Jim Butler 4
February 2, 2025
Sometime
Jim Butlerジム・バトラー alto sax
Dennis Lambertデニス・ランバートpiano
Joe Ledsamジョー・レッドサム electric bass
Blackie Kurodaブラッキー・黒田 drums
This tight-set, hard-swinging quartet sprinkled soft ballads through their first set, but even those were full of resonance and driving rhythms. “Love at First Sight,” Butler’s original, and the standard “My Romance” featured the nuanced tones of Butler’s sax and the delicate phrasing of Lambert. They have a great connection that fills out every song.
Kuroda was also a constant presence, adding touches of cymbals and soft textures to drive the band into faster gear on tunes like the Herbie Hancock number “Butterfly.” With pulsing bass from Ledsam, “Butterfly” caught fire, and everyone in the band kept pushing the modal boundaries as far as they would go.
“Incompatibiliade de Genios” from Joao Bosco was the right Brazilian number to close out the set. It was a great sing-along that had the audience singing. No one needed to know the Portuguese words—the audience sang the notes. And with the right feeling of saudade, melancholy, longing, beautiful.
The second set kicked off with “Perseverance,” a strong tune taken from Lambert and Butler’s CD of the same name. Written by Lambert, it sounded fresh and cool but with an openness to muscular solos, appealing on multiple levels.
I’m not sure how to write up the second song of the second set except to say it’s based on a character in my novels, “Detective Hiroshi” (I’m also a novelist). Butler’s been a fan of the books and decided to write a tune that captured the novels wonderfully. It’s a mid-tempo number played with a deep groove from Ledsam, tight cymbal work from Kuroda, and marvelous solos from Lambert and Butler. I felt honored.
From that film noir score to African rhythms was a switch-up, but the third song by Femi Kuti, “You Better Ask Yourself,” was a marvelous blend of African rhythms, jazz harmonies, and great solos from everyone. The standard, “Peacocks,” allowed everyone to show off lovely playing on a beautiful number. The solos were drenched in thoughtfulness and a special attention to the lushness of tone.
The upbeat “Boogety Boogety,” written by Kenny Garrett, closed out the set with a rollicking, joyous number that had the audience calling for an encore. “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” was just the right song to close the evening, played with upbeat joy and a clap-along beat. It was the kind of show you don’t want to finish.
