Rose's jazz arrives at coda
by Alex Pagan
Staff Writer
Arts | 3/10/09
Posted online at 12:11 AM EST on 3/10/09
Well, it seems that it may be the end of an era. Without the Rose Art Museum functioning as a museum, Jazz at the Rose will be pushed forcibly into obsolescence. This somber fact hung over Sunday's Jazz at the Rose, which featured an excellent quartet led by local saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase. Performing with Kohlhase that afternoon was guitarist Eric Hofbauer, who played at last month's jazz feature; Berklee-educated drummer Mike Connors; and bassist Jef Charland. The performers that afternoon were a small subset of Kohlhase's larger ensemble, the Explorers' Club, and the afternoon's music began with one of Kohlhase's compositions from the ensemble's most recent recording.
The composition was from the group's "Superhero Suite," and the movement was entitled "Jasper Jaguar: Deceptor." The music was described as being a narrative about the song's eponym as he "coils and springs." The playing of the ensemble during the first song was initially linear: Each instrument played small segments of sound as the band tentatively gained momentum and crecendoed into a drum-heavy onslaught. In this piece, the drummer Connors was the focus, assuming Rashied-Ali-like multi-directionality and incredible intensity. The song terminated with a fantastic, unified iteration of the song's melody as the saxophone and guitar ascend from beneath the drums' sonic blanket.
The following piece was called "Africanized Blues" and was notably more tonal than the previous work. The song rested upon a syncopated bass line and the djembe-like rhythms on Connors' snare drum. The melody was satisfyingly pentatonic, and Kohlhase came to prominence, coaxing guttural, overtone-rich tones from his tenor saxophone. At times he assumed shades of mid-period Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders. Midway through the song, guitarist Eric Hofbauer offered a guitar solo, which was suitably muted and consummately West African in quality. The song was notable because of its shifting rhythms, slinking easily between 4/4 and 6/8 time. Kohlhase remarked after the song's terminus that it was inspired by a Burundian recording of a man playing a one-stringed instrument. While the song's melody evoked a simplicity befitting the song's origins, the fullness of the ensemble made for a satisfying listening experience.
The composition was from the group's "Superhero Suite," and the movement was entitled "Jasper Jaguar: Deceptor." The music was described as being a narrative about the song's eponym as he "coils and springs." The playing of the ensemble during the first song was initially linear: Each instrument played small segments of sound as the band tentatively gained momentum and crecendoed into a drum-heavy onslaught. In this piece, the drummer Connors was the focus, assuming Rashied-Ali-like multi-directionality and incredible intensity. The song terminated with a fantastic, unified iteration of the song's melody as the saxophone and guitar ascend from beneath the drums' sonic blanket.
The following piece was called "Africanized Blues" and was notably more tonal than the previous work. The song rested upon a syncopated bass line and the djembe-like rhythms on Connors' snare drum. The melody was satisfyingly pentatonic, and Kohlhase came to prominence, coaxing guttural, overtone-rich tones from his tenor saxophone. At times he assumed shades of mid-period Coltrane and Pharaoh Sanders. Midway through the song, guitarist Eric Hofbauer offered a guitar solo, which was suitably muted and consummately West African in quality. The song was notable because of its shifting rhythms, slinking easily between 4/4 and 6/8 time. Kohlhase remarked after the song's terminus that it was inspired by a Burundian recording of a man playing a one-stringed instrument. While the song's melody evoked a simplicity befitting the song's origins, the fullness of the ensemble made for a satisfying listening experience.
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