LAJC Residency at Blue Whale Part IV: Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet, Ryan Seward Group
January 23rd, 2012
LAJC Residency, Part IV
Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA
Wednesday, January 25, 8pm
8pm: Ryan Seward Group
Ryan Seward, guitar
Josh Welchez, trumpet
Gary Fukushima, keys
JP Maramba, bass
Jens Kuross, drums
9pm and 10pm: Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Jonathan Kreisberg, guitar
Will Vinson, alto sax
Joe Martin, bass
Mark Ferber, drums
Our fourth and final installment is imminent, and it’s been an incredibly exciting month of great performances by so many outstanding musicians, witnessed by so many appreciative fans. All those who came to these events are to be commended for their support and for proving that artful music can also be exciting, compelling, and, dare we say it…popular. Well, maybe not Dane Cook popular, but more like Louis C.K. popular. Okay, probably closer to Patton Oswald popular, he looks like he should play trombone or something.
Jonathan Kreisberg Quartet
Guitar players have been well represented throughout our residency, so it is only fitting that we finish our tenure at Blue Whale with one of the best. Jonathan Kreisberg is still in his thirties, yet he can already be considered a true veteran of the New York jazz scene, having performed with luminaries like Lee Konitz, Ari Hoenig, Joel Frahm, and Dr. Lonnie Smith, not to mention having his own successful solo career, performing worldwide with great sidemen like Larry Grenadier, Bill Stewart, Gary Versace, Aaron Goldberg, and Matt Penman. Kreisberg is a true master of the guitar and a harmonic and technical wizard, his abundant virtuosity perhaps only matched by the emotional intensity of the sound he pulls out of his Gibson. His performances are bonafide clinics for guitarists and other jazz musicians alike.
Kriesberg has five solo recordings, including the excellent Nine Stories Wide (Criss Cross 2009) with Larry Grenadier and Bill Stewart, and his latest release entitled Shadowless (New For Now 2011), which features pianist Henry Hey, saxophonist Will Vinson, drummer Mark Ferber, and bassist Joe Martin, all of whom (with the exception of Hey) will be joining Kreisberg on Wednesday. Vinson is widely considered to be one of the finest alto saxophonists in jazz today, with unbelievably beautiful command of his horn tempered by his knack for memorable melodic phrasing. The amazing Mark Ferber has already put in his time this month at the Blue Whale, as the house drummer for all three sets of Part I of our residency, and needs no further introduction. The hidden treat of this show will the the Blue Whale debut of bassist Joe Martin, who is one of the most sought after bassists in New York currently, with an incredible resume that documents his performances with Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, Gilad Hekselman, Mark Turner, Ethan Iverson, and so many others. HIs latest CD Not By Chance (Anzic 2009) features an all star cast of Brad Mehldau on piano, Chris Potter on saxophone and bass clarinet, and Marcus Gilmore on drums. Overall, the band is a literal tour de force of jazz heavyweights, not to be missed.
Ryan Seward Group
Opening the evening will be a group led by a fine guitarist and composer form Los Angeles. Ryan Seward hails from Claremont, CA, and studied jazz guitar first at Citrus College in nearby Glendora, then at Berklee College of Music in Boston, as a student of guitar guru Mick Goodrick. Seward has a keen ear and an effortless facility on his instrument, and he composes music that is equally sophisticated and accessible. This relative newcomer to the local jazz scene has already established himself, working with many great LA based musicians including Joe Bagg, Jason Harnell, Tim Pleasant, Roger Shew, Matt Zebley, and Walter Smith III, to name a few. Joining Ryan on Wednesday will be trumpeter Josh Welchez, saxophonist Scott Jeppesen, pianist Gary Fukushima, drummer Jens Kuross, and bassist JP Maramba.
Our last show has yet to be played, but overall the residency has exceeded our expectations, with some incredible playing, great crowds to see every show, a nod from the local press, and a chance for old friends to reunite and new friendships to have begun among the larger jazz community. In other words, it’s been a good hang. Let’s let that hang go out with a bang this Wednesday!





Matt Slocum CD Release @ Blue Whale Thursday, October 13 9pm Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA It’s been awhile since we’ve done one of these, mainly because no one has asked recently, but I was delighted to receive a CD and preview request for a CD release show by New York drummer and former Angelino Matt Slocum. Matt moved to New York in 2007, three years after graduating from USC, where he studied with Peter Erskine among others, and the influence of his former mentor can be heard throughout Slocum’s latest offering, After the Storm. À la Erskine, Matt’s playing has elements that link traditional jazz drumming with what approaches symphonic percussion techniques, with precise and clean strokes, thematic organization of sound and texture, and an reactive ability to seamlessly change what he is doing on the drum set without affecting the groove or the contextual nature of the song. Slocum has a lot of subtle savvy on his instrument, but he also swings hard and artfully picks his spots to really pop. Joining Matt on this record are pianist Gerald Clayton and bassist Massimo Biolcati, friends from his SoCal days who, like Slocum, have established themselves as belonging to the latest group of young musicians to emerge from the bubbling, churning energy that defines the New York jazz scene. The selections from After the Storm are, like Slocum’s playing, an adept amalgamation of color and rhythm, with lyrical originals and smart arrangements of other works. His faithful treatment of Ravel’s La Vallée des Cloches (from the evocative piano suite Miroirs) is a shining example of artistic expression in jazz. The ballads When Love Is New, It’s Easy to Remember, and the title track waltz After the Storm have an urgent poignancy reminiscent of Evans without any direct reference to him. If anything, Clayton’s sensitivities on these pieces remind me more of John Taylor, the great pianist from England who played on Erskine’s earlier trio recordings, and one can guess that including the Cole Porter standard Everything I Love was a direct homage to Erskine’s version on his beautiful 1993 ECM record You Never Know. Unlike Taylor, however, Clayton’s extensive repertoire ranges from the sublime to the stupefying, his Peterson-esque technique flashing on The Catalyst and Pete’s Place, his gospel chops peeking through on Passaic, with a hint of Mehldau on Jacaranda. Gerald has evolved dramatically since his youthful days in the Clayton Brothers (led by his uncle Jeff on sax and father John, the esteemed bassist and educator), with an increasingly developed modernity to complement his exceptional foundation in the history of jazz piano. Gerald has made the treacherous leap from prodigy to seasoned player in the prime of his career, becoming one of the more exciting pianists of his generation. Along with Biolcati’s deft accompaniment on bass, the trio demonstrates a unity of purpose that belies their long history, first as college buddies and now as professional colleagues. It’s a shame that this great band isn’t here together in Los Angeles to demonstrate their works, but Matt has assembled two fine replacements for his trio. Pianist Danny Grissett, like Slocum, is traveling from New York back to Los Angeles, the place of his upbringing and education. Having done quite well for himself on the other coast, playing with the likes of Tom Harrell, Jim Rotundi, and young drumming sensation Marcus Gilmore, Grissett will have a welcome homecoming on Thursday. There are not enough superlatives to attribute to L.A.’s own Darek Oles, perhaps the best bass player on the West Coast and certainly the best to come from his native Poland, where he should be hailed as one of the greatest improvisers from that country since Chopin. Blue Whale as of late has been a direct portal to the jazz scene in New York, importing acts such as Jonathan Kreisberg, Donny McCaslin, Steve Coleman, Dave Binney, Uri Caine, Alan Ferber, and many others who are part of an impressive and growing who’s who list. It couldn’t have happened at a better time, and let’s hope there are other potential club owners who are taking notice of what’s happening there, for having even two or three more clubs like Blue Whale would go a long ways towards finally having a viable modern jazz scene in Los Angeles. On Thursday you can witness the continuing evolutionary process to that end.