The trio of Geri Allen/p, Terri Lyne Carrington/dr and Esperanza Spalding/b first got together in the summer as a tribute to jazz icon Wayne Shorter. Their Hollywood Bowl concert was quite impressive, and here at the tail end of their tour, they showed the benefits of honing a songbook together through the vigors of touring.
Compositions by Shorter tend to be a bit on the abstract side to begin with; combining that with the improvisatory talents and telepathic communications between the three ladies took material such as “Fall,” Mysterious Traveller” and “Miss Ann” to a further dimension of space and time. Tangential references to these themes served as launching pads for the interactive interplay between Spaldings bass going from throbbing one not pulses to rapid fire AK 47 shots with Carrington’s conversational use of sticks, drums and cymbals. Allen’s sublime hints of the themes made “Virgo” and “Nefertiti” like sonic flashes in a dream while the goings back and forth from ivories to strings to drums was like a three way ping pong match. Through it all, Spalding kept the themes together with an inherent sense of playfulness and joy of performance that was palpably infectious.
Things were a bit more accessible when they veered off the Shorter path. The cozy standard “The End of a Beautiful Friendship” was buoyant, lyrical and cheerful, but nothing prepared the audience for the tour de force of Allen’s composition “Unconditonal Love.” Mixed between Carrington’s exotic rhythms and Allen’s luminescent chords, Spalding used her hauntingly penetrating voice to deliver a wordless vocal along with her bass work to proclaim a passionate melody that can only be described as spiritual. The thoughts of God’s unconditional love seemed to make this music a fitting response evoked by the young lady, as no other motivation could seem to be the inspiration.
Closing with Shorter’s “Through Infant Eyes,” the only question the audience had while walking out of the theatre could only be “when is their album coming out.” Stay tuned.
Opening the evening was Perla Batalla who delivered some impassioned interpretations of the Leonard Cohen songbook.
Next up at the Broad Stage, Arturo Sandoval Nov 15. Don’t miss it!
www.thebroadstage.com