Little Ditties

 

Busy weekend, punctuated by a lot of televised football, some overdue social outings, and a couple of superbly slippery jazz gigs. At the Jazz Standard on Friday, I caught an early set by Joshua Redman, with Matt Penman on bass and Greg Hutchinson on drums. It began with a medley of Blackbirds, shifting allusions from the Beatles to Miles Davis, and went on to include a couple of pieces from Compass, his most recent CD. (The release party was on Inauguration Day.)

For those newer tunes, Redman had the luxury of a nearly complete Double Trio, thanks to a guest turn by bassist Reuben Rogers. I especially enjoyed how “Little Ditty” progressed from sweet simplicity to heady complexity, with a soprano solo over an impressively fluid 29/8 groove (parsed 6 + 7 + 7 + 5 + 4). I was just as happy to hear “Chill,” which Redman played with Hutch and Rogers, even if it always makes me nostalgic for the 1990s quartet with Brad Mehldau. (Incidentally, Redman did feature some piano during a Thursday set, according to Josh Jackson of WBGO.)

The other serious jazz gig of the weekend was by Henry Threadgill’s Zooid at Roulette on Sunday. Much more on this soon; stay tuned.