| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: The Kenny Werner Trio | |
| Mike -- 08/13/2004, 00:48:02 -- #6472 | |
| was amazing last night perforing at a jazz festival on Cape Cod. Kenny Werner is on fire right now and simply a hell of a lot of fun to witness in action. I knew he was great from recordings, but live I have never seen a piano player have more fun than him. He burned everything up and was amognst the most versatile pianists I have heard. He played some amazing Bach while giving the rest of the trio a break. There were some things that people in the forum did would not like... He played walking bass lines a couple of times. His walking left hand was blistering fast and clean. This can not be something he does rarely. 'Didnt sound corney to me, nor any one else in the audience who gave the standing O after one sampling on his own tune called "Amonkst". Amazing enough he also played the fastest cleanest stride piano I have ever heard live on one tune. He also quoted some other players like Coltrane at length a few times, so I guess some here would have preferred to go home and listen to a record at that point. He also made every noise while playing imaginable. He grunted, groaned, howled, whistled, and sometimes sang like two or three words and then stoped singing again. | |
| time to talk -- 08/13/2004, 03:35:31 -- #6476 | |
| hi all not trying to start an argument or anything (i suppose different pianists use different tools) i had the enormouse privilege of seeing the Monty Alexander Trio last night (at ronnie scots; london) he only played about 30 seconds of walking bass lines during both of his sets,(but then again i have heard that he can play completely different from one night to another), but , he also did alot of grunting groaning, howling, even suddenly started to sing during 2 of the numbers, he was amazingly fun playing everything from reggae, nursery rhymes, classical, latin, calypso, pop and more in his improvisations and brought the house down, he was all over the piano and seem to break all the rules of what i thought trio was, i had only heard about this guy but, i was completely blow away by him. i've never heard anything remotely negative about kenny werner so if he comes to london i'll pay the earth to see him (i haven't seen many pianist and never imagined they could have so much fun on the piano)... (thanks for the review mike) | |
| Mike -- 08/13/2004, 04:20:37 -- #6477 | |
| wow, Id love to catch Monty too... He is high on my list of Pianist I want to see. One thing is for sure you only get a faint idea of what Kenny Werner is like from his recordings.... Ya gotta get out there and hear people live. | |
| johnq -- 08/13/2004, 05:25:28 -- #6479 | |
| I was in Paris for a long weekend last October and beforehand thought I'd check what was on in the Jazz type of thing. To my surprise Paris Jazz festival was on and the Kenny Werner Trio was on as part of it. We went to the gig and it was a really great. I too had never seen him live but I was well impressed. They were video recording it too that night so I guess it might show up somewhere. It was a great day musically. An orgna recitla in Notre Dame cathedral in the afternoon and then this great gig. | |
| Dr. Whack -- 08/13/2004, 13:49:22 -- #6487 | |
| reminds me of my first Yellowjackets live concert...if ya ever get a chance...these guys are fabulous... I had enjoyed listening to their records but never was really "into" them that much until a friend asked me to go to concert...man I was blown away! I had never heard 4 guys play together as beautifully as these guys...(back when Marc Russo was in the band - nowadays Bob Mintzer plays with em - last I checked) blah blah blah...just check people out live, they are usually much better... | |
| Scot -- 08/13/2004, 16:30:04 -- #6492 | |
| I saw Kenny Werner trio two or three years ago at the Port Townsend jazz festival and wasn't turned on that much. I thought his music was really really polished, and I don't like that in jazz. One of the great things about Monty Alexander, one of my top three favorite pianists (Chick Corea is another), is that he is all about keeping it loose enough to have fun, but keeping it virtuostic enough to be really really tight. Monty and a local guy named Walt Wagner really showed me the light when it comes to running a trio the way that works best for me and gives me the most satisfaction. Don't get me wrong- Kenny Werner is an amazing pianist and musician! I just like things a little bit looser than I've seen/heard him play them. It's almost like his stuff is over-rehearsed. Time to Talk- I'm glad you got to see Monty. He has been ON FIRE lately. Three or four months ago I had the pleasure of seeing Monty in Seattle. I've seen monty about a dozen times now and this latest concert was by far the best I've ever seen Monty play. He's really on top of things these days. He was wearing cowboy clothing and playing with his long time friend Robert Thomas Jr. on the hand drums, and a couple of other great players on the drums and bass. I recorded it and it still sounds great. You probably noticed how Monty really lives for getting the crowd into it- the more response, the better the music, and a great circle of energy is created. The Seattle show I mentioned ended, get this, with the whole audience singing Home on the Range with Monty. You KNOW it had to be a great show when it went over two hours late and the crowd sang Home On The Range at the end :) | |
| Micah -- 08/13/2004, 16:42:36 -- #6493 | |
| Oh man, I saw Monty in Seattle three or four months ago too (Jazz Alley). Had a great time - my friend and I got to sit *right in front* of Robert and Monty. Talk about being blown away. I love any killer pianist that isn't afraid to cover old country songs (I got a kick out of Ghostriders in the Sky) or randomly bust out a melodica. It's a pretty colorful reminder that music isn't just "all about the music" ... there's also a thing called "style" that can make for a really, really good time. | |
| Mike -- 08/13/2004, 16:54:57 -- #6494 | |
| Kenny must have changed since you saw him Scot cause he was loose as can be the other night. Him and the drummer really just about about rocked out all night. It was reminiscent often of Allman brothers jams... Just all out full force give and take jams between Kenny and the drummer. | |
| Jazz+ -- 08/13/2004, 23:12:35 -- #6498 | |
| Kenny has been very free the ten times I have seen him with Toots Thielemans. He has moments of total brilliance and plays with complete abandon. He covers many styles. At other times he looks tense and maybe less into it. I rememember Kenny played so outside on one solo piano interlude that Toots leaned over to the microphone and said "It sounds like the pianist is drunk" meaning it was so unusual and out there. Kenny is very much into free music, which is not rehearsed; it's very spontaneous. It's one of the themes of his book and he has an Abersold play-along titled "Free Play." | |
| Jazz+ -- 08/13/2004, 23:16:54 -- #6499 | |
| I was a big Monty fan too when I was younger. I liked his stuff he did in the 70's and 80's. He reminds me of a Jamaican Oscar Peterson-Gene Harris. He is perhaps funkier than Peterson and Harris and certainly more of a Latin player. He used to be a great crowd pleaser as can be heard on "Montreaux Alexander." | |
| Sam -- 08/15/2004, 10:34:04 -- #6517 | |
| "He also quoted some other players like Coltrane at length a few times, so I guess some here would have preferred to go home and listen to a record at that point." Are you referring to the debate we had over whether it's appropriate to offer suggestions to other musicians when they post their music in a forum like this? That was almost a year ago, and I'm certain I've done nothing since to warrant continued snide remarks. As it happens, I agree with you that musical quotation can be an effective technique, if used in proper context. | |
| Mike -- 08/15/2004, 16:33:50 -- #6522 | |
| no I was not refering to a debate. I was refering to a fact that at one time you considered quotation of Coltrane improvisations worthy of critisism. Was refering to the fact that Kenny Werner did this. Was warning that anyone that felt as you did may not enjoy his concerts and in fact may prefer to stay home and listen to records. | |
| tomwrush -- 08/15/2004, 19:27:44 -- #6526 | |
| I just got back from watching the Kenny Werner Trio perform. They have an amazing energy, their music was beautiful yet also very disturbing and slightly unsettling. Kenny brought me on the verge of tears on several of his ballads, and even on an uptempo piece he was just so lyrical. Yet despite all the spiritual momentum and beauty I found their music to be at times inaccessible, one piece in particular had such intricate time feel changes and odd phrased rhythms that I was stunned, I was too busy trying to decipher the music that had just been played to listen to what was being played. Above all though, Kenny has an incredible mastery of the keyboard, many times I felt like he was speaking through the piano. His lyricism is so powerful it is frightening, he just delivered the intense messages one after another, there seemed to be no end to his resources. Speaking of resourceful, Ari Hoenig has a professional level of enthusiasm that I've only seen matched (on percussion) by Wilby Fletcher (currently kicking the Mack Avenue All Stars). Ari would often begin playing the most interesting noise makers, all to help create the very incredible group sound. His kit was expanded tonight by everything within reach, that included mics, mic stands, the floor, monitors, various mounts. He also played his entire kit with his hands during Horace Silver's "peace." I stress though, that despite the possibility of novelty his playing was always musical. Anyways if you get a chance to see this group live, please do and let me know what you think. peace, tom | |
| time to talk -- 08/16/2004, 03:49:20 -- #6536 | |
| talking of being on the verge of tears a couple of the ballads nearly caught me out one of the ballads monty played was "over the rainbow" i just sat there with my jaw dropped to the floor and actually had to hold the tears back. we were also sat very near to the band so could see everything monty was doing, they played a version of bob marley's "no woman no cry" increadible... he also played another ballad which i've heard but don't know the name of.. i don't usually use the word colour but that's the only way i can describe what i heard the colours were so warm. at one point during the concert he even took out a small mouth organ and started to play reggae rythms while the bassist and drummer continued to accompany him, that was a bit shocking for us rather reserved english folk.. somehow even though i am moving slowly in one direction (trying to stay disciplined) hearing him play gave me much food for though... | |
| Gordon -- 08/16/2004, 06:48:12 -- #6538 | |
| I just checked out Kenny's website http://www.kennywerner.com/ and the Author's Note to his Effortless Mastery book provided some very interesting reading that ties in well with some of the above comments. Also, if anyone has recommendations for of his albums, I'd be most grateful. | |
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