John Patitucci took some time off from his tours with Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea to take the packed house at The Blue Whale on a tour of his childhood record collection and musical influences, reflected from his latest fascinating and alluring album Brooklyn. Teamed with fellow Shorter drummer Brian Blade and the double barreled guitar line of Adam Rogers and Steve Cardenas, Patitucci delivered a 1 ½ hour show that was “electric” in both instrumentation and excitement.
With Blade’s conversational drumming opening up the evening, as the band joined in on “IN9-1881/The Search” as Patitucci’s fingers danced over the 5 string bass and Rogers and Cardenas chimed in with careening solos that danced around like search lights on Hollywood Blvd. The quartet then displayed Patitucci’s youthful allegiance to blues rocking groups like the Allman Brothers as Patitucci stomped, Blade rocked and the two six stringers delivered some wonderful wails back and forth. On the exotically African tribute “Dugu Kamalemba,” Patitucci made his bass alternately sound like a percussion instrument and a guitar as he created lilting and earthy rivulets of rhythm with Blade, who mixed dynamic sounds with intuitive diversity on a sizzling caravan of percussive gallops.
Switching to his 6 string bass (“tuning it is like tying shoelaces to a caterpillar”) Patitucci presented “The Watchman,” a gentle fragrant solo of an intro to a song dedicated to his childhood hero and present boss Wayne Shorter (whose wife was in attendance). The two guitarists gently wafted in like an ocean breeze, with the statuesque Rogers sounding cool and metallic as he complemented and contrasted with Cardenas’s tensile and liquid tone. The mix of strings created a delicate and prismatic variance of lights as the piece calmly ebbed away like a sunset wave.
Back of the 5 string, Patitucci brought the set to a close with sonic reminisces from his teenage years with a mix of funk and Delta blues on “JLR.” The two Shorter mates created a slinky soul of a foundation as Cardenas and Rogers dug their fist in the red soul. The thunder of the rhythm section contrasted with the lightning of the flashes from Cardenas’ picking and Rogers’ bending of the strings ended the evening with a stomp. Through it all, Patitucci reflected his appreciation for the musical path that God has laid out for him throughout his career, and on the Memorial Day Weekend, he shared his musical and spiritual life with them, which is the goal of all jazz artists.
Upcoming shows at The Blue Whale include Kasumi Washington May 28, Vardan Ovsepian’s Chamber Ensemble May 31, Alex Rodriguez June 2 and Anthony Wilson June 4
