[Harp-L] Thielemans and pals have an enthralling musical chat

[Rooty Baegga <rootybaegga@xxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_2679567

Thielemans and pals have an enthralling musical chat

By Jim Harrington, CONTRIBUTOR
Inside Bay Area

IMAGINE walking into a cozy cafe down some backstreet in a small European 
town and finding three silver-haired old friends sitting around with their 
instruments.

They tell a few jokes and share smiles. Then, at some point, the old 
acquaintances simply begin to play a familiar tune. The music that pours 
forth is both astonishingly artistic and uncommonly casual, equally poetic 
and personal, as the three virtuosos pass the song as naturally as a bottle 
of red wine around the table.

That's basically the scene that took place Wednesday as harmonica-player 
Toots Thielemans, pianist Kenny Werner and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves 
connected the dots between conversation and jazz during the opening evening 
of a five-night stand at Yoshi's at Jack London Square.

Ideally, there shouldn't be many dots to connect. Jazz music, at its 
essence, is a conversation. Yet, it's also a genre dominated by individual 
voices. Too often those sides are only able to congeal in a satisfying 
manner for brief moments.

In contrast, this trio managed to make things jel perfectly for roughly 90 
minutes. Each musician shined individually and in the group setting. 
Perhaps even more significantly, the players made listeners believe that 
the music ­ or, if you will, conversation ­ would have sounded vastly 
different if any one of them had been missing.

That's especially true in Thielemans' case. He brings something to the 
table that basically no one else on his level does. One normally associates 
harmonica with blues greats such as Little Walter, James Cotton and Paul 
Butterfield. Some might also think of rock acts like the J. Geils Band, 
folkies such as Bob Dylan or, even, an occasional musical hobo riding the 
rails. Hardly anyone associates the harp with jazz. But when they do, Toots 
Thielemans is the name that comes to mind first.

The musical conversation began as the men discussed "How High the Moon." 
The 82-year-old harp master, who still performs with amazing dexterity, 
played his portion of the uptempo standard with a fierce bebop swagger.

The topic then turned to favorite musical productions of the 20th century 
as the trio swiveled its way through a medley of George Gershwin's "Porgy 
and Bess" tunes that included "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So."

Castro-Neves, one of the original creators of the Brazilian bossa nova, 
proved his worth as both a composer and guitarist on "Felicia and Bianca." 
This dynamic tune, which Castro-Neves penned for his two daughters, came 
across even better live than it does on Thielemans' great "The Brasil 
Project" CD of 1992.

After showcasing his blinding finger speed on the lively "Felicia and 
Bianca," the guitarist illustrated his technical savvy by using echo 
effects and other electronic gadgetry to make his guitar sing out like a 
flute on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Chega de Saudade." Thielemans was right 
there in the mix, producing xylophone-worthy runs on the harmonica.

The trio next launched into a medley of Frank Sinatra favorites built 
around the classic "All the Way." Werner delivered the most eloquent 
passage of the mix with an absolutely gorgeous piano solo of "My Way" that 
was full of Ol' Blue Eyes soul.

The music was so evenly split between the players that the one somewhat 
solo showcase really seemed notable. Castro-Neves provided the sole vocal 
number of the night with Jobim's famed "Waters of March," a song he 
described as a James Joyce-style stream of consciousness work; its 
rapid-fire delivery of seemingly disconnected imagery constitutes a major 
test of memory for any vocalist.

Castro-Neves did a wonderful job with "Waters of March," a groundbreaking 
song in both jazz and pop music. It's not hard to hear its influence in, 
say, R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World as We Know (And I Feel Fine)" or 
Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire."

If "Waters of March" was the most impressive song of the night, then the 
most moving was "Smile." Thielemans dedicated a somber version of the 
Charlie Chaplin ballad to acclaimed Danish jazz bassist Niels-Henning 
Orsted Pedersen, who died earlier this week.

It wasn't hard to imagine Pedersen, a man best known for his work in the 
Oscar Peterson Trio, fitting in very nicely with these other players 
onstage. It would have made the conversation that much more interesting.

You can write music critic Jim Harrington at 
<mailto:jimthecritic@xxxxxxxxx>jimthecritic@xxxxxxxxxx


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Rooty Baegga

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