By Any Means @ Bimhuis
As house rules dictate, I was going to switch off the flash on my camera, to prepare to take photos of drummer Rashied Ali’s trio with bassists William Parker and Charles Gayle on saxophone and piano, but alas that ended up being the last action of my camera apart for the display changing to blue screen with the message: Battery Empty. So once again no photos for this blog – I thought – but no! – camera phone to the rescue, and it appears that the inability to zoom aside, the camera in the phone is actually more suited to take pictures in the dark.
Update: G’verdomme I cannot find the cable to extract the photos from my phone.
I cannot help it but my initial thought when the three players entered the stage was Rolling Stones, these multimillionaire guys that get unlimited praise for keeping on going, while not unimpressive, Ali: 73, Gayle: 69 and youngster Parker: 57 flew in the same day at 8 am, and couldn’t get a hotel bed until a couple of hours later and still played for almost 2 hours, sometimes at incredible speed.
First set started in a rather traditional manner with Gayle soloing on the sax over the rhythm section of the other two, then leaving the stage and bringing the attention to Parker and ultimately leaving Ali alone with his drum kit. More interesting was the middle part where all three players interacted. Parker is definitely my favourite jazz bassist but it is when he is layering the sets with heavy and complex rhythms I find him the strongest and not so much when he takes center stage. The set ended quieter with Gaye switching to the piano.
After a break of approximately 30 minutes, where I could enjoy a much needed cigarette in the cold Amsterdam night, the players returned to stage, picking up more or less where they left, but soon switching to what in my ears was the high light of the show. After being silent for a couple of minutes Gayle hits one of the low keys at the piano, which initiated a radical mood swing. Parker grabs the bow and plays deep droning tones while bending the string with his other hand, Alis playing is darker and quieter at this point, and Gayle sticking to the low keys with his left hand while pressing down a long span of keys with his right arm. The result is dark and complex and demonstrate the extend of these players ability.
The set then transfers in to a Coltrane ballad which I was a) unfamiliar with, b) don’t remember what was called, but it was lovely, before transforming into another less engaging exercise in solos and finishing with a tight free playing by the players who by now are tired as hell.
Friday night at Bimhuis always make for a more mature crowd and with my 31 years I felt like a youngster. In general the concert was possibly a bit to much of a traditional exercise, but I am thrilled to have finally seen William Parker live – now I only hope to see him as a band leader soon.
Tags: Bimhuis, By Any Means, Charles Gayle, Jazz, Rashied Ali, William Parker
March 30th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
I like hearing about good performers still ouring at an older age. Thanks for the entry.