The joke that “those who can’t do, teach” was put to rest Friday night at The Grape, as pianist and composer Vardan Ovsepian, instructor at Cal Arts, teamed up with USC faculty member Bob Reynolds in a quartet that turned into an evening of musical inspiration as well as education.
Along with drummer Mark Ferber and bassist Joshua Davis, the band went through a wide variety of world sounds, as the Armenian born Ovsepian brought out songs and from a wide panoply of cultures.
Ovsepian did a pair of Bill Frisell pieces, with “Strange Meeting” slithering with a sensuous East European harmonic cadence and Reynolds’ warm tenor gliding over the shifting sands before Ferber and Davis closed the piece like a receding tide. Meanwhile “Throughout” had a Mozartian chamber feel as Ferber’s brushes supported Davis’ bowed bass and the pianist’s fingers gleefully probed the melody and Reynolds hovered over like a Viennese haze.
The Brazilian “Ara” included bouncing ivories and crisp drumsticks, with Reynolds at his most bel canto, swinging on a star through the deep rivulet. The pianist’s own “Spiderweb” included creative and intricate playing from the composer, climaxing in a swirling finish between ivories and drums. A Billy Joel-ish read of Carla Bley’s “Lawns” had Ovsepian in full stride, classy and uptown with a bluesy fog from the tenor adding to the soulful strut. Closing off the world tour was a take of the Swedish pop song “Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl” that had some full fisted piano work galloping to the rhythm team.
All of the pieces had movements within movements, with the team changing tempos, dynamics, tensions and directions in a way that would seem telepathic, since before each tune Ovsepian handed the sheet music to each member, who would quickly scan and add penciled notes before performing works akin to David Copperfield in Vegas.
The appreciative audience got a full ride scholarship on this educational night by a pair of hard bopping professors. Class dismissed at 11pm!
Upcoming shows at The Grape include Simon Phillips 10/30, Sure Fire Soul Ensemble 11/08, Barrelhouse Wailers 11/09 and Kait Dunton 11/15