It seems as if saxophonist Oliver Lake has not lost a step since playing with Julius Hemphill in the World Saxophone Quartet.
The turns of phrases in his playing are still filled with intensity, with urgency and with the emotional depth that characterized Hemphill's compositions. A fitting tribute to the late Hemphill indeed.
Joining the Barbary Coast for their first concert of the term, Lake and Cecil Brooks III (drums), treated the Spaulding auditorium to more than two hours of big band jazz.
The first half of the concert featured the Coast without Lake and Brooks, interpreting compositions by Slide Hampton and Jimmy Heath, to name a few. The ensemble's vocalist, Tanielle McBain '96, also performed two outstanding renditions of "Body and Soul" and "How High the Moon."
Other highlights of the first half included "Dedicated to Dolphy," which featured interesting shifts of meter and solid solos by Kazu Munakata '96 (trumpet) and Taurey Butler '96 (piano).
The Coast sounded remarkably tight Saturday night with several new musicians filling the void left by last year's seniors. Perhaps the most notable part of the group is the brand new rhythm section with Butler, Eric Eckberg '99 (acoustic bass) and two drummers, Brian MacKinnon '99 and Wayne DeBeatham '99.
Butler balances out the relative inexperience of the bassist and drummer with a sophisticated, mature approach to the keyboard. A versatile musician, Butler had decided control over the harmonic vocabulary of the pieces he played. His introduction to "Body and Soul" was the perfect example of his ability to explore the emotional content of a composition, rather than just running through chords mechanically.
MacKinnon, another new member of the rhythm section, is a tasteful drummer who blends a subtle sound with strong rhythmic support to buoy the section. A contrast to last year's drummer, Sean Paley '94, MacKinnon and DeBeatham are decidedly more subdued, allowing the sound of the bass and piano to come through with greater clarity.
The second half of the concert started with Lake and Brooks in a solo context and then playing a duet. Lake, who has considerable experience playing unaccompanied solos, played with stunning intensity and clarity.
His style, which has undeniably influenced by the avant-garde musicians of the 1960s, is a combination of the "free-jazz" pioneered during that time period and a personal voice developed by playing with Trio 3 and the World Saxophone Quartet.
His solos, though they are long and invovled, are effectively organized and coherent. Lake emphasizes dynamics and range of the saxophone, creating a diverse array of sounds ranging from lyrical to cacophonous. He also has a tendency to play into the "false," upper range of the alto saxophone which was a John Coltrane trademark in the 1960s.
Brooks followed with an impressive eight-minute solo of his own, weaving multiple rhythmic textures over a simple 4/4 meter.
Brooks, a relatively young drummer who is quickly making a name for himself in the New York jazz scene, has remarkable quickness and dexterity on the drum set. Though he cannot be classified as a "flashy" drummer, he sometimes sacrifices coherence for the sake of speed.
Though his solo passages are crowded, he is extremely expressive and has a thorough knowledge of the individual tones each part of the drum set is capable of producing. He can, however, contain his high level of energy when the composition calls for a more subdued approach. His use of brushes is also extremely sensitive and his habit of constantly communicating with the pianist and bassist through rhythmic accents is as interesting to watch as it is to hear.
It is hardly a wonder how Brooks is one of the preferred drummers in trio and quartet settings today.
