spare mallet later, and sometimes using dead strokes to really add some flavor. The vibraphone sounded even more unique of an instrument when it was under Berliner’s mallets.
As Berliner followed her instinct and passion, her band followed her with intent and accuracy. In her rendition of Chick Corea’s iconic “Windows,” the melodic playfulness hit its peak with each member taking their own interpretations and melding them together with the other ones left on the stage. There was a point where Berliner presented an absolutely killer run on the vibraphone, which was so nasty that it evoked reactions from all four members of the quartet. It was moments like these that made me feel fortunate to see a vibraphonist of this caliber so early in her musical journey.
One of the most confusing additions to the Jazz Fest lineup this year is the first free headliner show: pop country artist Chris Lane. For a festival that should be celebrating the great Black American tradition of jazz music, it seemed a bit distasteful for bro-country to be included, especially as it is a perversion and gentrification of country music, which is a genre also pioneered by Black Americans. I’m also not a big fan.
Nonetheless, my morbid curiosity got the best of me, and when it came time, I found myself wandering to East and Alexander streets to get my country pop fill.
A huge gathering of people stood in front of the stage, many of them holding beer. Lane stood in front of the sea of people singing to them about love and heartbreak, and while the crowd had very minimal movement, it seemed that everyone was having a good time.
Even though it wasn’t my thing, Rochester rarely sees big pop country artists pass through the city, and to hold this free show downtown is pretty cool. I just wish it wasn’t attached to the Jazz Fest.
When Lane started singing “Why can’t you find another bar?” I thought that was a pretty good point, so I left to head back to Jazz Street, where the Sullivan Fortner Trio would soon start their last show.
For the Beacon’s Jazz Fest coverage, click here.
Jess Williams is a Beacon contributing writer and former intern.
The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. See “Leave a Reply” below to discuss on this post. Comments of a general nature may be submitted to the Letters page by emailing [email protected].