The bandleader, accordionist and singer kindly sent additional info after my original review of their Music Haven show Sunday (opening for Banda Magda) posted on Monday. He also sent links to YouTube versions of the songs now in release.
I (Felipe Hostins – center) had a pleasure to share the stage with Davi Vieira (zabumba/timbau and vocals – right) and Chrystal E. Williams (triangle and vocals – left).
The set list:
“Forró na Penha” by Sivuca
“É Pra Sorrir” by Felipe Hostins (Original song; unreleased)
“Eu só quero um Xodó” by Dominguinhos
“Severina Chique-Chique” by Genival Lacerda
“Sanfona Sentida” by Dominguinhos
The version we played at the event was arranged by Forrópera. A project created by myself and Chrystal combining Brazilian folk music with classical.
“Lamento Sertanejo” by Gilberto Gil
“Forró de dois amigos” by Forró in the Dark (Davi Vieira is the lead singer and percussionist of Forró in the Dark)
Banda Magda and Felipe Hostins Trio at Music Haven Sunday. Aug. 18
Both bands combined in the finale at Music Haven Sunday; also the finale of the global music offerings presented in the Central Park free concert series. (Three alfresco film events remain.)
Before joining forces in a nine-piece world-music juggernaut, the Felipe Hostins Trio made every dance rhythm into a song, then Banda Magda made every song into a dance.
Banda Magda with Felipe Hostins Trio in a final bow together
More than the sum of its parts, accordionist Hostins’ trio with zabumba (bass drum) player Davi Vieira and triangle player and singer(!) Chrystal E. Williams usually had five things going on at once. He played two rhythms on accordion, Vieira played different beats on his drum with a mallet up top and a thin stick below while Williams’s metal triangle completed a complex rhythmic celebration. They base their music in Brazilian forro, dominant beat of the four that Music Haven chief Mona Golub memorized to list accurately in her introduction.
Felipe Hostins Trio – From left, triangle player/singer Chrystal E. Williams, Hostins, Davi Vieira, zabumba
The lively rhythm that powered “Under My Umbrella” sounded much like reggae in its cheerful syncopation but everything exemplified the title of their first propulsive tune “As espacial,” Portuguese for “Made to Smile.”
Smiles turned to awe, however, when Williams first sang in an opera-grandeur soprano. She opened her mouth and ours all fell open. Hostins and Viera sang well, too; but she was magnificent.
After retired restaurateur/still active event host LeGrande Serras opened his announcement of Schenectady’s Greek Festival (Sept. 6-8 downtown) in Greek, the delighted Banda Magda leader Magda Giannikou gave him the first of the night’s many onstage hugs.
Banda Magda may be the most international ensemble all season, Magda singing in seven languages the songs comprising her ambitious spring project for which she hand-picked this version of her band. She characterized this repertoire as old, new and future. Consistently inventive melodies in kaleidoscopic arrangements over dance-y beats made it all feel seamless, despite its wide variety. Magda connected with the audience like large magnets tugging stage and seats together; and not just when she taught her fans to sing startlingly complex vocal lines.
She is a full-body singer, a non-stop (barefoot) dancer and adept instrumentalist with accordion, guitar and vibraphone chops. (A fan’s compliment for her accordion playing afterward at the merch table – every CD sold – prompted her to admit with excess modesty, “I’m a fake accordion player; but Felipe is the real deal!”)
Darian Donoval Thomas, violin
Bob Lanzetti, guitar
Ignacio Hernandez, guitar
She started quietly enough, airy extended high-chord bowing by violinist Darian Donovan Thomas (in red socks, pleated kilt and giant ‘fro) with delicate riffs by longtime guitarists Bob Lanzetti and Ignacio Hernandez. Mark Vanderpool’s bowed bass and Murph Aucamp’s vibes built a quiet, meditative mood under these stringed things and Magda’s ethereal voice. A brief pause, then the guitars surged into solo swapping, Magda strapped on her accordion and the band jelled in power and purpose. Later, Aucamp mostly played drums, except in a vibes duet with Magda; he played a duet drum break with Vieira.
Mark Vanderpool, bass
Magda cited nature in her song intros, but this didn’t make the music any less magical or abstract. She sang of the sea in “Umi,” in Japanese which she said she’d learned to converse with friends while studying music in Boston; then of forests whose bird theme prompted Thomas to bow birdsongs as the crowd sang them.
Magda played guitar in “Tam Tam” before inviting Hostins back onstage for a Brazilian/Italian hybrid true to both traditions. Another Italian tune, about light in darkness, prompted a vibes duet, Thomas pedaling eerie effects from his violin.
Magda and Murph Aucamp, vibes
Magda in the crowd
Dancers clustered up front including some children and a woman carrying a small dog; Magda twice left the stage to join them and moved all over, singing or playing or not. Playfully, aggressively international, Magda and band bridged oceans and traditions in sounds that always felt fresh, understood and respected and never superficially borrowed.
Magda invited Hostins and his trio onstage for a two-part celebration of Luiz Gonzaga’s 1940s-vintage “Savia,” first a reverently straight reading then a pause and a shift into what a fan helpfully suggested would be crazy. They exploded it in a jazzy exploration and everybody onstage got a piece of it.
Repeats are rare in Music Haven presentations, and its predecessor, Second Wind Productions. Some have passed on – folk giant Odetta, for example; others, including Los Lobos, have grown too popular/expensive.
Before the show, Golub recalled only Plena Libre, Mokoomba and Maura O’Connell as repeat performers before Banda Magda earned a rare return here after a 2019 smash in Music Haven’s Passport Series at Proctors GE Theater.
Awed afterwards, Golub said Banda Magda had made all that world-music magic after only two rehearsals here, at SUNY Schenectady. Sunday was the band’s first show.
Blues BBQ at Music Haven, Friday, August 16 at Music Haven
Guitar solos are fine and fun, fireworks flowing over the frets. But behind the flash, the best bands stack rocking rhythm guitars between the hot leads and big beats , the chord chops that spur the solos and bridge muscle to melody.
Blood Brothers, from left: Lewis Stephens, keyboards; Mike Zito, guitar and vocals; Matt Johnson, drums; Doug Byrkit, bass; Albert Castiglia, guitar and vocals; Ephraim Lowell, drums
So it was Friday at Music Haven’s Blues BBQ, with three bands building their music on the unassuming but relentless drive of rhythm guitars. First: the primal acoustic duo Piedmont Bluz, then the Berkshire blues-rock blast of Misty Blues, then last – and world-class best – Blood Brothers starring (lead AND rhythm) guitarists Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia.
Valerie Turner, Benedict Turner
Guitarist (lead and rhythm) Valerie Turner and harmonica and percussion player/husband Benedict represented both the lilting Piedmont style and harder-edged Delta approach, instructing more than entertaining at first. They started at five p.m. as food service also began, wafting smoky aroma waves drawing the hungry into lines at the food truck and concession stand.
Valerie instructively demonstrated “alternate-bass” Piedmont finger-picking; thumbing down on the top two (lower-pitched) strings in syncopation, upward-plucking the melody. Benedict’s rhythmic bones-playing also also juiced this low-key style, especially in their opening run of “Buck Dance Three Ways” and “One Black Rat.” Robert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” marked their turning point, geographically and stylistically, from east coast Piedmont to the Delta. But shifting from (wood) acoustic guitar to (metal) slide dobro as Benedict switched to brush-drumming on washboard really underlined this shift.
An even more profound musical mutation followed, from the close-mic’ed guitar-and-percussion intimacy of Piedmont Bluz to the plugged-in power of Misty Blues, the powerhouse sextet behind singer Gina Coleman; a powerhouse up front.
Misty Blues; from left: Ben Kohn, keyboards; Diego Mongue, guitar (later, bass and drums); Bill Patriquin, bass (later, trumpet); Aaron, Dean, alto saxophone; Rob Tatten, drums; Gina Coleman, vocals (and later, guitar); Seth Fleischmann, guitar
Behind her rocked a riff-blasting band, guitarists Seth Fleishchmann and Diego Mongue; her son, the latter, emerging as the band’s secret weapon. Fleischmann got most of the solos, except when Aaron Dean breathed fierce fire through his alto sax. So Mongue’s rhythm guitar, that’s what I’m talking about. He Zappa’ed a few solos himself, but mostly he did what good rhythm guitarists do; push, pull and pump the beat. He also took over the bass when Bill Patriquin switched to trumpet, and drums later in the set, alongside Rob Tatten. Ben Kohn’s keyboards also fit mostly in the middle.
Gina Coleman
Diego Mongue
Coleman dynamo’ed the whole thing, singing from iron throat and deep soul, most persuasively in the rollicking up-and-down “Roller Coaster Man,” her personal testaments “When My Number Is Called” and “That’s My Cross,” the sizzling “The Upper Hand” and a heartfelt Odessa tribute. She briefly played a cigar-box guitar – not that Mongue and Fleischmann needed the help – but otherwise almost melted the mic.
Mike Zito, Albert Castiglia
Two mics and two guitars awaited Blood Brothers Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia for their headline set; also two drum kits of Matt Johnson and Ephraim Lowell; Lewis Stephens sat at the two-Korg rig Ben Kohn played with Misty Blues and Doug Byrkit plugged in his bass. Prophetically, this was the configuration of the original Allman Brothers Band.
Mike Zito
They mostly mirrored their chart-topping “Blood Brothers” studio album (2023) and its “Live In Canada” echo (released later last year), plus selections from their individual albums eating up the blues charts. And they burned, burned, burned from note one.
Albert Castiglia
Their mid-tempo opener “Hey Sweet Mama” grooved in a confident overdrive cruise, Allman Brothers-y swing that set the stage for a full menu of electric shuffles that followed. Up front, Zito and Castiglia seamlessly swapped roles, solo and support, though they sometimes teamed up in harmony – different notes in the same place – to form that patented Allmans chord blend that uncannily echoed saxophones as the overtones soared.
The effect felt thrilling, happily relentless, masters exalted together in their work-that-felt-like-play. Individually-crafted tunes got the same gleeful unanimous uplift as the duo-album highlights: Zito giving a big-ballad waltz feel of devotion and anguish to his “Forever My Love” mourning departed wife Laura. Castiglia riffed on “Layla” and “uncle” Frank Sinatra to launch “Nitty Gritty,” spiced by a tasty organ solo after both Zito and Castiglia took hot runs at it. Castiglia dedicated “Nitty Gritty” to Schenectady drag-racer Cha-Cha Muldowney. Later he noted how Joe Bonamassa dubbed him the “Sensitive Guido” before launching the similarly poignant “A Thousand Headaches.” The duo could be called Two Paisans Punch Up the Blues; But I digress.
Not everything was fun and games: Zito’s “Forever My Love” and “Life Is Hard” (another solo album selection) told tales of trouble, and Castiglia’s read on “Bag Me, Tag Me, Take Me Away” put a big-guitars spin on fatalistic words.
These star-turns were more the exception than the rule, anyway. This band is about unity, writ large and loud; and they played a master class in riffs welded tight into a blues-rock new-math of one-plus-one equals about nine, and seven guys grow one pair of wings to soar high. Even without a cooking rhythm section, Zito and Castiglia could have rocked the place since their tight lead-and-rhythm guitars riffing packed such a punch. Poignance or pain, too.
After “Hard,” things got easier with the stretched-out shuffle “Gone To Texas” taking everybody on a very Allmans road-trip, complete with Duane-and-Dickie style harmony-guitar scale fragments. At times it echoed “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Heat Wave” (Martha & the Vandellas).
Then, after proving themselves the best Allman Brothers Band on the road, they went crazy as Crazy Horse.
Like everything else they played, the Neil Young/Frank Sampedro “Rockin’ In the Free World” hit in a joyous roar, a powerfully cohesive explosion that – flowing out in loud waves – pulled people in, happy. Afterward, Castiglia gratefully praised the crowd as crazy, delightedly adding “You’ve got soul!” Right, and he and Zito found, celebrated and amplified it Friday.
Blood Brothers set list, thanks to a friendly fan
Benedict Turner plays the bones
Benedict Turner, harmonica
Valerie Turner, dobro
From left: Aaron Dean, Gina Coleman, Rob Tatten, Seth Fleischmann
Aaron Dean and Gina Coleman
Gina Coleman, cigar-box guitar
Seth Fleischmann
Blood Brothers
Matt Johnson
Ephraim Lowell
Doug Byrkit
Lewis Stephens, keyboards; a former member of the late, great Freddy King’s band
When Bela Bartok began composing his Concerto for Orchestra on Aug. 15, 1943, he had just been diagnosed with the leukemia that would silence him two years later, just weeks after the end of the war in Europe that drove him to sanctuary in America.
On Thursday, August 15 – 81 years later – guest conductor Dalia Stasevska led the Philadelphia Orchestra in Bartok’s masterpiece, plus Antonin Dvorak’s optimistic Symphony No. 8 and his brief Humoresque.
As Stasevka explained from the podium, Boston Symphony Orchestra conductor Serge Koussevitsky visited Bartok in the hospital to commission the Concerto for $1000.
Also on Aug. 15, in 1969, the Woodstock festival began. There, John Sebastian earned the same dollar figure as Bartok; but $1000 in 1943 dollars is $18,160 – the fee Jimi Hendrix earned.
Enough with the prices; how about the value? In pre-performance remarks, Stasevska portrayed Bartok as an immigrant, displaced by strife that echoes in our own time. She said his Concerto for Orchestra expresses a yearning to belong, to define a displaced self in a new land.
In a performance that opened in deep yearning, the music transformed through four subsequent movements as joy rewards the exile. Stasevska and the Philadelphians offered poignancy, thoughtfulness and release, large emotions portrayed through nuance, detailed and dynamic.
“Concerto” typically means a dialog of ensemble with soloist; but Bartok treated whole sections as soloists in turn, so the effect is richly prismatic.
Low strings began the piece in musings, questing and tentative, until the winds carried the strings higher with increasingly assertive brass statements that evoked unease, even menace before the woodwinds brought peace. By the finale, the brass would feel triumphant, so this first movement foreshadowed everything.
Bartok called the second movement “Game of the Couples,” winds and muted trumpets harmonizing over varied intervals, punctuated by a solitary drum. Low strings served as connective tissue, but a restless feel grew in pizzicato strings.
The slow third movement began with flute swirls over almost subliminal bass bowing, its deliberate tempo feeding a plaintive mood. Here, and also in the opening, Stasevska achieved an ethereal yearning, built on immaculately accurate articulation in the strings.
The fourth and fifth movements demonstrated dynamics and balance to exciting effect; raspy trombones at a gallop giving way to serene strings in the fourth and an earned but calm triumph in the finale. Sections seethed or soothed in impressive emotional clarity. If the first movement prophesied joy in freedom, the finale harvested it.
When Stasevka returned to the stage in a standing ovation, she first acknowledged the orchestra sections whose work particularly sparkled, saluting the timpanist first; then saluted their blend by drawing all players to their feet.
After intermission, an ice-cream cone of sorts; the brief and well-named Humoresque that Bartok composed for piano and that cinema orchestrator Max Waxman dressed in full orchestra colors. Guest concert master Juliette Kang stood before the first violins as soloist, intoning the familiar light melody that repeated throughout this five-minute treat. The orchestra partnered, sometimes elaborating on the theme as Kang voiced it as a simple repeat, then switching roles.
This miniature served as primer to Dvorak’s orchestral vocabulary that his Symphony No. 8 richly explored in full instrumental variety of lyricism and power; an apt emotional parallel to journey the Bartok had traced. But if the Bartok flowed with serious intent, the Dvorak portrayed a lighter mood thanks to echoes of folksongs whose simplicity grew through inventive orchestrations into grander things.
Always a fertile melodist, Dvorak began his 8th with energetic strings decorated in winds and brass that built to forceful waves, then resolved into Beethoven-style repeats. Here, as in the Bartok, Stasevska’s attention to nuance and detail brought rich results, especially as strings and winds echoed closely.
The adagio was all lyrical charm in pillowy clouds of strings, more staccato interludes with winds in abrupt cadences, then strings swelling – the violas shone here – into dialog with cheerful winds and their own serene ending.
Cheerfulness played out in waltz time in the third movement, all grace and a lovely sweep that felt playful at times, in glowing flutes and strings.
Conductor Rafael Kubelick once pointed out that “in Bohemia (Dvorak’s homeland), the trumpets never call to battle, they always call to the dance!” So it was with the finale Thursday, a trumpet call summoning low strings into the first of succeeding waves with growing vigor. Even in this often assertive movement, Dvorak retained discreet charm, in a gorgeous flute expression before similar quiet musings gave way to brassy and percussive boldness.
Before beginning, Stasevska announced Thursday was her second performance with the Philadelphians this season; she has earned more.
Program:
BARTOK: Concerto for Orchestra
INTERMISSION
DVORAK/orch. WAXMAN: Humoresque in G-flat major, Op. 101, No. 7
DVORAK Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
A Personal Note:
Also on Aug. 15, three years after Bartok began work on his Concerto for Orchestra, I took my first breaths. So I dressed for the occasion; celebrating my birthday in the seventh row center in light-gray suit and tie, Panama and shiny shoes, with notebook.
Best shout-out I ever got was some years ago tomorrow when NRBQ co-founder and pianist Terry Adams received a birthday cake onstage in a motel ballroom in Amsterdam. He thanked everybody for that and for singing “Happy Birthday,” then gently corrected, “Today is Mike Hochanadel’s birthday.”
In fact, today is Terry’s, the day before mine. (Friday is Joey Spampinato’s birthday, the co-founder and longtime NRBQ bassist.)
So it’s my perfect opportunity to note that every NRBQ show feels like your birthday– and I’ve seen and loved them more times than any other band, including the Grateful Dead.
In other words, I have no idea where and when I shot this photo of Terry playing. But I know it was a fine time.
For guitarist Joe Finn, music has always been a family affair. His father, brother and son are all musicians.
He plays Jazz on Jay with Jon LeRoy, organ; and Pete Sweeney, drums – his trio of ten years.
Finn and Sweeney played Jazz on Jay Aug. 1 as members of Terry Gordon’s Quintet at the series rain site, Proctors Robb Alley.
Looking back, Finn says, “My earliest inspiration was my father who played the piano and gave me lessons as a young child.” His father Leo and brother John play piano; his son Tom plays alto sax. “My big inspirations as a guitarist are Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Pat Martino and George Benson,” says Finn. He graduated from Chatham High School where he played in the jazz band, then earned a BA in music from Plattsburgh State University. “As a jazz player, I am fundamentally self-taught,” says Finn, who later studied with Pat Martino and Gene Bertoncini.
They’ll play jazz standards and blues at Jazz on Jay including “Think of One,” “Jingles,” “The Visit,” and “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – but no originals. “The trio is improvising almost all the time,” says Finn, explaining they emphasize interpretation, expression, artistry and innovation. Their “Generational Dynamics” album (2019; Tom Finn played as a guest) earned extensive national airplay.
These days, the trio plays regularly at 9 Maple Avenue in Saratoga Springs and Finn plays with LeRoy often at Scotia’s Turf Tavern. He also free-lances with Gordon, Sweeney, Michael Benedict, Kaitlyn Fay, Pete Toigo, Wayne Hawkins and others.
“I have been leading bands since the 1980s and have released seven albums as a band leader,” says Finn.
“I continue to draw inspiration from my fellow musicians,” Finn says. “Almost everything I hear is an inspiration on some level.”
Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square, the new park space opposite Schenectady City Hall. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors at Robb Alley, but patrons are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments to Jay Square.
Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District and sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, The Schenectady Foundation, Price Chopper/Market 32, MVP Health Care, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative.
“Cuban” denotes a savory sandwich; meaty, spicy, cheesy, bread on both sides. Sunday at Music Haven, a sunny afternoon and crescent-moon evening sandwiched Cuban music spiced by spirited dancing, and unpredicted rain.
Some left, but more stayed, soaked but happy, some clustering under trees, umbrellas and service tents, as singer-guitarist Eliades Ochoa, graduate of Ry Cooder’s Buena Vista Social Club, celebrated island music of party/dance intent and jazzy effect.
The place was packed with Spanish-speaking Caribbean music fans; many greeted Ochoa’s songs by applauding or singing along. Every tune earned a happy welcome and not just “Chan Chan,” maybe most recognizable of all Buena Vista Social Club tunes, which popped up mid-set. Although he spoke gratefully of how the BVSC album, film and tours revived his career, Ochoa freely surveyed his music beyond it. He spoke only Spanish, introducing tunes and bantering with the crowd, which he christened “a big family.” His show felt like that, connection built on rumbas, merengues, a bolero or two.
Mary Farquharson wrote in Songlines that Ochoa’s “style is a very personal version of the original trova, as it was played by the founders of this style, like Sindo Garay or Miguel Matamoros in the 1920s.” There was nothing antique about it on Sunday. Ochoa played eight-string guitar with fast fingers evidently forged of steel, by turns emphatic and powerful or soothingly sweet. Around and behind him swirled agile beats by keyboard, double bass, trumpet and alto sax – both played lots of percussion, too – and a master of congas and bongos; upstage and relentless he seemed to lead the band.
Early on, the bolero “Creo En La Naturalize” and the relaxed rumba “Arazo De Luz” slowed the pace, before “Aniata Tun Tun” revved things up again, vocal chant and trumpet echoing each other in beat and melody and Ochoa smiling as he sang. He handed the lead over to his young keyboardist; but his own guitar and trumpet soloed most often and usually introduced the tunes. While the melodies and beats varied, the performing dynamic had a compelling consistency: Launch-pad intro, verses and choruses of vocal leads and group chants, some solos, then coda. The show had pace and punch as Ochoa seemed to grow more relaxed from song to song.
Ochoa’s voice, most recognizable sonic signature of the Buena Vista Social Club, was rich in character, and he seemed to be improvising at times, as on guitar. The sound balanced very well, especially with the diversity of sources: the bass through a small amp, the keyboard via direct input, the guitar on a wireless rig and horns, vocals and percussion on microphones.
The crowd was fully in it, dancing a lot and clapping a loud three-beat in “El Cuarto De Tula” at the of the set, when trumpet and saxophone guys converged, riffing hard behind Ochoa. Fans chanted for an encore that Music Haven chief Mona Golub encouraged and Ochoa and band happily supplied. She proudly noted Sunday’s concert was one of only two Ochoa and band played in the U.S. on the international tour celebrating his new “Guajiro” album.
Bolero Blues opened, an ad hoc crew of local Latin musicians who also sandwiched things: Caribbean-ized mutations of “The Way You Look Tonight” around “Blue Moon,” for example, with rumbas, merengues and salsa surrounding that Sinatra-ish interlude.
Singer-trumpeter (actually a plastic synthesizer construct, like an EWI for brass effects) led an ensemble so unified in its Latin-party mission that bandleader Alex Torres, whose Latin Orchestra seems to play every night this summer, took his place in the groove rather than up front. Torres played bongos and cow-bell in a swirl of acoustic guitars, electric bass and percussion.
The evening began with Music Haven’s Summer Social – full disclosure: I was a paying customer – in the Tom Isabella picnic pavilion. After dinner, the pavilion’s name-patron took his customary volunteer spot, selling raffle tickets. In both the pavilion and on the main stage, Schenectady City Engineer Christopher Wallin was honored as 2024 Music Haven Maven for his leadership in upgrading the Music Haven venue and other Central Park facilities. Full disclosure #2 – Music Haven impresario Mona Golub conferred that same honor on me in 2017.
Music continues at Music Haven Friday with its annual blues barbecue featuring Blood Brothers, Misty Blues and Piedmont Blues; then Banda Magda Sunday.
Final full disclosure: Meat & Company in Niskayuna makes a good Cuban.
Before the show
Early in the show
Music Haven Maven Christopher Wallin and Mona Golub
Mona Golub with translator, announcing Eliades Ochoa
The only things that went wrong Thursday were a worst-possible-time rain storm; a last minute venue change from Jay Square outdoors into Robb Alley at Proctors; a siren-noisy, flashing-lights fire drill and a lot of rambunctious crowd noise.
But, no problem: hard bop uplift by Terry Gordon’s Quintet simply overcame.
Band and crew set up efficiently; with amps only for Joe Finn’s guitar and Lou Smaldone’s double bass. Drummer Pete Sweeney, saxophonist Eric Walentowicz and leader-trumpeter/flugelhorn player Gordon played on the natch, without PA. Again, no problem – their balance was superb from when Gordon gave the downbeat at 12:25 and the guys charged into “Configuration.”
Playing all originals can be a nervy move, especially after delays and as a theater-school class flowed into Apostrophe on a noisy break. The bluesy bop of “Configuration” got over anyway, an assemblage of abrupt hard-edged riffs that resolved into an upbeat ending.
The slower “Looking In” earned its introspective title in a thoughtfully brooding start. Gordon played flugelhorn (like a trumpet that needs to go on a diet, with a lower range), as Walentowicz blended in his tenor sax at first but switched to soprano for his solo, a compelling meditation that set up tasty breaks by Finn and Gordon as they built a sunnier mood than at the start.
“Homeward Bound,” on the other hand, started happy and stayed there, Walentowicz’s soprano echoing Gordon’s trumpet near the open, then later flying free and high.
Gordon’s trumpet opened alone in “Quarantine” (a Covid tune, as he explained), before Walentowicz’s tenor commented and went further outside; further, that is, until Gordon went raspy in his own solo before playing clean and clear again.
From those fireworks, they eased into the alert mellow calm of “Until Then,” tender flugelhorn and tenor sax effective in this ballad change of pace.
Changing the mood and dynamic yet again, they surged back into hard-bop heat for “Amagalgatorium,” powered, and that’s the right word, by rhythm fire. Smaldone and Sweeney were rocks at all times, and here they paved a fast funk highway for everybody to follow, Finn joining the fun by emphatically thumbing chords. For contrast, the rhythm section laid out for tasty two-horn interludes in the middle and at the end. Fine interplay here, too; trumpet with guitar, alto sax with bass, then Sweeney took a strong solo and it all came home.
The blues-swing of “Noname” (like salami or edamame) led off with bold trumpet echoed by tenor riffs, a brief conversation that opened into succeeding heads-up excursions.
Slower and softer flowed “Flowers That Beckon,” so soft that when photographer Rudy Lu sneezed in his front-row seat, Sweeney looked up from his drums to say “Bless you.” Quiet laughs all around. Playing mainly on toms, with mallets, Sweeney popped a more assertive groove as Gordon conducted a correction to the blend, then his flugelhorn pumped the melody hard as he revved everybody to follow.
Of course, “Knot So Fast” was an ironic title, another full-flight, speedy hard-bop blitz, a burst of smart adrenaline that melted away to let Sweeney’s drums carry the groove before horns and guitar took over.
There’s a good reason these guys – whom Gordon recruited to play his originals in this quintet – are in such demand. Skilled individually, they know how to cook together and cruise at any tempo, to blend and burst out into space.
Finn returns to Jazz on Jay on Thursday, Aug. 15 with his trio. Singer Maggie MacDougall’s Bossamba follows on Aug. 22; then Joe Barna wraps the series on Aug. 29.
Trumpeter, flugelhorn player and composer Terry Gordon could call his quintet the In-Demand-Crew as its members are among the area’s busiest jazz masters. It’s a purpose-built band on a mission – playing the ninth concert of the 12-show free-concert season.
“Formed around 1993 as an outlet for original compositions, it has maintained that focus ever since,” says Gordon. A prolific composer, Gordon plays trumpet and flugelhorn with Eric Walentowicz, saxophones; Joe Finn, guitar; Lou Smaldone, bass; and Pete Sweeney, drums. They’ve played together for years: Smaldone off and on since the mid-90s, Walentowicz since 2000, Finn since 2003 and Sweeney since 2012.
Gordon also plays with the Arch Stanton Quartet, Alex Torres, Brass-O-Mania and in a duo with guitarist Roger Noyes; Walentowicz with the New York Players and Brass-O-Mania; Finn as leader and sideman – he plays Jazz on Jay with his trio on Aug. 15 – Smaldone with Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble (where Gordon was an early member), and Sweeney with Michael Benedict’s Jazz Vibes (at Jazz on Jay June 20) and the Art D’Echo Trio.
Son of a church organist mom, Gordon studied with Dr. Harold McNeil at Houghton College and Dr. Michael Galloway at Mansfield University. His main influences are Woody Shaw, Chuck Mangione, Miles Davis, and Freddie Hubbard.
Gordon has played professionally since he earned $40 at an 1984 New Year’s Eve country club gig.
These days, with his Quintet, “We play pretty much all originals,” he says – chosen from his albums “Wakeup Call” (1997), “Contemplations” (2002), “Homeward Bound” (2006), “Tomorrow Calling” (2013), and “Tangents” (2023). He explains there’s “much room for improvising.”
Gordon will be busy the rest of the summer with the Quintet, the Arch Stanton Quartet, the Gordon & Noyes Duo, and Alex Torres. Check his schedule at https://terrygordonjazz.com/upcoming-live-music/.
Jazz on Jay free concerts are noon to 1:30 p.m. at Jay Square, the new park space opposite Schenectady City Hall. The rain site is Robb Alley at Proctors, 432 State St., Schenectady. Seating is provided indoors at Robb Alley, but patrons are invited to bring their own seating and refreshments to Jay Square.
Jazz on Jay is presented by the ElectriCity Arts and Entertainment District and sponsored by the New York State Council on the Arts, a Schenectady County Legislature Arts & Culture Grant, Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation, The Schenectady Foundation, Price Chopper/Market 32, MVP Health Care, Schenectady County, Schenectady City Hall, and Proctors Collaborative.
SUNY Schenectady Jazz Faculty Combo with Guest Delfeayo Marsalis at Music Haven, Monday, Aug. 5
When Delfeayo Marsalis came to town, the music and menu changed.
Guesting with the SUNY Schenectady Jazz Faculty Combo Monday at Music Haven, the trombonist brought New Orleans tunes while the school’s food truck served gumbo, muffulettas and beignets.
Scion of jazz royalty back home – son of pianist-teacher Ellis, brother of trumpeter Wynton, saxophonist Branford and drummer-vibes player Jason – Delfeayo fit well with the locals Monday.
Delfeayo Marsalis
Christopher Brellochs
Inspired as if working with an eminent visiting professor, the SUNY Schenectady music teachers played at their best. Dean-saxophonist-host Christopher Brellochs hoped the show would “prove we know what we’re doing.” It did, in top music-making by everybody including four young grads.
Marsalis brought expert trombone work, top tunes, amusing, song introductions and a supportive attitude.
Mia Scirocco
Each of the two sets (the first ran 55 minutes; the second, 45) began with strong, uptempo vocals from Mia Scirocco. Marsalis came on after her upbeat “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and framed his original “Jazz Party” in a family tale: His grandfather built a music club in his New Orleans motel. Coincidentally called Music Haven, it lasted just one night. Nobody came, so he closed it.
At Schenectady’s Music Haven, pre-show rain may have reduced the audience early, then clearing skies brought in normal numbers.
Brian Patneaude
Marsalis soloed impressively in every tune; our guys had their shots, too; saxophonist Brian Patneaude* and guitarist Kevin Grudecky (almost invisible behind a big music stand and the curve of David Gleason’s grand piano) in the rambunctious “Jazz Party.”
They slowed the pace in “If I Have You,” then came “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise,” a deja vu moment for Gleason and anyone who saw him play the same song on the same stage Sunday with the Art D’Echo Trio. As on Sunday, this flowed faster than most play it, with lively cross-talk.
David Gleason
Next, Brellochs summoned four music school grads: tenor saxophonist Awan Rashad, vibraphonist Niko Nieman, bassist Nelly Cordi and drummer Rocco Gigante. Each soloed in the hard bop “Cedar’s Blues.” Rashad and Patneaude (Rashad’s teacher) both played Jazz on Jay earlier this summer, as did Jarod Greico (one of two bassists, alternating with Eric Johnson) who played in Patneaude’s quintet.
Awan Rashad
Marsalis cued the set closing “When the Saints Go Marching In” with wry mentions of New Orleans decadence and Saints football; then played a happy aggressive solo in the almost unavoidable New Orleans classic. Patneaude and trumpeter Dylan Canterbury followed; and Canterbury conducted much of the second set.
Dylan Canterbury
Marsalis followed Scirocco’s second-set-opening “Orange Colored Sky” with an adventurous excursion through his respectful/lively “Raving On the Mingus House Party.” Citing the brilliant/cantankerous Charles Mingus, he echoed his composing style, stacking melodies in colliding combinations. Grudecky’s guitar cut through this note-crowded number beautifully.
Marsalis often acknowledged hot or sweet riffs by his one-night band mates. On his “pit stop in Schenectady,” as Brellochs noted, Marsalis detoured into Music Haven en route to New York with his big band. Knowing he was in good company here, he fist-bumped Canterbury in “Mingus” and pointed to players who’d uncorked extra-cool solos, with Patneaude in “I Found a New Baby,” for example.
This worked both ways: Patneaude smiled wide when Marsalis’s solo peaked in “Mingus,” then repeatedly tapped his heart at the trombonist’s tender melodic grace in “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.”
In Gleason’s quiet “Four Moral Freedoms,” Canterbury and Marsalis both played with mutes as everyone went softly expressive.
Delfeayo Marsalis and Dylan Canterbury
Marsalis introduced his “Valley of Prayers” citing an initially unsuccessful visit to his bank, a frustrating episode redeemed by meeting there the minuscule (and ironically named: he’s 5’2”) Jerome “Big Duck” Smith – a revered Civil Rights hero. In this hearty funk march, drummer Bob Halek released his inner Shannon Powell and the thing swung like mad. Its middle section had the freshness of something invented on the spot, Marsalis repeating a two-note figure behind Patneaude and Canterbury.
The SUNY Schenectady Jazz Faculty Combo: Christopher Brellochs, tenor and baritone saxophone; Brian Patneaude, tenor and alto saxophone (he played alto when Brellochs played tenor); Dylan Canterbury, trumpet; Kevin Grudecky, guitar; David Gleason, piano; Bob Halek, drums; Eric Johnson or Jarod Greico, bass. Guest artist: Delfeayo Marsalis, trombone.
Bet these guys could hold their own in a battle of the bands with the Skidmore Jazz Institute Faculty All-Stars, who played the last Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in late June. (The Festival continues – don’t worry – Freihofer’s has ended its decades-long sponsorship.)
Rain dotted my windshield, driving home; nice timing, like when it stopped before show time.
More Marsalis music: Saxophonist Branford’s quartet plays Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Jan. 16 – and Jason played the Saratoga Jazz Festival in June.
Set List
You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To (vocal, Mia Scirocco)
Hoke's Jukebox 