{"id":3725,"date":"2012-06-10T22:46:06","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T05:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=3725"},"modified":"2012-06-10T22:49:35","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T05:49:35","slug":"bobby-shew-quartet-at-tulas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2012\/06\/bobby-shew-quartet-at-tulas\/","title":{"rendered":"Bobby Shew Quartet At Tula’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Bobby Shew played a one-nighter Saturday evening in his brief tour of the Pacific Northwest. The gig at Tula\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/a> in Seattle launched in slight confusion over the introduction the rhythm section played to the first tune, Victor Young\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beautiful Love.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It did not match what Shew had in mind. He halted the proceedings and offered the packed house a wry explanation, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is jazz. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to know what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

There was a brief conference that consisted mainly of head nods. Pianist Bill Anschell,\"\"<\/a> bassist Phil Sparks and drummer Matt Jorgensen started over. Nationally known members of Seattle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jazz community, they and Shew set about belying his claim about the unimportance of expertise. Playing flugelhorn, Shew and his accompanists \"\"<\/a>locked up in a close relationship that continued through three sets. When \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Beautiful Love”ended, Shew said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nice rhythm section, huh?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d In support and in solo, all three were in splendid form all night long.<\/p>\n

Among the highlights:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Shew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dancing trumpet solo on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fungi Mamma,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a sunny Caribbean piece by his late friend and frequent big band section mate Blue Mitchell.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 His interval leaps and depth of tone in a passionate treatment of Billy Strayhorn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lush Life.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shew spoke about his love for ballads. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153People think it must be easy to play them because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re slower,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, you just get in deeper trouble.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d If there was trouble, it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t audible.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Intriguing playing by all hands on Randy Aldcroft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s multifarious \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Breakfast Wine,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a piece Shew told the audience he has played hundreds of times. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I keep finding surprises in it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was the title tune of a 1985 Shew album<\/a> that is in serious need of reissuing.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Darn That Dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as a medium-fast bossa nova nudged along by the subtleties of Jorgensen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canny Brazilianisms.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Trumpeter Thomas Marriott sitting in for three tunes. On \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just Friends\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s exchanges\"\"<\/a> of four-bar phrases with his former student morphed into a chorus of simultaneous improvisation so logical that it sounded like written counterpoint.<\/p>\n

Around midnight, most of the audience had drifted away. A handful of Seattle musicians lingered at the bar. Shew took \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Body and Soul\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at a medium clip and the flugel far, far above the staff with lyricism and no sense of strain or sacrifice of tone. Finally he brought Marriott back to the stand to end the evening transacting serious blues business; several choruses of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Walkin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with passionate solos by all hands. When it ended, the band stood grinning at one another as if they had achieved something.<\/p>\n

They had.<\/p>\n

No video or audio is available from Shew\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evening at Tula\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, so we’ll settle\u00e2\u20ac\u201dgladly\u00e2\u20ac\u201d for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Breakfast Wine\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from that 28-year-old out-of-print LP.<\/p>\n