Sound On

Two Of A Kind

On Saturday, November 18, 2006 at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, I had the privilege of hearing two excellent jazz musicians collaborate on tunes for the evening. Cyrus Chestnut on piano and Kevin Mahogany on vocals wowed the audience with an unrehearsed soulful display of mainstream jazz musicianship.

Jazz 101

When these two play a standard, they call it “Jazz 101,” as Kevin Mahogany explained, because they are revisiting their roots in how they learned jazz from jam sessions. They played Satin Doll and it was like hearing the tune again for the first time. Every time I hear fine musicians play a standard, I think, “Of course, that’s how you do it! How could it possibly go any other way?”

Cyrus Chestnut

Cyrus Chestnut loves playing with a rhythm section, but you simply must hear him play without one. While I know it’s a lot more work for him without a bass player, when he has the stage all to himself, he can completely change the character of the tune on a whim. His playing is very mainstream: never very fast or very slow and always appealing to the ear. However he is actually very innovative within the constructs of historical jazz tradition. Normally, I would consider “the next level” in performance to be something weird; some weird effect, some new harmony, something to break tradition. Cyrus Chestnut, on the other hand, finds ways to be innovative in a traditional style. His playing is full of spice: always a dash, a splash, a sizzle, a shimmer or a sparkle, never failing to delight. His playing is not polished brass, but rather a cake, with icing; a musical dessert.

Coming Through The Rye

Cyrus Chestnut and Kevin Mahogany were very sensitive and flexible towards each other in performance, following each other’s every mood; anticipating every step. Their collaboration may result in a new album, but then there are always labels to contend with. Kevin Mahogany is trying to get Cyrus Chestnut to sign onto his label so they can make an album together. I do not live these musicians’ lives, and I know the label is a steady and reliable source of income; that said, I wish these two would buckle down, invest in some research and professional gear, and record on their own. They can promote themselves through live performances and websites. I just hate to see musicians of this caliber bogged down by bureaucracy, when the means exist to “go it alone.” They could even use websites such as John Buckman’s Magnatune or Brian Camelio’s Artistshare.

Banter

Kevin Mahogany provided the unneeded but not unwelcome comedic relief through his banter between and during the tunes. When Cyrus Chestnut first started comping, Mahogany started laughing. “What am I supposed to do now,” he asked.

The pair ended the show by taking suggestions for tunes from the audience. They listened and appeared to carefully consider each tune as it was called out, commenting on how nice it would be to play it. After a period of quiet discussion, Kevin Mahogany announced that while they would not be playing any of the requested tunes this evening, if the audience listened very carefully, they would hear a lot of the same notes from the tunes they suggested…

Standing Schmanding

The usual standing ovation goes like this: a few devout fans stand to show their appreciation, and then slowly, those audience members surrounding them cobble to their feet out of guilt. Eventually the entire audience stands. They are perhaps satisfied, but are standing because they do not want to appear rude, rather than feeling the performance was truly exceptional.

I believe I have experienced my first genuine standing ovation at this performance. At the last moment, the entire audience simultaneously leapt to their feet in an enthusiastic and unrestrained expression of appreciation.

The standing ovation, in a manner of “grade inflation” has become standard practice at most performances I attend. But it is the way in which the audience stands which will reveal their true feelings about the show. This performance was one of the best I have seen.

Art of Jazz

The Art of Jazz series at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY, produced by Bruce Eaton is now in its eighth season. Rest assured any performance you attend will consist of nothing but musicianship at the highest caliber. For tickets and information, please call (716) 270-8292.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 4:24 pm and is filed under concert review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.