Review: Geri Allen
Whitney A. Stewart
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: Arts
For a concert that began with a solemn moment of silence - paying respects to bassist Kenny Davis' mother - the Geri Allen alternately Trio and Quartet ended in a frenzy of toe-tapping improvisation that brought the crowd to its feet begging for an encore in Markel Auditorium Saturday.
They got their wish. With a "You should recognize this one," from Allen, the trio and their tap dancer beat out a jazzed-up version of Smokey Robinson and the Miracle's No. 1 Motown hit, "The Tears of a Clown."
A fitting end, since the jazz group resides in Motown's homeland, Detroit.
The program listed only names, no song numbers. But Allen on piano, Davis on bass, Kassa Overall at the drum set and Maurice Chestnut, dancer, didn't need to tell their audience what they played. Too many song titles would have given the concert a planned feel - not what a jazz improvisation concert needs.
In her low, soft voice and draping purple silk jacket, Allen spoke few words between pieces.
She began the concert with a solo piano interlude that referenced strains of classical scales and French Impressionist chords.
It was a nice look back through the annals of musical history before the bass and drums joined her to transition to contemporary jazz.
In "Lover Man," Davis showed his gargantuan skill as he plucked his way through passages of fast arpeggios as if cradling a violin, not navigating the expansive fingerboard of an upright bass.
After the instrumental trio performed the first (unidentified) number, Chestnut appeared on stage and slid and clacked his way to rhythmic perfection on the amplified mat next to the trio. Tapping through most of the concert, he mimicked the rhythms of the drum and the piano.
Though the audience missed their first applause cue for Allen's first solo, they quickly caught on that an audience ought to recognize solos mid-piece.
After the dry run, the concert took on a lively interaction between performers and listeners, with cheers, vigorous clapping and shouts of "Yeah!" breaking out during and after every piece.
But though it appeared slightly odd when Allen left the stage momentarily during one drum solo (no explanation), it became increasingly frustrating when some audience members broke that sacred concert sanction to remain seated throughout a performance and left or returned to their seats while the music played.
Perhaps Associate Professor of Music James Holleman should have paused longer at the beginning of the concert to let people turn off their cell phones and finish all outside business requiring attention in the following 90 minutes.
Still, the audience did not let the noise and the static from the floor disturb their enjoyment of the Geri Allen Trio and dancer.
And the group succeeded in making fans of yet another crowd.
They got their wish. With a "You should recognize this one," from Allen, the trio and their tap dancer beat out a jazzed-up version of Smokey Robinson and the Miracle's No. 1 Motown hit, "The Tears of a Clown."
A fitting end, since the jazz group resides in Motown's homeland, Detroit.
The program listed only names, no song numbers. But Allen on piano, Davis on bass, Kassa Overall at the drum set and Maurice Chestnut, dancer, didn't need to tell their audience what they played. Too many song titles would have given the concert a planned feel - not what a jazz improvisation concert needs.
In her low, soft voice and draping purple silk jacket, Allen spoke few words between pieces.
She began the concert with a solo piano interlude that referenced strains of classical scales and French Impressionist chords.
It was a nice look back through the annals of musical history before the bass and drums joined her to transition to contemporary jazz.
In "Lover Man," Davis showed his gargantuan skill as he plucked his way through passages of fast arpeggios as if cradling a violin, not navigating the expansive fingerboard of an upright bass.
After the instrumental trio performed the first (unidentified) number, Chestnut appeared on stage and slid and clacked his way to rhythmic perfection on the amplified mat next to the trio. Tapping through most of the concert, he mimicked the rhythms of the drum and the piano.
Though the audience missed their first applause cue for Allen's first solo, they quickly caught on that an audience ought to recognize solos mid-piece.
After the dry run, the concert took on a lively interaction between performers and listeners, with cheers, vigorous clapping and shouts of "Yeah!" breaking out during and after every piece.
But though it appeared slightly odd when Allen left the stage momentarily during one drum solo (no explanation), it became increasingly frustrating when some audience members broke that sacred concert sanction to remain seated throughout a performance and left or returned to their seats while the music played.
Perhaps Associate Professor of Music James Holleman should have paused longer at the beginning of the concert to let people turn off their cell phones and finish all outside business requiring attention in the following 90 minutes.
Still, the audience did not let the noise and the static from the floor disturb their enjoyment of the Geri Allen Trio and dancer.
And the group succeeded in making fans of yet another crowd.
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