“It’s very confusing, but what else are we here for?”
So joked 87 year old bandleader Bill Holman about the music between songs at Vitello’s where he revisited the sounds from his 1997 Grammy winner album of wildly exciting big band arrangements of the Thelonious Monk songbook. He was just a young buck of 70 back then, and with 16 more years of rejuvenation under his belt and a band that mixed members from that 16 year old album with Gen Xers, he took the kaleidoscopic musings of Monk to a level of intrigue and fantasy that would have made the pianist pump his fist with approval.
The Millennial rhythm team of Max Haymer/p, Alex Frank/b and Jake Reed/dr drove the band like it was the Chuck Wagon Race at the Calvary Stampede, with a boogalooing “Bemsha Swing” simmering under Billy Kerr’s soulful alto sax and Ron Stout’s crisp trumpet. And if you thought THAT was quirky, a rendition of “Brilliant Corners” had the lava thick reed and brass section s lumbering and prancing like a dance recital by a chorus line of Dumbos with sprained ankles. Bruce Babad’s flute floated like an arrow through the wonderful coalescence of cacophonous sounds. Even a so-called “simple” four bar piece like “Friday the 13th,” was melded and molded by Holman’s hands like he took a piece of Play Doh to copy a cartoon strip and then stretched and twisted the original drawing until it was begging for mercy. A murky and mysterious “Round Midnight” featured Roger Neumann’s bass clarinet tip toeing through the moonlit graveyard, while the reed section on the rollicking and bluesy “Misterioso” had more changes of pace and pitch deliveries than Satchel Paige.
After the band ended the 1 ½ hour set with a hard hitting but light on feet take of “Straight, No Chaser,” the venerable band leader was rushed by a group of kids young enough to be his great-grandchildren. They all wanted to meet someone who, in this day of pop posers, was an actual artist. Surrounded by a gaggle of fans, the understated arranger took it all in stride, which is why he’s so much younger now than he was during his older days with Stan Kenton.
There’s more big banded joy coming to Vitello’s with Johnny Mandel and Bob Mintzer both bringing their mega ensembles to the swinging upstairs club. Check it out at www.vitellosjazz.com