By
David
A. Orthmann
Bob
DeVos
The
Turning Point
Cafe
Piermont, New York
May 12, 2008
A seventy-five minute opening set at
The Turning Point Cafe featured mostly selections from DeVos' two recent
Savant releases, (2006) and Playing For Keeps (2007). The trio, plus guest
saxophonist John Richmond, displayed an exemplary rapport, knowing when to
mix it up and when to stay out of one another's way, but not without
taking some risks, as when Kostelnik inserted brash substitutions for the
original chords on the bridge of DeVos' nifty soul-jazz line, “Pause For
Fred's Claws.”
DeVos is a masterful jazz guitarist who
prefers to beckon the listener to join him on the musical quest rather
than overemphasize technique and velocity. Something ardent always stirs
beneath a somewhat cool, calculated surface. From the onset of a solo on
Cole Porter's “So In Love,” he produced a full- bodied tone and
sounded logical, direct, and unflappable even while executing complex
single note runs at a fast tempo. An intensely swinging improvisation on
Victor Young's ballad “My Foolish Heart” never strained for effect,
structuring meaningful and lyrical statements in a very concise manner.
The subtle shifts in rhythmic emphasis that are an essential part of DeVos'
work were especially evident throughout “And So It Goes.”
Not a thrill machine, Kostelnik shuns
the typical Hammond organ cliches in favor of constructing solos that come
off as complete statements. He often cultivates phrases by weighing and
turning them over until satisfied before moving on to another set. For
example, the organist began his “So In Love” solo by briefly galloping
across the keyboard, making sense of some choppy phrases, then executing
bounding Latin lines and extended chordal passages. He came out swinging
hard on John Lewis' “Afternoon In Paris,” picking out brief melodies,
quoting Bud Powell's “Parisian Thoroughfare,” and connecting some odd
leaping lines.
The most extroverted member of the
trio, Johns, with his slashing cymbals and decisive fills between the
snare and toms, added heat and grit to the proceedings. A thematic solo on
“And So It Goes” featured, in the midst of a conventional ride cymbal
rhythm, cutting snare drum accents, swinging abstract figures broken up by
single hits to the bass drum, and gleeful rumbling trips around the set.
Richmond joined the trio for three of
the set's seven selections, his muscular tenor saxophone sound enlivening
the samba take on “My Foolish Heart.” Big imposing phrases, a
smattering of bebop runs, and blues licks were all integrated within the
architecture of his solo. His turn during “Three/Four Miss C” swung
firmly and directly, especially when he played variations of a long
cutting run. The saxophonist's range of articulations and sounds
throughout “Afternoon In Paris” was colorful, diverse and expressive.
He gripped one note tightly and then bent it; then he executed a long
wavering scream; finally, he worked through a series of phrases that
became gradually longer and more pointed, seeming to land dead center on
their target.
