Ah, what the Los Angeles jazz scene looked like pre-COVID…
One of the casualties of the draconian COVID lockdown was the loss of one of the havens for local jazz players and fans, Joon Lee’s Blue Whale in Little Tokyo. This recording of a gig on February 7, 2020 just before Gavin Newsome closed everyone up, serves as a memory of what we had, and also what we still have. We don’t have the iconic club anymore, but the band of leader Daniel Rotem/ts-ss, Billy Childs/p, Darek Oles/b and Christian Euman/dr still play at venues that have been able to re-open, and with music like this, we should be glad for that fact.
Rotem gives a salute to jazz legend John Coltrane, but not in a note-for-note impersonation. That would almost be impossible, as the tenor saxist has a much warmer and breathier tone than ‘Trane. He also does an impressive job of reworking and tweaking a few of the pieces, such as taking the hard bopper anthem “Moment’s Notice” and giving it a gentle read akin to Coltrane’s famous Ballads album, even introducing the piece with a dash of “My Favorite Things” on the rubato. Likewise “Syeeda’s Song Flute” is a bit slower and sleeker, with a dash of hip crispness by Childs’ piano work. Childs also does some wonderful work on his ebullient stretching out on the intro to “Song Of The Underground Railroad” and then taking part in some nice trio interplay focusing on Oles’ work before Rotem returns with a mix of Coltrane and Warne Marsh harmonics.
The trio also gets a spotlight on the soft “Spiritual” before Rotem finally enters stage left with some yearning tones, while the most “Coltrane-esque” piece, “Wise One”, is also the darkest, urged on by Child’s thoughtful ivories. On soprano, Rotem floats over Childs’ trickling droplets sustained on the impressionistic read of “Naima”, making the evening and the album feel like a salute in spirit, and not in notes.