Jim Butler Quartet with Swinky
Keystone Club
August 31, 2018
Jim Butler – sax
Tohru Miura – bass
Swinky – vocals
Grant Richards – piano
Blacky Kuroda – drums
The Jim Butler quartet with Swinky had a full house at Roppongi’s Keystone Club for his birthday live. His enthusiastic, well-wishing jazz fans packed the place. Kicking off with the up-tempo “Bangkok at Night,” from his CD “Postcards from the World,” the quartet got right to work. Coming of their most recent tour, the last-minute substitute of Miura on bass only upped the energy level. The quartet was right into the songs with polished solos and tight interplay. The fans got just what they came for—great music.
Butler’s sax has a simplicity to it that belies its complexity and directed energy. He plays sax that sounds natural and right, but engages at all kinds of levels. Whether it’s dancing notes across the funky version of “Afro Blue” or dropping notes like raindrops on “So Many Stars,” he always plays with the right tone, feel and connection.“
Afternoon Falling on Nairobi” slowed the tempo down for a sensitive, heartfelt number that worked with elegant descending melody lines which Richards on piano took straight into his own voicings and feelings. Richards jumps the level of any group he plays with, but he and Butler worked tightly together the whole night.
Midway through the first set, the show opened up even further with the addition of Kenyan-born Swinky on vocals. “Straighten Up and Fly Right” followed by “So Many Stars” and “Afro Blue” took off with her polished, intense and striking vocals. The band effortlessly moved from bop-like quartet to backing band to front-center soloists. Swinky’s lively stage presence and deep-in-the-song approach pushed Richards and Butler to dig into all three songs for all they could find inside.(No one wanted an intermission, but it’s one sign of a band that bonds when the members don’t really get a break because they are talking with the audience the entire time).
The second set was even more vibrant and encompassing than the first set. Kuroda splashed out with his vast set of possible rhythms, jazz to Brazil and back. His drumming is always tasteful and serves as a springboard for the rest of the group. Swinky came back onstage for “It’s Too Damn Hot,” a fitting summer number and a chance to show off the trad side of her vocal range before the looser grooves of “Prayer for Peace” and “Mas Que Nada.” The crowd was singing along by then, and rightly so. Butler and band make jazz feel good without sacrificing intensity and challenge.