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During an incendiary hard-driving set of alto saxophonist Bobby
Watson's quintet Horizon, a broken fire alarm in the Hilton
Hotel sounded repeatedly in what, in retrospect, seemed like a running
commentary on the powerful music. And although the performance showcased
the group's high energy, intensity and technical virtuosity, it
also revealed a fundamental and very soulful sweetness, most notably
in the solo work of Watson and trumpeter Terell Stafford.
This group likes to groove, and groove it did. Its opening piece,
Country Cornflakes, was a bright latin-flavored tune that
began with a repeated riff that alternated with improvised sections;
eventually the rhythm section (with Edward Simon on piano, Essiet
Essiet on bass, and the drummer Victor Lewis, whose unusual kit
included a second snare drum) shifted gears seamlessly into a solid
take-no-prisoners swing. On an alternating foundation of swing and
a latin vamp, the soloists turned up the heat without losing musicality,
no easy feat.
Watson is a commanding mainstream player whose virtuosity is both
tempered and enhanced by a sweetness and grace. Stafford built his
solos well with a good dynamic range as well as a natural flow;
and although the crowd reacted to his brassy high notes, he - like
Watson - didn't allow the exuberance of his solo playing to eclipse
the vehicle of the tune. And Simon was a real asset on Permanoon,
a latin vamp in 7/4 that included a 4/4 section; when Permanoon
segued into The Inventor, he played a piano solo that was
harmonically sophisticated, creative and seated beautifully in the
time. He was also an empathic and inventive accompanist, particularly
behind Stafford's solo on the closing tune, a fast swinger with
an intricate melody built on the harmony of a four-bar vamp.
In a quieter, less intense mode, Watson rearranged a jazz standard.
After the first two melody notes of the great Duke Ellington ballad
I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good, Watson played the rest
of the first four bar phrase up a half-step with altered harmony,
before returning to the original key. But once that re-harmonized
melody was stated, this rendition still featured Horizon's
penchant for an infectious groove: the solos of Watson and Stafford
(with plunger) were alternating two-bar exchanges built on simple
vamps rather than the more complex harmony of Ellington's tune,
and the whole tune was played in a slow blues-inflected groove.
A tight and well-rehearsed unit, the band members of Horizon
- both in their expert musicianship as well as their body language
- connected with their receptive audience. And Watson's sweet -
almost shy - demeanor and slight stature provided a wonderfully
attractive counterpoint to the extraordinary firepower of his musicianship.
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