In a town overflowing with guitarists, Will Brahm showed the full house at Sam First that he is one of the few six stringers to stand out by successfully having one foot in the tradition and one in the future of modern jazz. With his team of drummer Rick Montalbano (on loan from Jane Monheit), bassist Luca Alemanno and pianist Max Haymer, Brahm melded sounds of his six stringed influences, but pureed them into his own voice via his clever and personal compositions.
Yes, you can hear parts of Montgomery, Grant, Sco and Metheny in his tunes, as he was bumpin’ wes on his cool, clear and unrushed “Late Lightning” but his tensile lines coasting over Haymer’s fluid ivories were all his own. Even better, unlike most of today’s guitarists, when he dug in to Montalbano’s snappy sticks, bantering back and forth on the kinetic “Presume” our bouncing along the post bopping calypso of “NSVA” he avoids the pitfall of having every solo end in an avalanche of angst; instead there are dreamy blues fading to the end, or a crisp flick of the wrist to close out an idea.
His solo intro to the pastoral “August” was passionately understated, while his strumming around Montalbano’s mallets and Haymer’s ripples on the romantic “Immensities” was subdued highlight, saying more by saying less.
Alemanno lead the way on the folksy swamp blues of “Crimes” with Haymer fisting up a gospel groove, while the pianist formed a sizzling trio on “San Niccolo” before Brahm jumped in with a solo, like all others that was logical, but not predictable.
Brahm’s on a quick tour with this trio, giving hints of his soon-to-be released album. Judging by the sounds at Sam First, maybe he should include some “live” tunes on it.
Upcoming shows at Sam First Bar include Alan Pasqua & Darek Oles 01/19-20, Gilad Hekselman 01/25-27 and Johnathan Blake 02/03-04