Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Goldberg's three way conversation @ Space 4 Art

"I am so excited. We sold out, standing room only, and the trio got a standing ovation at the end," said Bonnie Wright immediately following the first installment of her Fresh Sound concert series, which also happened to be the first time San Francisco clarinet virtuoso Ben Goldberg, Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker and NYC drum phenomenon Ches Smith played together as a trio.

I'm usually suspicious of trios which do not feature a bass player--but this group was so strong, it really wasn't necessary. There was a unique aesthetic going on, many times, Goldberg and Parker staked out independent lines which only intersected occasionally, and they were countered by the astonishing percussive contributions of Smith, who summoned up waves of activity while keeping his volume low enough to allow Goldberg's clarinet to be clearly heard without a microphone.

Beginning with "All Chords Stand For Other Chords," Parker and Goldberg eased into the angular theme in unison, while Smith created a world of micro gestures. As clarinet and guitar began to diverge into elliptical orbiting lines, the drummer kept up a relentless series of strikes, rubs, clangs and sometimes alien chatter.

They segued seamlessly into "Snow Notes," a dreamy tone poem that sounded like a three way conversation between sonic magicians. Smith began echoing the melody on a small, child's xylophone before creating eerie squeaks from rubbed drumsticks on metal. Parker and Goldberg came together for a recap of the melody, offset by the guitarist's use of volume pedal tremolo's.

"Habituary," began with Goldberg's keening, wailing upper register while Parker raced scales up the neck of his guitar. Smith held his unusually small drumsticks like steak-knives, and proceeded to tattoo irregular patterns all over his kit. A secondary free-bop theme emerged that gave birth to an astonishing drum solo, which Smith self-edited into a near silence while Goldberg sighed and cooed over dreamy guitar chords.

"Phony False Alarm," employed a Monkish, jerky, start-and-stop theme over the aggressive paradiddles and semi-martial cadences of Smith, shifting into the set-closing "Bongoloid Lens," which began super quietly before morphing into something approximating a Slovenian funeral dirge.

Guitar and clarinet began "How To Do Things With Tears," in a sweet, diatonic unison, which slowly began to dissolve into simultaneous, yet independent discourse before drawing down into wafting silence. "Long Last Moment," contained very minimal written material and a spooky, repeating theme of odd intervals. Parker kept up the repetitions and Goldberg snaked long lines punctuated by yelping trills and screeching multiphonics. Roles reversed, and the guitarist's solo took flight with short declaratives and melodic fragments, widening to include double-stops and slurring hints of the blues.

Parker plucked modal inversions to support Goldberg's bittersweet melody on "Heads & Tails," which was the most "conventional" sounding piece of the evening. Smith got an almost Elvin Jones kind of groove happening, and when the tune dialed down to a vamp, he snuck in a roiling solo that was over too soon.

While Parker and Goldberg waxed poetic on the pensive melody to "Drops Off," Smith removed his ride cymbal and began striking it as it rested on his snare. Guitar and clarinet interlaced contrapuntal lines that intersected at odd angles, then dropped into a whispered dialog.

The group left the room and the crowd leapt to their feet, keeping the applause up until the trio returned for a swinging encore of Thelonious Monk's "Lets Cool One."

Kudos to the ever vigilant creative tastes of curator Bonnie Wright and the folks at Space 4 Art for giving San Diego jazz fans the rare opportunity to witness music like this live.

Photos by Michael Klayman

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Pranksters vandalize Padres billboard in wake of playoff loss

Where’s the bat at?
Next Article

WAV College Church reminds kids that time is short

College is a formational time for decisions about belief

"I am so excited. We sold out, standing room only, and the trio got a standing ovation at the end," said Bonnie Wright immediately following the first installment of her Fresh Sound concert series, which also happened to be the first time San Francisco clarinet virtuoso Ben Goldberg, Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker and NYC drum phenomenon Ches Smith played together as a trio.

I'm usually suspicious of trios which do not feature a bass player--but this group was so strong, it really wasn't necessary. There was a unique aesthetic going on, many times, Goldberg and Parker staked out independent lines which only intersected occasionally, and they were countered by the astonishing percussive contributions of Smith, who summoned up waves of activity while keeping his volume low enough to allow Goldberg's clarinet to be clearly heard without a microphone.

Beginning with "All Chords Stand For Other Chords," Parker and Goldberg eased into the angular theme in unison, while Smith created a world of micro gestures. As clarinet and guitar began to diverge into elliptical orbiting lines, the drummer kept up a relentless series of strikes, rubs, clangs and sometimes alien chatter.

They segued seamlessly into "Snow Notes," a dreamy tone poem that sounded like a three way conversation between sonic magicians. Smith began echoing the melody on a small, child's xylophone before creating eerie squeaks from rubbed drumsticks on metal. Parker and Goldberg came together for a recap of the melody, offset by the guitarist's use of volume pedal tremolo's.

"Habituary," began with Goldberg's keening, wailing upper register while Parker raced scales up the neck of his guitar. Smith held his unusually small drumsticks like steak-knives, and proceeded to tattoo irregular patterns all over his kit. A secondary free-bop theme emerged that gave birth to an astonishing drum solo, which Smith self-edited into a near silence while Goldberg sighed and cooed over dreamy guitar chords.

"Phony False Alarm," employed a Monkish, jerky, start-and-stop theme over the aggressive paradiddles and semi-martial cadences of Smith, shifting into the set-closing "Bongoloid Lens," which began super quietly before morphing into something approximating a Slovenian funeral dirge.

Guitar and clarinet began "How To Do Things With Tears," in a sweet, diatonic unison, which slowly began to dissolve into simultaneous, yet independent discourse before drawing down into wafting silence. "Long Last Moment," contained very minimal written material and a spooky, repeating theme of odd intervals. Parker kept up the repetitions and Goldberg snaked long lines punctuated by yelping trills and screeching multiphonics. Roles reversed, and the guitarist's solo took flight with short declaratives and melodic fragments, widening to include double-stops and slurring hints of the blues.

Parker plucked modal inversions to support Goldberg's bittersweet melody on "Heads & Tails," which was the most "conventional" sounding piece of the evening. Smith got an almost Elvin Jones kind of groove happening, and when the tune dialed down to a vamp, he snuck in a roiling solo that was over too soon.

While Parker and Goldberg waxed poetic on the pensive melody to "Drops Off," Smith removed his ride cymbal and began striking it as it rested on his snare. Guitar and clarinet interlaced contrapuntal lines that intersected at odd angles, then dropped into a whispered dialog.

The group left the room and the crowd leapt to their feet, keeping the applause up until the trio returned for a swinging encore of Thelonious Monk's "Lets Cool One."

Kudos to the ever vigilant creative tastes of curator Bonnie Wright and the folks at Space 4 Art for giving San Diego jazz fans the rare opportunity to witness music like this live.

Photos by Michael Klayman

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

soundON Festival opens with Dresser, NOISE, & guests

Next Article

Age Is Just a Number

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader