Originality and internal rapport: Sean Imboden brings his new band to JAM celebration

Sean Imboden (upper left) led a new group.

Sean Imboden has displayed his remarkable gift for composition and leadership of large-ensemble jazz, so great things could be expected out of his appearance Friday night heading a new sextet. The group was part of an intensification of special programming at the Jazz Kitchen to help put across Jazz Appreciation Month locally in a way only the city's principal venue for the music can do. 

It's rewarding to hear new ensemble jazz with well-distributed solos set in the midst of structures that do more than nail down the "head" at the beginning and end of a string of solos. The sextet offered a generous set playing such music, with John Raymond on trumpet, Joel Tucker on guitar, Cassius Goens III on drums, Nick Tucker on bass and Steve Allee on piano.

There were also unusual shifts of meter and more than the usual rhythmic complexity. Yet it was all very attractive at first hearing and didn't require deeper understanding of how it was put together in order to come across well. I was fascinated by the interludes separating solos in "Portal Passage," for instance, an Imboden original placed in between two others from his workshop: "Fire Spirit" and "Above the Acorn Trees." 

The way the rhythm section was mixed in an early episode of "Fire Spirit" sounded blurry, but otherwise all the strands were clear, and the internal compatibility jelled quickly throughout. Each musician seemed ready to set his solo in context: Allee's calm, chordal solo in "Portal Passage" had just the right reflective touch, and Raymond's solo after the leader's in Gilad Hekselman's "Verona"  was brilliantly put together, with a combination of florid and impactful phrases that brought Randy Brecker to mind. The brothers Tucker were front and center (with Allee and Raymond sitting out) during a quartet rendition of Pat Metheny's "Last Train Home."

Goens got a chance to unleash tumult as Metheny's "Bright Size Life" got started against a bass-and-guitar pattern. During Raymond's understated solo, there was ample chance to admire the drummer's sensitive accompanying. Goens' show of power at the start seemed just as fitting as the way he enhanced what his colleagues were doing in their solo turns.

The set ended with a catchy Imboden original, "The Closer," whose infectious melody and rhythmic zest suggested it could be adapted for festive dancing in the street. But for sitting-down pleasure in a packed club, it made for a wonderful finale to an exhibition of some of the best in original local jazz.

[Photos by Rob Ambrose]