Vibraphonist Steve Nelson at Ann Arbor’s Blue LLama
We met at the Blue LLama Jazz Club on Main St. in Ann Arbor for the late show on May 14 to hear Steve Nelson, one of our favorite vibraphonists. It was good to see a nice cohort of young people, most likely jazz students, sitting with anticipation close to the stage while some of our jazz luminaries, who had heard the earlier set, sat against the back wall. Nelson came on stage and immediately launched into “Minority,” the classic Gigi Gryce tune from the 1950s, romping with pure joy through the familiar changes. The pickup quartet, well warmed up during the first set, was so well locked in that one would have thought they had been together for years. And indeed, Nelson’s three cohorts are old friends: pianist Matthew Fries, bassist Carlo De Rosa, and drummer Keith Hall are all professors in the Jazz Studies program at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
Nelson was obviously inspired by the attuned professionalism of his partners, who provided a swinging propulsive foundation and stimulated his improvisations by responding inventively to his rhythmic and harmonic explorations. Nelson loves to play ballads, but he reserved his mastery of the genre for only one during this set, exhilarating in Ellington’s “Prelude to a Kiss,” riding on the reserved tasteful yet strong background of the rhythm section. The remaining repertoire for the set consisted of well-worn tunes from across the jazz tradition: from the 1920s, “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” was explored at length with an impressive solo by Fries, a Monk tune (“Well You Needn’t”), a dedication to Nelson’s close friend Mulgrew Miller, and, of course, Milt Jackson’s classic blues “Bags Groove” provided the fare. The surprise of the set was “Sweet and Lovely,” a quirky 1930s tune that at one time was quite popular, recorded by artists as varied as Bing Crosby, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, and even Cecil Taylor, but which seems to have gone out of fashion of late. The musicians clearly enjoyed digging into the harmonic challenges of the tune.
It was wonderful to hear Nelson again and to enjoy the artistry of his Western Michigan collaborators offering a recital of classic modern jazz played with singular passion and authenticity, and one can only hope that the good people at the Llama will bring them all back again soon.
TOP: Steve Nelson and friends
ABOVE: Jessie Kramer, Nick Collins, Rick Roe, Ellen Rowe in attendance
photographs by Piotr Michalowski and Lars Bjorn