Wallace Roney Quintet at Yoshi's 09.12.04
So last month I notice that Geri Allen and her husband Wallce Roney are on the cover of Jazztimes and they are both releasing new albums and touring. Shortly after, I get a last minute FYI from the missus that Wallace would be playing the next evening at Yoshi's, the premier East Bay venue (just last year we attended a show there that was taped and later released as part of Bill Bruford's Earthworks latest live album). Having seen Geri with her trio there, this time it was Wallace with his quintet. And what an interesting quintet; his brother Antoine on saxes, Ira Coleman on bass, Eric Allen on drums, and Adam Holzman on keys and piano.
The set proved to a mixed collection of new and older material, and wide in it's palette of sounds. Drawing equally from bop and fusion elements, it was an interesting set, that showed what Roney does best, but often gets (unfairly) castigated for - keeping the spirit and sound of Miles Davis alive, but Wallace takes his own approach that conveys a fondness for, but not an inability to escape from Miles's shadow.
Roney was a favorite of Miles, who effectively coached him during various periods, including his time in Tony Williams's outfits (Williams being a Miles alum) and Roney sat in with Miles on his famous Live at Montreux date with Quincy Jones, as well as filling the trumpet seat with VSOP (which was basically the Miles Davis Quintet without Miles). The result is that he does bear an uncanny ability to invoke Miles, often with more aplomb than others who equally owe their bread an butter to Davis, but seem more narrow in what they pull from him (i.e. Dave Douglas, Mark Isham, Chris Botti). This show laid it out plainly that he wasn't aping the Dark Prince, but you could most certainly see and hear the influence -- not only the sound, but the sunglasses on stage, the posture, and to a lesser extent some of the coolness; almost a strut.
The show started with a fusion vibe, calling back to the late 60s infancy period, with a full organic dirty rhythm section giving a pulse and Holzman providing all manner of synth and Fender Rhodes squonk. With both Roneys slowly slipping in with a unison melody figure = Wallace with a harmon mute and Antoine with a soprano- the composition gets a lift and never really comes back down. This theme continued for several tracks, where Antoine showed a messy soloing approach that made me think a little bit of Ornette, but actually more of Dolphy or even Roland Kirk. Wallace however, was fucking golden. With the mute he was completely ethereal, without it his sound is crisp, clean and unreal in its tastefulness. The motherfucker can play, and does not seem to be half-assing it, no matter how effortless he makes it appear. The rhythm section kept thinks running clean and tight, with Allen a noisy, off-kilter steampunk machine and Coleman surprising me like all be damned with his originality and adept skill and slinking around all the curveballs Wallace's compositions seem to throw. Holzman was the one oddity; on a stage full of cool, pimped out men, he looked like a dishevelled professor with a Green lantern t-shirt and a sport hacket with a Star Trek badge on it. His heavy use of electronics was at times mixed badly, and some of the sounds were antiquated, but his piano and Fender playing were exceptional, and his occasional solo bursts on B3 were definately solid.
Overall, you could hear hints of Miles from the 60s, 70s and even some hints of Miles's better 80s material (think Aura), but those references were integrated into a more evolved whole, rather than used as a plodding crutch. Wallace had solid command of what the hell was happening on stage, and put his own stamp on the proceedings, with smooth transitions from one theme to another, and able to fly from open spaced staccato phrases to blistering carpet-bomb solos of incredible fury. The performance is better in it's imperfections - the band is tight, but not sterile- and it's courage in taking chances on stage is notable. The more Wallace expands his sonic pallette, the better he becomes, and it is a shame he has not the same level of fame as that boring twat Wynton Marsalis, who has made an entire career in flash-neutering everything he touches.
Well worth the money and time to see.
The set proved to a mixed collection of new and older material, and wide in it's palette of sounds. Drawing equally from bop and fusion elements, it was an interesting set, that showed what Roney does best, but often gets (unfairly) castigated for - keeping the spirit and sound of Miles Davis alive, but Wallace takes his own approach that conveys a fondness for, but not an inability to escape from Miles's shadow.
Roney was a favorite of Miles, who effectively coached him during various periods, including his time in Tony Williams's outfits (Williams being a Miles alum) and Roney sat in with Miles on his famous Live at Montreux date with Quincy Jones, as well as filling the trumpet seat with VSOP (which was basically the Miles Davis Quintet without Miles). The result is that he does bear an uncanny ability to invoke Miles, often with more aplomb than others who equally owe their bread an butter to Davis, but seem more narrow in what they pull from him (i.e. Dave Douglas, Mark Isham, Chris Botti). This show laid it out plainly that he wasn't aping the Dark Prince, but you could most certainly see and hear the influence -- not only the sound, but the sunglasses on stage, the posture, and to a lesser extent some of the coolness; almost a strut.
The show started with a fusion vibe, calling back to the late 60s infancy period, with a full organic dirty rhythm section giving a pulse and Holzman providing all manner of synth and Fender Rhodes squonk. With both Roneys slowly slipping in with a unison melody figure = Wallace with a harmon mute and Antoine with a soprano- the composition gets a lift and never really comes back down. This theme continued for several tracks, where Antoine showed a messy soloing approach that made me think a little bit of Ornette, but actually more of Dolphy or even Roland Kirk. Wallace however, was fucking golden. With the mute he was completely ethereal, without it his sound is crisp, clean and unreal in its tastefulness. The motherfucker can play, and does not seem to be half-assing it, no matter how effortless he makes it appear. The rhythm section kept thinks running clean and tight, with Allen a noisy, off-kilter steampunk machine and Coleman surprising me like all be damned with his originality and adept skill and slinking around all the curveballs Wallace's compositions seem to throw. Holzman was the one oddity; on a stage full of cool, pimped out men, he looked like a dishevelled professor with a Green lantern t-shirt and a sport hacket with a Star Trek badge on it. His heavy use of electronics was at times mixed badly, and some of the sounds were antiquated, but his piano and Fender playing were exceptional, and his occasional solo bursts on B3 were definately solid.
Overall, you could hear hints of Miles from the 60s, 70s and even some hints of Miles's better 80s material (think Aura), but those references were integrated into a more evolved whole, rather than used as a plodding crutch. Wallace had solid command of what the hell was happening on stage, and put his own stamp on the proceedings, with smooth transitions from one theme to another, and able to fly from open spaced staccato phrases to blistering carpet-bomb solos of incredible fury. The performance is better in it's imperfections - the band is tight, but not sterile- and it's courage in taking chances on stage is notable. The more Wallace expands his sonic pallette, the better he becomes, and it is a shame he has not the same level of fame as that boring twat Wynton Marsalis, who has made an entire career in flash-neutering everything he touches.
Well worth the money and time to see.
posted by theloniusfunk at 1:24 AM
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