Live review

I had the pleasure of seeing Bill Frisell, Jenny Scheinman, and Greg Leisz in a trio last night at the Steppenwolf theater, a nice small theater on the north side of Chicago. Before the show I thought I had been there once before to see Peru Negro several years ago, but when I arrived I realized it must have been one of the other 'tiny theaters' on the north side of Chicago.

I was excited to see Frisell in this configuration - previously I'd seen him with the Unspeakable band, which was a fantastic show musically, overcoming the setting of the cavernous Symphony Center. I also saw him with Lee Konitz's band at the Symphony Center, a show that I found quite disappointing, with the only redeeming highlight being a duo encore with Konitz and Frisell that made the show worth the price of admission.

Seeing him with a violinist and a multi-instrumentalist pedal steel/lap steel player in an intimate setting was everything I hoped it would be. There was an incredible balance of improvisation and composition, with the former providing interesting and creative segues between the latter.

They opened with an extended improvisation that led into a brief theme, and then back into improvisation. From the first noise made on stage to the first round of applause, there was about 30 minutes of continuous music, which generally followed this format of weaving from what sounded like free improvisation, into at theme, into improvising around that theme, and back into free improv.

Frisell started the show on his acoustic, switching later to his trusty telecaster. It's amazing how his tone is so instantly identifiable no matter what the instrument or context; he is truly an artist who has found their own voice.

I'm not great with names of tunes, but some highlights and songs that I remember from the setlist were: Misterioso (which was given a very different treatment from the version on the recent album with Ron Carter and Paul Motian), an absolutely gorgeous version of "Shenandoah," his always brilliant version of Bob Dylan's "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall," and in one of the most beautiful songs of the night, an extended treatment of the Beach Boys' "Surfer Girl."

It took me a minute to realize it was "Surfer Girl" he was playing, and I'm still not sure if it was a medley with some other melodies and themes in there. It made me have one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments - something that I find happens often when I listen to Frisell.

Scheinman and Leisz were great counterparts for Frisell. Scheinman provided a lot of melodic content along with a surprising amount of rhythmic support. That was one interesting aspect about the trio - they shared all responsibilities equally, melodically, harmonically, and rhythmically.

All in all, a fantastic show. I hope they document this trio in a recording sometime in the near future - a great balance of sounds, timbres, personalities that deserves to be recorded.

As promised, I am writing to review the new Indigo Trio CD recently released on Greenleaf Music, Live In Montreal. Since I also attended the album release party at the Velvet Lounge last night, I'm going to add in a review of their live show and generally condense the post into a discussion about the band, their interplay, and their musicality.

The Indigo Trio is...Nicole Mitchell on flutes and vocals, Harrison Bankhead on bass, cello, and vocals, and Hamid Drake on drums and percussion (in this case the frame drum).

Their new album opens with Harrison Bankhead's arco bass, soon accompanied by the fluttering of Nicole Mitchell's flute and then finally the addition of Hamid Drake's delicate brush work. Bankhead's bass, as is often the case in the live show, gives a lot of the music a sense of structure, harmonically and rhythmically, guiding the group "in" and "out."

Any notion you may have had about the flute being an inherently featherweight instrument in this heavyweight trio configuration are misguided. As Peter Margasak recently noted in his preview of the show, Nicole Mitchell is well on her way to becoming jazz's greatest living flute player. If she continues at the pace she's going as a musician, composer, and innovator, I think she has the ability to be the best ever. Her artistry, ability, and pliability as a musician is astounding, and she has an incredible presence both on the recording and live in person.

It's interesting for me to hear her in this particular trio because of what one of the forefathers of the Chicago scene, Fred Anderson has already done and accomplished with these same musicians. His work with Harrison Bankhead and Hamid Drake is truly incredible, and to hear her step into the same situation and make it her own is a testament to her abilities as an improviser and composer. Bankhead and Drake are in their usual state of responsive, attentive musicianship, toeing the fine line between being reactive and supportive and providing input and stimulus at the same time.

On both the album and in their live show, the trio shows a willingness to explore a wide variety of rhythmic and tonal settings, belying influences as diverse as roots reggae, afrobeat (I know Hamid Drake played reggae extensively in the 70s-80s, and Nicole Mitchell is a big reggae and afrobeat fan), hardbop, latin grooves, and everything in between. They also strike a nice balance, to my ears, between free improvisation and composed material, something that I appreciate in an improvising unit.

The album release show last night at the Velvet Lounge was packed and very well received by the audience, who were rapt with attention and very appreciative of the musical offerings. I hope we get to see the trio again soon, although I know that it will be a rare treat, as Nicole Mitchell is extremely busy and Hamid Drake is constantly traversing the globe with musicians like William Parker, David Murray, or Bill Laswell.

If you haven't picked up the album yet, you can do it here - $8 for instant gratification MP3s, or $12 for the album in the mail.