[The Five Peace Band (feat. Chick Corea and John McLaughlin), Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 4/7/09]
Photos, video (now posted!) and a wonderfully in-depth review, all after the link!
Photos by Carlye Wisel
Review by Glenn Wilson
The Five Peace Band visited the Krannert Center on Tuesday, April 7 for the last one-night gig of the US section of their tour. Playing consecutive shows since March 19th (with only 3 nights off), the band was well-rehearsed, relaxed and on top of the material they presented. This supergroup, consisting of Chick Corea on piano/keyboards, John McLaughlin on guitar, Kenny Garrett on alto sax, Christian McBride on 5-string fretless electric and acoustic bass and, for this stretch of the tour, Brian Blade on drums, gave the audience more than they bargained for.
The Tryon Festival Theatre at the Krannert Center is not the best venue for electric or even amplified music, but for the most part the sound was great. There were a few moments for this listener when the volume and sheer intensity of the music was a bit overwhelming, but there were other moments when one could hear a pin drop (or a cell phone go off). Much has been written about the early musical relationship between Corea and McLaughlin, who first performed together on Miles Davis’ In a Silent Way, a groundbreaking recording which is generally considered the first melding of jazz and rock music. (Chick was in Miles’ working group at the time and John was introduced to Miles by Miles’ drummer Tony Williams, who formed an early electric trio with organist Larry Young and McLaughlin called Lifetime. The rest, as they say, is history.) Chick explained in an interview that he had always wanted to get back together and play with McLaughlin, but never had the opportunity, save for a duet concert in the 1980s in Montreux. So, Chick put the rest of the band together before contacting McLaughlin to show he was serious about a tour. As history has shown, when Chick wants to present a specific music to the pubic, he has no problem getting the musicians he wants and the tours he desires — that’s an advantage of being one of the greatest musicians on the planet.
The set list was taken straight from the new recording. “Raju” was taken as a straight funk/doubletime groove, a la Return to Forever. However, drummer Brian Blade’s stretching of the groove created a much looser interpretation than the recorded version which features Vinnie Colaiuta on drums. (The notes were flying!) “The Diguise” was one of two ‘acoustic’ numbers the group played, which, to me, were the highlights of the evening. Chick on acoustic piano and McBride on the upright bass was a refreshing breath of jazz in the midst of some head-banging fusion. As the trio performed, McLaughlin and Garret played soft backgrounds, and the blend of guitar and alto sax was amazing. The tenor or soprano sax would not have worked nearly as well in this group, and the sound of the alto with guitar and, later, Chick’s electric keyboards, created a thick, harmonic ‘pad’ which had me listening hard to determine who was playing what. It was used quite effectively. ” New Blues, Old Bruise”, a 6/4 tune which melded into 12/8 and had a few other grooves, too, is funky blues with kicks and hits all over the place. This arrangement obviously developed in the trenches and was quite interesting, as Blade played a mallet solo on the drums which followed the form of the tune.
Kenny Garret, who can have a tendency to play a lot of notes, was very tasteful and soulful in all his solos this evening. (I guess hearing McLaughlin play thousands of notes on every solo convinced him to take a different tack.) It was extremely effective, and Garret brought the audience with him on simpler rhythmic solos to a crescendo which had the audience cheering and applauding before he had completed. It’s not something that is seen too often in jazz outside of the perfunctory drum solo, which causes the audience to respond to some pyrotechnics from the drummer before the solo is completed. (As someone who played night-in and night-out with the great drummer Buddy Rich, I can confirm that process.)
After intermission, “Senor C.S.” opened the second half, featuring Chick and John started out with a duet. After this very tasteful conversation the other members joined them on-stage, each having a long solo spot. McBride played a double-time electric bass solo which wowed the crowd, and Garrett followed with a solo spot, which began sparsely and ended with the crowd once again cheering and applauding well before he was finished. Chick and John traded solos, that seemed to last about twenty minutes, while the next number, “Hymn to Andromeda”, easily lasted thirty. Chick began by using mallets to play inside the piano and strummed the strings from inside while using the pedals to create some very exotic sounds, making me wonder what the folks at Krannert thought about that…especially the piano technician. McBride was on acoustic bass for this suite and in addition to setting some vamps, played the most fantastic bass solo of the night. McBride is one of out greatest technicians on acoustic bass, where the instrument’s limitations seem to be of no concern to him. As the number played on, I noticed many folks slipping out of the auditorium. It was 10:00 pm now, and either the sitter had to go home, or the ears were full. I loved the music, but must admit that during this piece, I was hoping it would end sooner. But, there was just so much to absorb with each new ‘free’ solo that when the four-chord vamp returned at the end, it was a sound for sore ears. “Dr. Jackle”, a blues tune, closed out the evening. As a joke or at least a diversion, McBride started out the tune by playing some TV themes including Happy Days and The Odd Couple (complete with the tag). Eventually, he started a walking bass line and the melody of Dr. Jackle was played in an interesting harmony which had sevenths against and below the melody to give it an interesting sound. They played a funky line at the top of each solo for a chorus or two before breaking into swing, and later, that funky lick was used as a backdrop for Blade’s drum solo.
The audience gave the obligatory standing ovation, but it seemed sincere. The Krannert audience was very responsive thoughout and it was obvious to Chick, as several times he gave two thumbs up to the audience and had a look on his face that seemed very appreciative. Kudos to the folks at Krannert for having the foresight to book this group on one of only 25 US gigs, but while this concert was sold out months in advance, not only were tickets available the night of the show, but there were at least 15 or 20 empty seats on my side the auditorium. Next time, don’t let the fact that the concert is sold out keep you from trying to attend — when groups such as this are performing right down the street for a very reasonable price, anyone with a passing interest owes it to themselves to check it out.
Video:
“New Blues, Old Bruise”
Live Vicariously:
