There are times when you just need to break in some new material or a new band and the only way to do that is to get a gig. It doesn’t have to be a high-end place, the point is to air the material, get the band tight and in front of an audience. It’s just one of those stepping-stones that every musician is familiar with. What this means to the lucky listening public, is that you can often catch some great music with no cover, and still be able to buy dinner and drinks. That’s my kind of room.
So when Judi Silvano decided it was time to do a gig of this nature, she booked Quinn’s in Beacon, New York. The place has jazz on Mondays, and gets a good crowd. Plus they have a better-than-your-average-bar sound system.
Silvano’s Zephyr Quintet is partially experimental; in a departure from a standard jazz lineup, there are two processed guitars up front, in the hands of Kenny Wessel and Bruce Arnold. This expands the textural palette significantly, with Wessel’s chime-like tone weaving in and out of, and sometimes floating on top of Arnold’s SuperCollider derived atmospheric soundscapes. Bob Meyer holds down the drums with Ratzo B. Harris nailing the rhythm while also spinning off into some inspired improvisation. Silvano herself is also a fearless improviser. Where others may feel inhibited and stick to the known, this singer will jump off a cliff, just to see where she lands. She takes chances that pay off.
The gig at Quinn’s was fortuitous on several levels, and I was glad I was there to catch it on video. The sound was cohesive, with just the right proportion of form to freedom, and the audience was responsive – always an encouragement to a musician. On this song, “Riding a Zephyr,” (a Silvano original) the frosting on the cake was Joe Lovano sitting in on soprano sax and having a ball. The guy just loves to play.