Here's something you might be interested in.
These Bonnie Wright concerts just keep getting better. On the last day of March, NYC guitarist Rez Abbasi assembled a special trio with his longtime associate Satoshi Takeishi on drums and SD bassist Mark Dresser for a riveting performance of daring improvisational give-and-take at Space 4 Art in the East Village, another gem in the Fresh Sound series Wright curates.
Abbasi began "Rivalry," with stair-step arpeggios engaging Dresser with ominous unisons while Takeishi tattooed violent, asymmetrical counterpoint. As the guitarist's squiggly lines grew more agitated Takeishi responded in kind--dialing up waves of intensity from his tiny drum kit. His solo began with blurred hands-on-skins and continued with a fusillade of sticks.
"Blood Orange," featured a kind of Metheny Trio vibe before Dresser emerged, tossing piercing thumb-position darts, strummed double-stops and windmill assaults on the strings. Abbasi followed with neat modal voice leading and quicksilver runs that sailed upon the waves of propulsion supplied by Takeishi.
Over a looped Middle Eastern-sounding riff, Dresser introduced the signature bass line to Keith Jarrett's trance-inducing "The Cure," as Abbasi decorated the theme and lashed out with tangential scales.
There was a top-note dissonance inherent in Abbasi's voicing's to the gentle "Etude For Malala," which yielded to Dresser's supremely dark arco solo--naked, vulnerable and laced with viscera.
Abbasi lit into a super-charged improvisation over the lurching accents of the rhythm section on "Divided Attention," with serpentine filigree dancing against the cycling, broken motifs of Takeishi--who provided a constant, yet unpredictable series of disruptive explosions to heighten the tension throughout.
Dresser began "Back Skin," alone, with a series of astonishing sounds one never expects from the bass-- grainy bi-tones, slippery amplified overtones, contrary two-handed tapping and double glissandi, eventually landing on the staggered bass line foundation over which Abbasi strung wicked streams of chromatically affected ideas until, ultimately a furious "jazz-time" section developed-- complete with walking bass and something resembling a ride cymbal pattern.
Saxophone giant Wayne Shorter said recently that, to him, the word jazz meant, "I dare you." I couldn't help thinking about that while these three guys kept upping the ante on each other.
Photo by Bonnie Wright
These Bonnie Wright concerts just keep getting better. On the last day of March, NYC guitarist Rez Abbasi assembled a special trio with his longtime associate Satoshi Takeishi on drums and SD bassist Mark Dresser for a riveting performance of daring improvisational give-and-take at Space 4 Art in the East Village, another gem in the Fresh Sound series Wright curates.
Abbasi began "Rivalry," with stair-step arpeggios engaging Dresser with ominous unisons while Takeishi tattooed violent, asymmetrical counterpoint. As the guitarist's squiggly lines grew more agitated Takeishi responded in kind--dialing up waves of intensity from his tiny drum kit. His solo began with blurred hands-on-skins and continued with a fusillade of sticks.
"Blood Orange," featured a kind of Metheny Trio vibe before Dresser emerged, tossing piercing thumb-position darts, strummed double-stops and windmill assaults on the strings. Abbasi followed with neat modal voice leading and quicksilver runs that sailed upon the waves of propulsion supplied by Takeishi.
Over a looped Middle Eastern-sounding riff, Dresser introduced the signature bass line to Keith Jarrett's trance-inducing "The Cure," as Abbasi decorated the theme and lashed out with tangential scales.
There was a top-note dissonance inherent in Abbasi's voicing's to the gentle "Etude For Malala," which yielded to Dresser's supremely dark arco solo--naked, vulnerable and laced with viscera.
Abbasi lit into a super-charged improvisation over the lurching accents of the rhythm section on "Divided Attention," with serpentine filigree dancing against the cycling, broken motifs of Takeishi--who provided a constant, yet unpredictable series of disruptive explosions to heighten the tension throughout.
Dresser began "Back Skin," alone, with a series of astonishing sounds one never expects from the bass-- grainy bi-tones, slippery amplified overtones, contrary two-handed tapping and double glissandi, eventually landing on the staggered bass line foundation over which Abbasi strung wicked streams of chromatically affected ideas until, ultimately a furious "jazz-time" section developed-- complete with walking bass and something resembling a ride cymbal pattern.
Saxophone giant Wayne Shorter said recently that, to him, the word jazz meant, "I dare you." I couldn't help thinking about that while these three guys kept upping the ante on each other.
Photo by Bonnie Wright