| 04/19/04
Music at Meyer - Dave Ellis Ensemble Review "I have goosebumps--I can't wait until they start playing again."--audience member during intermission at Dave Ellis Music at Meyer concert, Monday, April 19, 2004. It was that kind of night last Monday as Music at Meyer presented an innovative concert of new material by the Dave Ellis Ensemble. The evening started with a presentation and demonstration by Stanford Jazz Workshop's Jim Nadel. Jim explained what makes jazz unique (it's usually based on the blues and also improvisational). Jim has worked with the greats like Stan Getz and had many interesting quotes and stories. One memorable remark attributed to pianist Hank Jones was, "Jazz improvisation means never saying the same thing once." In introducing Dave's ensemble, Cantor Roz Barak, artistic director of Music at Meyer, said "The series reflects my varied musical tastes," and her love of both the classical and jazz forms. Then Dave Ellis' 5-piece ensemble took the stage and early on Dave managed to break down the wall between performer and audience by introducing each original tune and charming the audience with his engaging personality. Dave's leadership of the band kept a tight musical focus and he had the audience moving from his authoritative statement of the first few bars of "Not That You Asked." Trumpet player Mark Wright nearly stole the show with his moving solo on "Overcast" during the all-original first half. After the break the group had a surprise: Mark Wright's world premiere of his new piece, Point Reyes Suite. This piece evoked all the drama of nature as drummer Darrell Green literally drummed up a "storm" that you could practically see coming in over the ocean. Hungarian-born pianist Peter Horvath calmed things down with a smooth-as-glass solo that demonstrated both his classical and jazz skills, and bassist Miles Perkins provided rock-solid support throughout. At the conclusion of the Suite, the audience showed their appreciation with an extended standing ovation, feeling confident they had heard something special and new. Then the group played a kaleidoscopic rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime" (the only standard of the evening) in two different keys simultaneously. This version was inspired by Dave's first music teacher growing up in Berkeley. Finally, these master musicians closed out the evening at nearly 10 PM with a lively blues original by Dave, "Isabella Blue" written for his baby daughter. As Dave said of the late hour, "We're just getting started--this is jazz." The intimate Martin Meyer Auditorium was perfectly suited to this acoustic ensemble. The music washed over the audience with little need for amplification. But the real stars were the Dave Ellis five who brought their originality and artistic mastery, and the wonderful Music at Meyer audience who met them every step of the way. -- by Mike Tekulsky The Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake Street, San Francisco, CA 94118 Phone (415) 751-2535 Fax (415) 751-2511 http://www.emanuelsf.org/events_concerts_meyer.htm |
