The state of jazz education was shown to be in excellent hands at the Blue Whale Saturday night, as faculty members David Roitstein/p, Larry Koonse/g, Joe La Barbera/dr and Jonathan Richards/b presented a timeless workshop of swinging modern sounds.
Larry Koonse’s composition “Blues for Adam” opened things up with his mixed sleek interplay between his tensile strums and La Barbara’s melodic ride cymbal as Roitstein’s thoughtful piano formed expansive solos. A medley of the shadowy “Sisters of Pela” with “All Things Waltz” featured deft unison piano and guitar lines as La Barbera, the Fred Astaire of drummers, used his brushes with nimble and suave asides. Hints of the drummer’s stint with Bill Evans were evoked as Roitstein’s rich piano work and Richard’s ebullient bass created a trio coalescing tributaries to form a rich river of rhythm and lyricism before the quartet ice skated to an elegant finale.
La Barbera’s own “Monkey Tree” had the team bear down into a hip and snappy grove as the composer gently prodded and nudged the pianist and then delivered a solo that was as crisp and tasty as a Caesar Salad at California Chicken Café’. On the tribute to his former employer “Kind of Bill,” La Barbera sat still as Roitstein’s piano used his soft and warm hands to assuage the ivories for the intro before Koonse joined into the dance. La Barbera’s mallets and Richard’s bass tones entered stage left as the four musicians created floating lily pads of sound akin to a Monet oil painting.
The team closed with Roitstein’s chiming piano forming the bookends for “The Grouch” which had the modal blues piece pushed forward by the clickety clack of La Barbera’s beat and Koonse’s rivulet of chords that kept stretching out along with the ivories like salt water taffy. As the seamless return to the theme closed the first set, one couldn’t help but look for a brochure for the college. This was the best advertisement for a college education I’ve seen in years!
Upcoming shows at the Blue Whale include the LA Jazz Collective 11/28 and then Steve Coleman’s Residency 12/01-17