RVANews

Listening Back: Jazz By Numbers

Dean Christesen — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 11:00:55 +0000

In Listening Back, we chronicle the happenings at The Camel’s free weekly jazz series on Tuesday nights. Be there if you can. But if you can’t, stop by here every Saturday for a recap in sights and sounds. This week, Jazz By Numbers featuring Bryan Hooten, SCUO, Trio of Justice, and Scott Clark 4tet continued the series.

photos by Amber Smith

From soloist to quartet and everywhere (duo and trio in case you needed it spelled out for you) in between, Jazz By Numbers on Tuesday was a night of instrumentations of various size.

Exploring extended techniques and playing as a soloist is not new for trombonist Bryan Hooten, but recently he has begun performing more by himself, with an album likely to be released in the future. Listen for his multiphonics -- multiple notes played at once by creating overtones -- which Hooten uses tastefully a la one of his trombone heroes, Albert Mangelsdorff. The duo called SCUO (guitarist Scott Burton and drummer Scott Clark) drive home heavily hypnotic rhythms in a minimalistic way, making the process in which they vary the music evident. Trio of Justice continued to champion their unusual instrumentation of Reggie Pace on trombone, Reggie Chapman on tuba, and Devonne Harris on drums. Lastly, Scott Clark 4tet gave a teaser to their featured performance at RVAJazzfest 2011 in April.

Listen to Bryan Hooten:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Bryan%20Hooten%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Bryan Hooten]

Listen to SCUO:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/SCUO%20013111.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 31 2011|artists=SCUO]

Note: Due to technical difficulties during this set, we were unable to capture audio. This is their performance from the week before.

Listen to Trio of Justice:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Trio%20of%20Justice%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Trio of Justice]

Listen to Scott Clark 4tet:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Scott%20Clark%204tet%20020811.mp3|titles=Live at The Camel February 8 2011|artists=Scott Clark 4tet]

On Tuesday, Larri Branch Agenda and Steve Kessler continue the free series. The Camel is located at 1621 W. Broad St. in Richmond, VA. More information is available at thecamel.org.

Listen back to other gigs in Richmond

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Two trios tear it up at The Camel

Dean Christesen — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:00:53 +0000

Last night at The Camel, Trio of Justice and Marcus Tenney Trio continued the venue's weekly jazz series to an enthusiastic crowd. Even trombonist Sam Savage was there to share in the magic, and we got audio from the whole night.

I've missed Trio of Justice. The sounds they get with their unorthodox instrumentation -- trombone, tuba, drums, give or take a few odd others -- are like no other. It's as if they broke out of a brass band and then took elements of what they heard in hip hop and math rock. Trombonist Reggie Pace and tubaist/trombonist Reggie Chapman, at least, help form No BS! Brass Band but here bring an entirely new harmonic palette to the table. Devonne Harris has a crisp sensibility on drums, and he's able to play powerfully while intuitively.

Listen to Trio of Justice's set:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Trio%20of%20Justice%20@%20The%20Camel%20(01.04.10).mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 4 2011|artists=Trio of Justice]

Marcus Tenney used to play trumpet exclusively (think along the lines of Freddie Hubbard's style), but seems to only pick up his tenor saxophone these days (think Coltrane or Joe Henderson). It's no surprise, then, that he chooses to only play his newer instrument with his trio that features drummer Harris and bassist Andrew Randazzo. Tenney takes extended solos over Henderson's "Shade of Jade" and "Inner Urge," Coltrane's "A Moment's Notice," and Sam Rivers's "Beatrice," while his rhythm section urges him along.

Listen to Marcus Tenney Trio's set:
[audio:http://media.rvanews.com/Marcus%20Tenney%20Trio%20@%20The%20Camel%20(01.04.10).mp3|titles=Live at The Camel January 4 2011|artists=Marcus Tenney Trio]

Tuesday night Jazz @ The Camel continues next week with Scott Clark 4tet and UTV. Visit thecamel.org for more info.

Thanks to Lucas Fritz for the audio, Shaun Lilley for photos

Alan Parkertown Massacre

Dean Christesen — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:47:44 +0000

Tonight, there'll be a rather interesting show at The Camel presented by Alan Parker: Trio of Justice and Brian Jones will be performing The Brian Jonestown Massacre tunes -- as well as a few Brian Jones and ToJ originals. Regular ToJ drummer Devonne Harris will be playing vibraphone while Jones takes over the drums.

Closing the evening out will be the excellent Alan Parker Connection.

View event details

RVAJazzfest 2010 in photos

Dean Christesen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:10:08 +0000

This weekend's buzz phrase was "despite the weather." When referring to the enthusiastic audience that trekked through snow and ice to be there or to the flight bringing our featured artist that was canceled mere hours before the event, the phrase applies. But to the music, it does not.

I say this because the music at RVAJazzfest on Saturday was, quite simply, amazing, and those who came to listen were rewarded. It really didn't matter what was going on outside or what the day had been like in snowy Richmond; Trio of Justice, Jones+Kuhl, and Ombak put on one hell of a show.

Trio of Justice

Reggie Pace, Devonne Harris, and Reggie Chapman

Pace and Harris

Jones+Kuhl

J.C. Kuhl and Brian Jones

Ombak

Cameron Ralston, Brian Jones, Bryan Hooten, and Trey Pollard

Reggie Pace and J.C. Kuhl join Ombak for a Tuvan folk song

Cameron Ralston, J.C. Kuhl, Dean Christesen, and Trey Pollard

View all the photos on Flickr

Trio of Justice: Without hesitation

Bryan Hooten — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:00:44 +0000

The other day, I ambushed Trio of Justice (formerly R2DToo), a relatively new band comprised of Reggie Pace, Reginald Chapman, and Devonne Harris, after one of their rehearsals. We got to talking about the band, their music, their new name and what makes Richmond such a trombone-friendly city. Devonne even talks a little smack, ensuring his place in the RVA Trombone mafia for years to come. They all speak with the same humor, spontaneity and sophistication that inspire their music. Trio of Justice will perform at RVAJazzfest this Saturday along with the Adam Larrabee Trio and Ombak+Ray Anderson.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/8870703[/vimeo]

View more photos of Trio of Justice on Flickr

RVAJazzfest featuring Ray Anderson & Ombak, Adam Larrabee Trio, and Trio of Justice takes place on Saturday, February 6, 2010, at 9pm at The Camel, 1621 W Broad St., Richmond VA. Click here to purchase tickets.

Announcing: RVAJazzfest 2010

Dean Christesen — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:00:10 +0000

On the heels of the successful first RVAJazzfest, I'm pleased to announce the line-up and details for the second RVAJazzfest, which will take place in February 2010! The featured artist will be saxophonist Tim Berne, who will be performing with local band Ombak. Like the first RVAJazzfest with Steven Bernstein and Fight the Big Bull, Berne & Ombak will also be rehearsing and recording an album while in town.

Along with Berne & Ombak, the Adam Larrabee Trio with Randall Pharr on bass, Brian Jones on drums, and Larrabee on guitar will perform their interpretations of the music from Ellington/Mingus/Roach's Money Jungle album. Kicking off the show will be the ever inventive Trio of Justice, the group formerly known as R2Dtoo made up of Reggie Pace on trombone, Reggie Chapman on sousaphone, and Devonne Harris on drums.

You're going to want to mark your calendars for Saturday, February 6, 2010. The Camel will once again be the host for the evening. Music will start at 9pm, so come early and grab a seat and some dinner. Tickets will be $10 in advance and $15 at the door. More information on purchasing tickets in advance will come later, but you can click here for the full details.

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Tim Berne, a disciple of such musical innovators as Anthony Braxton and Julius Hemphill, has become an influential force all his own. With several groups to his name -- like Science Friction, Big Satan, Buffalo Collision, Bloodcount, Miniature, and more -- the majority of his career as a musician has been serving as a leader, not a sideman (The Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson covers this and more in his lengthy interview with Berne). A true do-it-all man, Berne also operates his own record label, Screwgun Records. Over a mid-afternoon lunch on Grace Street, Ombak leader Bryan Hooten talked about what he's learned from Berne.

"A lot of the ways that Ombak plays and the way that I write and the way that I've kind of gone about things," Hooten says, "are definitely influenced by how Tim Berne has created his music."

Hooten first became introduced to Berne's music through his Science Friction live album The Sublime And. He was captivated by the amount of counterpoint involved and by all of the free yet very dialogic improvisation. And, of course, the beats. He says about that album and Berne's compositional influences on him:

The first thing I noticed is that there's no bass player. While there's a guitar player and keyboard player in the band, nobody's really playing chords. And that's one of my classic Bryan Hooten catch phrases: 'I don't like chords.' So I was just fascinated by the counterpoint that was going on. Everyone had a line, and because of that all of the tunes had this forward momentum. If you think about why Bach's music was great: you could take just the alto line out of his chorales, and that by itself sounds great. It has melodic integrity, tension and release, rise and fall, all of that. So I noticed that in Tim Berne's playing. Even with the drumming and the way the drums interact with the band, he seems to always be thinking about lines and, as a result, interlocking rhythms. And that was all really fascinating to me, which greatly influenced the way that I write.

In September '07, after digging into his music and realizing that one of his favorite records from early on (Ray Anderson's Big Band Record) featured Berne, Hooten went to New York City for a lesson with the saxophonist. Shortly after that, the then active Patchwork Collective hosted Berne with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tom Rainey for a gig in Richmond at the Firehouse Theatre.

Berne's mark on Hooten reaches beyond compositional techniques and band-leading successes. Hooten explains:

In terms of his playing, I feel like what he's playing is always a surprise to him. I never listen to his music and say, 'Oh, there's that lick.' Or, 'That's that scale,' or, 'That's that superimposition,' or whatever. It seems like he really is improvising with a capital 'I.' He rarely repeats himself. I never hear him go to the same place, like solo to solo to solo. And I think that is a captivating thing to listen to. When you're listening to music, it's great to be able to grab on to something and say, 'Oh, I recognize what THAT is.' But, on the other hand, as soon as you start doing that, you're not really listening anymore, you're doing a math problem or something.

The conception of February's weeklong residency with Berne began with Hooten sending him Ombak's debut album Framing the Void earlier this year. Berne liked it, Hooten invited him down to record another album, and Berne accepted.

The week will involve rehearsing and recording the band's second album, this time starring Berne. The pieces might be composed by Hooten, Berne, or any of the other Ombak members: guitarist Trey Pollard, bassist Cameron Ralston, and drummer Brian Jones. "We'll get together and figure out what works the best, what we sound the best on, and that's what we'll play," Hooten says. "But I think there will be a healthy dose of new music."

In addition to playing at RVAJazzfest, rehearsing, and recording, plans include Berne giving a workshop at James River High School and the band taking a day off for Superbowl Sunday.

Berne's personal journey, Hooten adds, is interesting:

He didn't get real serious about playing music until he was in college. He didn't have a saxophone until then. He just traveled to New York a lot, listened to people play, and became this super fan and got into it that way. Ever since he started, he's been a leader of his own groups first and foremost and has always been doing original music. That's inspiring to me because that's what I'm most interested in.

View event details

photo by jason bachman

Model for a Monday

Dean Christesen — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:11:41 +0000

There's something special about jazz on Monday nights around here. The evening is often left blank on the calendars, reserved for people to stay home and lament the return of the working week. Not all of us are lamenters, though, and some people can really get behind a solid night of Monday music. In this case, solid it was last night at The Camel with three bands: two brand new quintets and a trio with a new name.

The evening began with Trio of Justice, the sousaphone-trombone-drums trio formerly known as R2Dtoo (named for its members Reggie Chapman, Reggie Pace, and Devonne Harris). Low brass and percussion -- perhaps the two instrument families capable of the loudest volumes and heaviest weights -- are their tools, and their only ones. Their sound is deep: aside from the snare drum's crack and the cymbals's pings and washes, very few tones from the band register as anything but bass or baritone. The upper registers that people are used to hearing in music are not as present, but the three seem to realize this and use their inventive abilities to accommodate for the missing frequencies. They are experts in natural-sounding grooves in the oddest of meter combinations (that are guided by melody, not contrived logic) and loose time feels that speed and slow to radical extremes.

Like most Richmond musicians, the men of the Jason Scott 5 are no strangers to playing together, but it's new to see them collaborating in a group like this one. Guitarist Scott Burton augments the small group of Fight the Big Bull members: tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Scott, trumpeter Bob Miller, bassist Cameron Ralston, and drummer Pinson Chanselle. Despite the personnel, a FTBB microcosm is the last thing that the Jason Scott 5 is.

With an affection for the music of Lennie Tristano, Warne Marsh, and Lee Konitz (his gig last week featured the music of all three), some of Jason's original compositions are melodically quick, complex, and thrilling. "Department of Ed." was glorious and constantly evolved to new sections, each one related to the last but still different. The Ornette Coleman-ish "E.M.T." began with a Blackwell/Haden drum and bass vamp before a staggering melody entered, diving in and out of three-part harmony. "Character 2052" told the tale of Jason's essay-writing frustrations and difficulties with the Richmond Department of Education in a klezmer-rock and, again, evolving style. "ANA" was simply beautiful.

Many of the tunes were composed by Jason for his graduate recital at NYU seven years ago. With a strong group giving the music life once again, this group would make a brilliant album. And hopefully they do, soon.

The lights dimmed for the Alan Parker 5, another new combination of familiar musicians. This time, the guitarist has added bassist Andrew Randazzo and tenor saxophonist Kevin Simpson along with his former AP Connect 4 members Billy Williams on drums and tenor saxophonist Marcus Tenney. Marcus is still a relatively new convert from the trumpet to tenor sax, but he more than just holds his own on the new instrument. His and Kevin's playing offset each other nicely: Marcus's tone is bright with Coltrane-like flurries and arpeggios, while Kevin has more of a weathered sound. Billy's drumming is similar to other contemporary and "urban" jazz drummers like Chris Dave and Jamire Williams: explosive, pulling from modern sources of rhythm, and heavily syncopated.

Alan's compositions are Jazz Now material, exciting and challenging, but extremely accessible thanks to fat beats and funky melodies.

Video: R2Dtoo at Black Hand Coffee

Dean Christesen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 07:54:00 +0000

R2Dtoo continues to make a statement as a strong new band in Richmond. Check out a scene from the first tune of their set this afternoon at Black Hand Coffee:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXWsDB0d-eo&hl=en&fs=1]

R2Dtoo is: Reggie Pace, trombone; Reggie Chapman, sousaphone; Devonne Harris, drums.

Announcing: Richmond Summer Brass Fest

Dean Christesen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:52:00 +0000

copied from press release

Richmond Summer Brass Fest!!
Tons of new music including:

New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert and his Quartet which consists of Albert on trombone, Ray Moore on saxophone, Dave Cappello on drums, and Tommy Sciple on bass.

Verbatim is a duo of trombonist Bryan Hooten (Ombak, No Bs Brass, Fight the big bull) And Drummer Dean Christesen

R2Dtoo! Bone/SousaPhone/Trapkit Trio featuring Trombonists Reggie Pace and Reggie Chapman of the award winning NO BS! Brass and drummer/ multi instrumentalist Devonne Harris who plays John D'Earth and Bungalo 6.

COME ON OUT AND HANG WITH US!!!!!

Saturday June 20th 9pm sharp! 3sets!
$7
21+
Bogarts
1903 Cary st.

1st set......Verbatim and R2Dtoo! (split set)
2nd set..... Jeff Albert Quartet
3rd set.......NO BS! Brass

Jeff Albert Bio...

Jeff Albert leads the Jeff Albert Quartet and co-leads the Lucky 7s with Jeb Bishop. Jeff is also a member of Hamid Drake’s Bindu, George Porter Jr. and the Runnin’ Pardners, Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe, the Naked Orchestra, and the New Orleans New Music Ensemble. Recent recordings include Similar in the Opposite Way by the Jeff Albert Quartet on Fora Sound, and Pluto Junkyard by the Lucky 7s on Clean Feed Records. Jeff writes the music and arts blog Scratch My Brain, and co-curates the Open Ears Music Series.

Jeff has had the pleasure of performing in improvised situations with Wolter Weirbos, Jim Baker, Josh Abrams, Georg Gräwe, Tatsuya Nakatani, Dave Rempis, Mike Reed, Jason Stein, Tim Daisy, Jonathan Freilich, Tim Green and many others. In his other life, he has also had the pleasure of performing with a variety of musical acts, including Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, The Funk Brothers, Wardell Quezergue, Dr. John, Ronnie Milsap, The Temptations, Lou Rawls, The Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and the New Orleans Opera.

NO BS! BRASS Bio...

NO BS! Brass is a Richmond, Va.-based band combining the spirit of New Orleans with original compositions and arrangements of pop/rock hits from the '70s and '80s in an eclectic, virtuosic, and rowdy package. Members of No BS Brass have been trained in the conservatory and in the garage band and draw their inspiration from every conceivable source including funk, jazz, klezmer, Led Zeppelin, calypso, and delta blues. Founded in early 2006 by trombonist Reginald Pace and drummer Lance Kohler, NO BS! Brass has quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest area bands, performing at Richmond area clubs, galleries, and festivals. They have produced and recorded their Debut album "Where is Stefan?" and just recently...their ambitious-red hot sophomore album" ALIVE IN RICHMOND!!!

Verbatim Bio....

Verbatim is a distress beacon from a distant galactic civilization. The trombone laments the battle between a peaceful people and the invading marauders while the drums hammer out the encoded coordinates of the home planet. This is a story forged in the stars and told in sound.

Bryan Hooten: trombone
Dean Christesen: drums

R2Dtoo! Bio....

3 men playing music about Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Reggie Pace=Trombone
Reggie Chapman=Sousaphone
Devonne Harris=Drums