My first experience seeing jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding was at the Newport Jazz Festival in 2011, after she had won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. This year, she was booked as part of the jazz trio Allen, Carrington and Spalding. Christian McBride, musical director for the festival, introduced the group and noted that the pianist Geri Allen had died about a month ago. However, the group wanted to play anyway as a tribute to her. To complete the trio, three pianists had agreed to sit in, beginning with Christian Sands, who had just finished playing a set with Christian McBride's Big Band.
On the first song, Esperanza began by singing a high pitched aria and then added her upright bass. Terri Lyne Carrington added polyrhythmic drum parts to drive the music forward. During Spalding's solo, her singing and bass felt like a single well honed unit, the bass driving the bottom and her vocals soaring high above, and all the while interacting with the pushes and prods of the other musicians. This version of the band hit its stride on the second song, which was high speed, straight ahead jazz. Carrington propelled the group forward and added flourishes which reminded me of Elvin Jones. In this setting, Sands played in a more free flowing style than I seen when he was playing in the big band. The communication among the musicians was wonderful here, but begged the question of how it would have sounded if Allen had been there to add her own unique piano sounds.
Here's a view of Spalding and Carrington with Christian Sands in the piano chair.
After the third song, Sands left and Carrington offered some heartfelt words about how much they had enjoyed playing with Geri Allen and how they were offering this day's music as a tribute.
The next pianist to join was Vijay Iyer, fresh off a set played with his own sextet. Piano is an amazingly versatile instrument and Vijay took it to different places. His flowing lines reminded me of the work of Chick Corea and Hiromi. On this song, the structure reminded me of the Steve Swallow song Falling Grace, particularly when Esperanza was soloing over the passing chords and warm major key sounds. Here's a shot with Vijay.
The group played a mix of standards and Allen's own compositions. On The Drumming Song, written by Allen, pianist Jason Moran joined the group. This song had a stark, spare beginning, before evolving into a ballad. Moran played precise flowing arpeggios, leaving space for Esperanza's bass lines and exquisite brush work from Carrington. Moran seemed the most comfortable of the pianists in this unusual context. His playing was supportive and also added color to the alchemy produced by the duo of Spalding and Carrington. Here's another shot of them in action.
Before they finished, Esperanza talked about the ACS band and how they had wanted to play the standards within a trio format. She added that Allen's own compositions fit well and were standards in a sense. She again emphasized that this was a tribute, not just a set of all star jazz trios. The crowd sounded restless and she said, "we've got more for you."
On the final song, all three pianists took turns. Early in the song, Esperanza cut loose on a fast-paced bebop solo and then segued into a melodic line as Christian Sands jumped back in. At this point, it felt like something special was happening. The music was clearly unrehearsed, but replete with energy. Sands stepped aside and Vijay re-joined with his much more vertical piano style. In response, Spalding simplified her bass lines and Carrington banged out fills on her toms. As she shifted to her ride cymbal, Moran took his turn and brought the music back to a bright melodic feel. Here's the trio with Moran playing.
At the end, Esperanza chanted "Thank You, Geri" several times in succession with high energy, reaffirming that what we had just seen was a tribute and made possible by the music and spirit of Ms. Allen, not to mention all of these wonderful musicians. This peformance was one of my favorite moments in the years that I've attended Newport Jazz. Thanks so much to all of the musicians for this special tribute.