This is why I love the LA jazz scene…
So, I just saw guitarist Graham Dechter and bassist Alex Frank a couple weeks ago at Sam First Bar, delivering comfort food bop with pianist Josh Nelson at the helm.
Why do I want to see them again?
Well, I’m trying to get my pastor, who used to play classical cello, into jazz, and I thought the Frank/Dechter team (who do a monthly residency at the BP) is a good entry level for him. Bringing along his son to the Baked Potato with me, he immediately fell in love with the iconic club. “It feels like a pub I used to frequent back in the UK” reminisced the English-born preacher.
Now, I write about how Dechter and Frank, along with their regular team of Jordan Siegel/Rhodes and Ryan Shaw/dr mixed originals like the boogie-ing “Orange Coals” with Dechter’s patented mix of Wes Montgomery and Herb Ellis swung like he was part of a jungle gym. And then there were those clever arrangements such as the delicate and dainty read of “I Can’t Get Started” that had Shaw’s brushes wafting under the soft lights of Dechter’s understated strums and Frank’s lyrical lead.
But because of where we were sitting, I was able to observe something no one else in the stuffed Potato knew: Siegel’s keyboard had a couple of the keys stuck in the “down” position, and one of them was the critical “Middle C”. How was he going to play around this obstacle course of ivories? (BTW-you can see the guilty sticky keys on the photos below)
Well, he delivered a playful solo intro to his own joyful “Little Rascals” with aplomb, serenely gliding along before popping the clutch and leading the team into a torrential groove. I’m watching his hands to see how he’s going to maneuver his playing around these tricky keys, and his digits simply jump over them like bloodhounds chasing a rabbit. And no one in the crowd can tell what’s going on!
Then, after Shaw snapped everyone to attention with his lead in to the avalanche of “Broadway”, he galloped stride for stride with Dechter’s rapidly running fingers, leaping over the keyboard hurdles without missing a step. After the soloing on the easy shuffle of Dechter’s “Minor Influences” and striding easy on the oh-so-relaxed take of the closing take of Ellington’s classic “In A Mellow Tone”, I asked Siegel if he knew ahead of time that the two keys were stuck.
“Actually, there were three of them. No, I had no idea of the problem until I sat down”. So, how did he adapt to this challenge?
“This is jazz; you have to learn to improvise, in more ways than one.”
Somewhere, there’s material there for my pastor’s next sermon. Add two more jazz fans to the list.
Upcoming shows at The Baked Potato include Luis Conte 08/09, Marvin “Smitty” Smith 08.13 and Alphonso Johnson 08/16-17