Bob DeVos serves jazz al fresco, with a twist

by Zan Stewart/The Star-Ledger

In his first set Thursday at Watchung Plaza in Montclair, the engaging guitarist and composer Bob DeVos offered a spiffy arrangement of Wes Montgomery's vibrant "Twisted Blues." Play with that title a bit, and you might come up with DeVos' current aesthetic thrust within the guitar-organ-drums genre: blues with a twist.

DeVos has been steeped in the blues for years, via tenures with such master organists as Charles Earland and Jimmy McGriff. But he also seeks a modern viewpoint in his compositions, where such giants as Wayne Shorter and Claude Debussy serve as inspirations. So his blues and their variants have a distinctive, forward-looking air, which he's presented on his two Savant CDs, 2006's "Shifting Sands" and last year's "Playing for Keeps."

At Watchung Plaza DeVos dug into music from those CDs, and other selections -- all presented with panache. His top-tier colleagues comprised Hammond B-3 organist Dan Kostelnik of Newton, who plays on the Savant CDs, drummer Payton Crossley, and guest tenor saxophonist and flutist Jed Levy.

The opening "Pause for Fred's Claws," from "Playing for Keeps," exemplified DeVos' compositional stance. The theme, played over a zesty Crossley shuffle beat buoyed by Kostelnik's fat chords, had both simplicity -- in its deep blues feeling -- and complexity, where quickly alternating notes gave a shimmering quality. After two choruses, DeVos delivered a second theme in another key, adding further interest.

DeVos' solo emphasized his strengths as an improviser. He played with a round, warm sound, where all notes were heard clearly and had a sure-footed swing. His ideas ran from plain, meaty blues thoughts to fast runs with a song-like sense. Kostelnik and Crossley kept the heat turned on with their enticing accompaniment.

Tenorman Levy boasted a full tone, and like the guitarist, was tuneful in his blues tales, his lines full of alluring details, with some Coltrane-isms adding a contemporary heft. Kostelnik scored with his rich-to-bright tones, his funky packages, and his robust chordal passages.

"Shifting Sands," heard in the second set, was another challenging DeVos original that sounded simple. The slow and steamy blues had harmonic movements that kept the soloists on their toes. Still, these talented, schooled musicians played it with grace and grit.