Review: Art D’Echo Trio + 2, and the Vinny Marotta Trio; Saturday, May 9 at the Van Dyck

Happy 100th birthday, Miles and ‘Trane; happy musicians on the Van Dyck bandstand and a happy capacity crowd of music fans Saturday.

Both the headlining Art D’Echo Trio, with guests, and the Vinny Marotta Trio honored an era of jazz history as creative as it was compressed. They recalled earlier times, honoring their predecessors by also remaining themselves.

Irascible trumpeter Miles Davis was famously unhappy when Prestige Records insisted he owed them a handful of albums when he wanted out, to sign with Columbia. Furious, prolific, he aimed his new quintet, featuring John Coltrane, at this contractual mandate, anger honing his creativity.

Miles and ‘Trane were younger than the Art D’Echo Trio when they recorded “Workin’,” “Steamin’,” “Cookin’,” and “Relaxin’” in a concentrated rush – and not much older than the Vinny Marotta Trio who opened Saturday.

The Art D’Echo Trio cooked up the idea for a commemorative show when bassist Mike Lawrence reminded keyboardist Dave Gleason this is the centennial year of both Miles and ‘Trane. The four albums the Davis/Coltrane crew recorded in a short burst 70 years ago in 1956 arguably re-shaped jazz with both an enduring repertoire and vigorous hard-bop fire.

Around the somewhat tortured history of those albums, 1956 was when bebop riff bombs, frothy Tin Pan Alley pop and brassy show tunes fought it out on the charts; when Elvis had his first breakout hit with “Heartbreak Hotel.”

However, Saturday never felt like an antique show.

Vinny Marotta, above, Nat Mussman, below

Isaac Nokes

Bassist Vinny Marotta, pianist Nat Mussman and drummer Isaac Nokes, all recent grads of SUNY Schenectady County Community College’s music school, played vintage numbers with youthful energy, schooled skill and mature respect. McCoy Tyner’s “Passion Dance” felt urgent, but not frantic, they confidently negotiated the tempo shifts of Joe Henderson’s mellow bossa “Recorda Me” and Sam Jones’s episodic “Unit 7,” then put a laid-back spin on Milt Jackson’s “Bags’ Groove,” an easy stroll. Marotta’s break in (bassist) Oscar Pettiford’s “Tricotism” was the hottest solo in their set, but Nokes ably echoed its melody in his drum solo, too. Then, trumpeter Dylan Canterbury and saxophonist Brian Patneaude joined in for (trumpeter) Dizzy Gillespie’s “Tin Tin Deo,” a happy romp. 

Trumpeter Dylan Canterbury, center, and Brian Patneaude, at right, guest with the Vinny Marotta Trio. Nat Mussman is at left, drummer Isaac Nokes and bassist Marotta are obscured in this view.

With more young fans than at most jazz shows, the crowd engaged in a big way, applauding every solo by both bands.

After intermission, the horn players Canterbury and Patneaude guested with Art D’Echo Trio in tunes from the four 1956 Miles Davis albums, plus “All Blues” from “Kind of Blue” (1958). This  out-of-period but very effective encore in response to a fan’s shout out also showed how fast jazz was evolving then. 

All stars of the area scene, the augmented Art D’Echo Trio knows how to play together; keyboardist Dave Gleason, trumpeter Canterbury and tenor saxophonist Brian Patneaude all play in Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble, for example. As a free-standing trio, it’s powerful and versatile; adding ace horn players creates a strong quintet, on Miles Davis’s 1956 blueprint.

Art D’Echo Trio, from left: Dave Gleason, piano; Pete Sweeney, drums; Mike Lawrence, bass

They sounded eager, strong, in “Half Nelson,” but under cohesive control, dynamic yet cool. “Stablemates” alternated straight-ahead and bossa passages, closing in stop-and-go drama. After an all-in intro, “Trane’s Blues” cruised a bit on a trio-only arrangement before the horns jumped back in; or eased in: Canterbury built his solo as a slow-burn climb, revving to escape velocity. 

Time to give the drummer some: A master of understatement, Sweeney expertly tailored his sound to frame the soloists perfectly, switching from brushes in gentle sections, as when Canterbury played muted, to full-force stick-work in “If I Were a Bell” behind Patneaude. He stormed strong in the hard-driving “Airegin” and solos of his own with horse race excitement. 

Dylan Canterbury plays muted trumpet, above; Brian Patneaude plays tenor saxophone, below

Canterbury’s muted trumpet also launched “Bye Bye Blackbird,” their strongest, most varied number. This masterly survey of melody and mood had everything, building from a subdued start to seething joy, waves of groove forming and fading, until Patneaude closed in elegiac elegance.

Both Patneaude and Canterbury built many solos on zippy scales, while Gleason took things further outside in his solo spots, wonderfully wild at times, always ambitious and articulate. Like Sweeney, Lawrence used restraint as strength, and the trio sections without horns had a smooth swagger.

Dave Gleason, above; Pete Sweeney, below

“Four” may serve as theme of 1,000 jazz radio shows, but its happy bustle felt fresh and fun; a peppy set-up for Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way.” Their best ballad in a mostly upbeat 90-minute set, this found Sweeney’s soft brushes sliding under Canterbury’s muted trumpet, then he grabbed the sticks under Patneaude’s hot tenor break and short riff swaps at the end.

Mike Sweeney

They flew Sonny Rollins’s airborne bop “Oleo” for jaunty fun, leaving the audience hot for more. After a short conference, they gave “All Blues” a suave take that belied their lack of rehearsal for this newer number in the Miles book. 

Then the bandstand filled with fans hailing the players for a delicious evening of vintage tunes as immediate fun. Both crews were visibly happy bands, enchanted by vintage tunes and determined to honor them well together.

The Art D’Echo Trio celebrates after their set, before fans filled the stage around them. Vinny Marotta, partly obscured at left, rushes on to congratulate Pete Sweeney, also obscured; Brian Patneaude is offstage in this view.

The Songs:

Vinny Marotta Trio

Passion Dance (McCoy Tyner)

Recorda Me (Joe Henderson)

Unit 7 (Sam Jones)

Bags Groove (Milt “Bags” Jackson)

Tricotism (Oscar Pettiford)

Tin Tin Deo (Dizzy Gillespie)

Art D’Echo Trio with guests Dylan Canterbury and Brian Patneaude

Half Nelson (Miles Davis))

Stablemates (Benny Golson)

Trane’s Blues (John Coltrane)

If I Were a Bell (Frank Loesser)

Airegin (Sonny Rollins)

Bye Bye Blackbird (Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon)

Four (Miles)

In Your Own Sweet Way (Dave Brubeck)

Oleo (Sonny Rollins)

All Blues (Miles)

Dave Gleason hosted and announced the players and the songs. The Art D’Echo Trio also hosts Proctors annual holiday celebration “It’s a Jazzy Christmas.”

Brian Patneaude, at right, watches Mike Lawrence solo

Same thing below: Dave Gleason, left, and Pete Sweeney