New York Tokyo Connection

B Flat November 16, 2007

This great quartet has been working steadily on their sound for several years. The accomplished result was in full evidence at this show! This evening was a CD release party, yet there was none of the showy or commercial feel that burdens many such "parties." Instead, the quartet showed their workmanship, ensemble tightness and incredibly musicality.

With a couple CDs and several tours behind them, these guys are in no hurry to prove anything. Instead, they delve into their tunes one by one with a relaxed sense. They have the confidence to know that these songs are right and ready to perform again live with power and impact. Clearly they love the music they are creating, and do each song with a fresh, unique flavor.

The songs came mainly from their new release, just out, "New York and the Night and the Music," but they played them without any sense of self-promotion. The tunes have the depth of standards, so the feeling was more like these are just the songs they are interested in playing now. Pietro and Katz's intros on all the songs helped set the background to let everyone in more fully to what the song was about.  On songs like "Local Blues at 11," set in a tricky 11/4 time, Pietro helpfully counted out the beats for the audience! That's not ego; it's education!

Particularly appealing is how in sync the quartet is, even though they live on different continents and get together maybe once a year. The interaction between the four rose above their obvious professional musicianship to another level of ensemble simpatico. Everyone took their turn out front, but all four were equal in both sound and status. "Glorious" was turned over to the bass, with Yasukagawa taking off both lyrically and rhythmically. "Light One" felt like it was written expressly for the drums, with Eto's chops coming out front.
    
Katz's solos formed the inner backbone to most of the tunes. The arc and flowof his solos was dynamic and strong. Pietro's tone, on tunes like "The Crimson Petal" was especially lovely. Pietro really holds and forms the notes, the right ones, and infuses them with feeling. The interaction between Katz and Pietro was in full evidence on one of the few non-originals of the evening, "Bye Bye Blackbird."

    
They chose this song not so much as a crowd pleaser, it seemed, but as a great tune to romp around on. That sense of sheer musical pleasure is such a relief when the very idea of fun seems banned from so many overly serious-minded groups. NYTC connects these two great jazz cities, and much, much more.