Here's a nice review of my gig in LA.
http://irom.wordpress.com/category/live-jazz/
I'll also be be playing at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Alta Dina
on Friday November 6 and:
at the McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica
Both gigs I'll be opening for and playing with Jim Kweskin
I had a great meeting with Tommy Morgan on Tuesday. What a dude!
Will
Live Jazz: William Galison at the Whitefire Theatre
October 31, 2009 — irom
by Devon Wendell
It was an evening of pure, traditional jazz delivered with
sensitivity and originality by harmonica wiz William Galison and his
quintet on Thursday night at the Whitefire Theater in Sherman Oaks.
Backing Galison in the L.A. Modern Jazz Series concert were pianist
Otmaro Ruiz, clarinetist John Tegmeyer, bassist Greg Swiller and
drummer Dan Schnelle.
Opening the set with the Charlie Parker classic “Billy’s Bounce,”
Galison and Tegmeyer immediately established an original sense of
harmony between the chromatic harmonica and clarinet. Instead of
trying to mimic Bird and Miles’s original recording, Galison proved
that less is more, choosing to play well thought out and tasteful
phrasing with soul and a true knowledge of his instrument, without
falling back on fast scales or abandoning the over all theme of the
piece. Tegmeyer’s playing, though sweet, was more frenetic, which
created true dynamics between the pair. Here and elsewhere, Ruiz’s
piano work tended to start soft and tender and slowly build in
intensity, prompting the very pure rhythm team of Swiller and
Schnelle to give it their all, very much the way McCoy Tyner would
push Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones to climactic heights which John
Coltrane could explore.
On Galison’s composition, “New Samba,” the band laid down a hard-bop
samba motif, with Galison and Tegmeyer interweaving in and out of
each other’s lines perfectly, without stepping on each other’s
phrasing. As Galison said to the audience, “Clarinet and harmonica
are like family, or like peanut butter and jelly.”
Though almost every jazz artist has covered “Body and Soul,”
Galison’s rendition was one of the most mournful and bluesiest
versions I’ve ever heard, playing high note bends on the harmonica
and making the instrument cry and plead with very few notes. It was,
without a doubt, a highlight of the set. His slow vibrato, in fact,
was closer to that of tenor sax balladeer Ben Webster than that of
his mentor and chromatic harmonica master, Toots Thielemans.
Tegmeyer’s solo, though confident and skillful, could hardly match
Galison’s emotional outpouring on this standard.
“Just Friends” will always be associated with Bird’s incredible
reading of this classic ballad on the Charlie Parker with Strings
album. Galison’s cover was closer to the version by Coleman Hawkins
and Sonny Rollins on the album Sonny Meets Hawk. Again, Galison
chose not to mimic Bird’s laser like runs and instead rode slowly
and soulfully behind the bass, drums and piano. His ability to slur
notes and expand upon the song’s well known melody was astonishing.
On “Whitefire Blues” (Galison’s on- the-spot ode to the show’s tiny
theater venue), he switched from chromatic to diatonic harmonica,
delving straight into a pure and slow Chicago blues shuffle, paying
tribute to blues harp masters Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter
and Junior Wells, with squawks, wails, moans, and sharp bends.
Ruiz’s playing was in the authentic vein of Chicago blues piano
veterans Eddie Boyd and Otis Spann, instead of sounding like a jazz
player trying to oversimplify the blues. Swiller’s bass walked with
purpose and groove, and Schelle held down a solid foundation for
Galison and Tegmeyer. It was obvious on this number that Galison
has a pure understanding of the blues, which is also the foundation
of his jazz soloing. This was true alley music from the Windy City
even though Tegmeyer’s playing sometimes seemed out of place – a
reminder that Howlin’ Wolf and the others never seemed to include a
clarinet in their musical mix.
Johnny Mandel’s composition “Emily,” made popular by Henry Mancini,
closed the set, with Galison and company choosing to emphasize the
romantic ambiance of the original theme. Tegmeyer’s clarinet shined
on this number, playing fast yet graceful runs to match Galison’s
voice-like lines. The band remained strictly within the jazz
mainstream, convincingly calling back to a different era.
Galison’s enthusiasm and joy for the music – whether pure jazz or
the blues — was present in each number, Although he spoke with
warmth about his former teacher and mentor Toots Thielemans, it was
obvious, in this refreshingly intimate and memorable jazz
performance, that Galison has found his own style. Unlike the
countless other chromatic players have hung on to Thielemans’ every
note for the past several decades, Galison is a true original.
To read other posts by Devon Wendell, click here.
_______________________________________________
Harp-L is sponsored by SPAH, http://www.spah.org
Harp-L@xxxxxxxxxx
http://harp-l.org/mailman/listinfo/harp-l