Friday, May 09, 2008
Javier Vercher Trio
Who says appearance doesn't matter?
Not only did Javier Vercher (tenor sax), Edward Perez (bass cello) and Ferenc Nemeth (drums) demonstrate that they were well accustomed to playing each other and attuned to each other as a group - but they also charmed the crowd.
I'm not, referring, of course, only to the appearance of the individual band members, but naturally, to the actual investment into being pleasing to the crowd - a point which many jazz musicians miss. I adhere to my opinion that in a live concert, presentation is half the equation (unless the audience is blind). The musicians were calm and relaxed on stage, which, of course, really helped the audience relax and enjoy the music.
Edward Perez (whose instrument was given a prominent 'voice', instead of relegated to the background), seemed particularly happy, staring at the ceiling as if it was a starry sky. Javier Vercher can be said to have a tall and imposing figure, yet seemed utterly confused and tiny when introducing Thelonius Monk's 'Ask Me Now'- which, of course, in a musician, is only an endearing feature! But in terms of presentation, the drummer was an absolute pleasure to watch!
Ferenc Nemeth truly mastered both the art of coordination, experimentation and presentation! There was a really high level of coordination with the other band members. He didn't stop looking like he was enjoying himself at any stage... and finally - the plethora of mallets he had was absolutely phenomenal. He's got the regular drumsticks, padded mallets, and things that look something like whisks, and then finally, his self-devised thin bamboo-sticks tied together with something like rubber bands! I was duly impressed by the amount of sounds that came out of a drum-set (which was partially tailor made for him!). Being a something of a chef myself, I must admit I appreciated the way he looked as though he was cooking his favourite dish!
I had, earlier in the evening, been to a classical concert, and noted that busy, dissonant notes that are so common in jazz music and are phenomenal on a saxophone simply do not function so well on a classical violin (re: modern classical style). So, as such, I was happy to find myself in the context of a well performed classical style jazz set that cured my ears of the unfortunate cacophonies of John Adams performed (and technically well!), by Chloe Hanslip.
But - back to the topic at hand - I had just finished mentioning the instruments in use - from the specially brought drums and mallets, to - what I noticed, was Javier Vercher's own microphone for his sax (normally, the one at the club is a square sennheiser [ed: it's a MD-441 - thanks Borja!), but I'm not sure what his was).
My favourite musical moment: The amazing cello solo on the last song before the break! There was something reminiscent of Django Reindhart in it (even if the instruments were different!).
During the break, I had a short chat with the trio:
Me: "You have really great coordination between the three of you! I especially like how Javier steps back and plays softly to let the others have a go, too!"
Edward Perez: "No, he's works on his own - it's just part of the act!"
.... hmmm.... so presentation of pretending?
fon @ 12:18 AM link to post * *