John Ambrosini Quintet
Ambrosini’s quintet brought the heat on this late winter’s night in New York City. The pianist, composer and vocalist has assembled stellar ensembles in the past. At various times, Ambrosini, has shared the stage with such great players as Dave Binney, Mike Moreno, Dan Weiss and Drew Gress, but never has he brought together such a potent group. For the Saturday evening gig, which also served as the debut of Michiko Rehearsal Studios stunning large performance space (room 2), taking the stage were Ambrosini, Jay Anderson (bass), Adam Nussbaum (drums), Ada Rovatti (tenor saxophone) and six time Grammy winner Randy Brecker (trumpet and flugelhorn).
Over the last couple of years, Ambrosini’s musical gifts have been in a state of super nova. It has been a period marked by continuous experimenting with different genres and players. While Ambrosini and Brecker shared the stage at the 2016 Coltrane Day celebration, this was the pianist’s first performance with the other members of the group.
The high-wire-act that is live improvisational jazz is essentially a publically viewed petri-dish, in which new life appears as a merging of styles, sensibilities and respectfully displayed musical chops. On this night, the DNA was teeming. The show was filled with meticulously crafted and improvised sonic textures layered one on top of another and then laid bare only to recombine in different captivating combinations.
From the opening blues inflected twinkle of Miles Davis’ Solar, Ambrosini sent the evening’s high bar of complete emotional immersion followed by relinquishment of the spotlight to the emergent group sensibility. On the same tune, Brecker produced a lovely torrent of gentle pastels punctuated by Rovatti’s short smoky runs. Anderson and Nussbaum brought a melodicism and agility to the driving rhythm section that buoyantly exploited brief openings left by the soloists.
As the evening progressed, the trust and telepathy between the musicians grew, bringing frequent climatic moments and an increasingly enraptured audience. On Rodgers and Hart’s My Romance, Rovatti produced a warm bath of melodic phrasing while Brecker broadened the soundscape with bright figures underneath which transformed into elegant runs of bombast eventually culminating with both players gently leading the group out of the tune.
Ambrosini’s haunting and meditative composition Do the Stars Dream? added complex harmonies to the set with the pianist offering both tranquil and vibrant staccato phrases that informed both his solos and comping. Rovatti’s soloing was exquisite, marked by fluid waterfall runs augmented by the occasional hint of a Coltrane-esque squawk.
As the ensemble’s group mind continued to grow new neural networks, the music was increasingly colored and freshened by a seamless blending of jazz and pop sensibilities. Like Brad Mehldau, Ambrosini has often re-imagined rock songs into the non-linear poetry of jazz. And of course, Brecker, the absolute master of musical hybrids was there with his horn.
Such was the case with Bruce Springsteen’s meditation on futile dreams, Meeting across the River – which Brecker originally played on as well when it was first released on the Born to Run album. Brecker opened the song with an achingly hopeful run of notes that could have served as the intro to a Broadway show, in which, the first blush of music is already telegraphing a dark ending of the tale to be told. Nussbaum’s understated spray on symbols further imbued the quintet’s version with vulnerability. Ambrosini’s lovely vocal gently hovering above and through the lushness of the music deepened the elegantly drawn sense of foreboding.
The closing portion of the performance found the band in full flight. Ambrosini’s tune What I’ve Found and Richard Roger’s Have you Met Miss Jones were particularly stunning. The former was highlighted by nimble bright full bodied soloing by the pianist and a percolating drums and bass interlude. The latter offered inspired turns from all the lead instruments, with Brecker providing a scat flavored nugget on the flugelhorn.
Until recently, Ambrosini has remained a bit under the radar. With performances like the one at Michiko Studios, this is no doubt coming to an end. The democracy of sound created by this ensemble on this night also elevated each of the players individually—perhaps none more than the leader himself.
Michael Block-Long Island Pulse, Block and Blue Reviews, Freelance