Tradition of big-band anniversary bash continues at the Jazz Kitchen

 

Pianist-bandleader Steve Allee is an amiable institution

Steve Allee remembers having to round up more chairs for his initial appearance at his son David's new club 29 years ago. That was the first sign that the Jazz Kitchen would be drawing from a pool of fans ready for a successor to the Place to Start at the same address, and more distantly to the bevy of bars and nightclubs featuring the music in the halcyon days of Indiana Avenue. The Jazz Kitchen  has been cultivating that public ever since April 1994.

One of those long-gone places was the Hub-Bub, after which Allee named the second piece of a set of originals he led with a first-rate big band Saturday night. The performance was a typical reminder of Allee's ability as a composer-arranger to create a specific atmosphere in his tunes and flesh it out with expert musicians. The tune had a bustling ebb and flow while settling for an energy level appropriate for evoking the heyday of the city's post-war jazz center, chiefly in the black community.

"The Hub-Bub" and "A Prayer for All" were among the Allee compositions I remember from 2021's "Vision and Legacy"  concert, and they were conspicuous during the second set of the anniversary celebration. On the latter piece, which Allee introduced as a hopeful response to the pandemic that he wrote during the worst crisis period a couple of years ago, Sophie Faught again contributed a penetrating solo. She was eager to start, and there was an amusing couple of false rises from her chair during an out-of-tempo introduction. But after a fervent bass solo from Jeremy Allen, it was indeed her turn to shine.

The solo was intense and well-shaped. Along with her turn in the equally passionate "Truth Be Told," this solo would be a good candidate for transcription, subject to study by up-and-coming musicians. And "Truth Be Told" was the most far-reaching of Allee's arrangements, opening with a moody soundscape featuring muted trumpets and vibraphonist Rusty Burge bowing his instrument and adding other percussive decoration before the piece took off at a blistering pace. Besides Faught's superb outing, there was a welcome slow-burning solo from guitarist Sandy Williams.

The set ended with a colorful tone poem that memorializes a risky bus ride Allee took years ago between two cities in Belize, South America. "Bus to Belmopan," as arranged for big band from its quartet original, expands on the conception of an overcrowded public vehicle on treacherous roads, whose passengers included barnyard fowl. It featured a nicely raucous Chip McNeill solo on tenor sax. The performance was launched with an unaccompanied evocation of rattletrap transportation by Steve Houghton (whose mastery was consistent throughout the set) on tom-toms. 

McNeill was also an apt soloist (along with Williams) on a nostalgic piece called "Mickleyville," after the west-side neighborhood where Allee would visit his grandparents long ago. The nostalgia was laid on tastefully; without sentimentality, this was the kind of music any grandparent might love. 

A few arrangements relieved the headlong impact of the saxophone section by having some players turn to flute and clarinet, as on the wistful "Freedom." Jeff Conrad was a standout for his flugelhorn solo. Other longtime Allee associates got their say early, as baritone saxophonist Ned Boyd warbled with subterranean passion on "Three Hip Mice," with a characteristically deft, saucy followup by trumpeter Joey Tartell.

Throughout the set, Allee was  ingratiating in his remarks from the stage and faithfully acknowledged the soloists. The only thing missing was an introduction of the whole band at the end. Everyone deserved to be named out loud before an audience that clearly appreciated every note.

[Photo by Mark Sheldon]