Home » Jazz Articles » Live Review » Jamie Saft Special Quintet at Cornelia St. Café

Jamie Saft Special Quintet at Cornelia St. Café

By Sean Patrick Fitzell
November 19, 2010
View read count

Jamie Saft
Cornelia St. Café
New York, NY
November 12, 2010

Perhaps better known for his electric keyboard work in genre-flouting projects,

Jamie Saft

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Jamie Saft also possesses a deep jazz sensibility and prodigious piano technique. It was these talents he sought to exercise with his "Special Quintet" for a 2-night, 4-set stand at Cornelia Street Café. Not stodgy or rote, the first set was firmly grounded in tradition but retained a sense of surprise.

Saft was joined by like-minded musicians who straddle the supposed inside/outside divide: saxophonist

Bill McHenry

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill McHenry, trumpeter

Duane Eubanks

trumpet
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Duane Eubanks, drummer

Ben Perowsky

drums
b.1966

" data-original-title="" title="">Ben Perowsky, and late addition bassist

Chris Lightcap

bass
b.1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Chris Lightcap. He's worked with them all in various settings, but this configuration was novel. Drawing from his own compositions and pieces by

John Zorn

saxophone, alto
b.1953

" data-original-title="" title="">John Zorn and

Bob Dylan

guitar and vocals
b.1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Bob Dylan that he's interpreted with his trio, Saft created a comfortable zone from which to expand with the added instrumentation.

They opened the set with his "Darqon" as a piano trio, and Saft flowed across the keys, prodded by Perowsky's crisp snare ruffs. The drummer's fleet ride cymbal and fills also abetted Eubanks' solo, which emerged from a trumpet/sax unison line. On his turn, McHenry alternated between staccato bursts and fluid runs that played off the rhythm section. Dylan's "Trouble" followed, again starting as a trio with a swanky, bluesy groove anchored by Lightcap's vamp. Saft evinced touch with trinkling keys interspersed with percussive rolling asides, then got inside the piano to pluck and strum its strings for added texture as the horns sparred on the melody. The saxophonist adeptly used breathy fluttering notes to contrast longer kinetic phrases, while the trumpeter dramatically bleated and sustained notes in counter.

After a somewhat tentative start, the horns cut loose from the repeating unison head of Zorn's "Sturiel." McHenry imparted a brief history of tenor—starting bluesy, he then spun boppish lines before acknowledging the avant by blowing into his leg as a mute. Eubanks stretched over Perowsky's clacking rims with some piercing, but not harsh, rounded high notes. When he seemed about to finish, the drummer quickened the tempo to spur a few more laps from the trumpet, before Saft took the baton and wove his way back to the head.

The pianist used his own "I See No Leader" as a springboard, raking the keys with a flash of hands, as quick tactical drum and cymbal accents goaded him along. Piano and drums continued their repartee, percolating under Eubanks' extended foray, staying unpredictable and giving him additional improv avenues. After some blustery, clipped retorts, McHenry built an impressive statement darting with or inverting the groove; the drama reached a crescendo as he spat frenetic machinegun blasts. A sturdy presence that bound the music, Lightcap flashed great tone and inflection while riffing off the song's progression during his spotlight.

The set ended just as the group seemed to establish rapport and let the music flow: an auspicious start to the weekend—and hopefully longer—for Saft's Special Quintet.

PREVIOUS / NEXT

What About...?
< Previous

Part 14 - Fela! Original Broadway Ca...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.