Benny Green\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Ystad Theater concert previewed music the pianist is preparing for his next record. His trio played some of Green\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new pieces for the first time, giving the set an air of discovery and, A contingent of young listeners toward the front of the theater seemed transfixed by Green, who is 49 but, even with the beard he has sported lately, looks at least 15 years younger. The pianist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s technique is formidable. He could probably execute Hiromi-style pyrotechnics, but in Coming out of Wolfe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s solo on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Asphalt Shuffle\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, all of the players laughed, evidently at something he played. It was not the only time during the concert that the three reacted to inside information. It happened during \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Golden Flamingo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with its powerful Ben Wolfe solo. The trio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s camaraderie seemed to draw the audience in. <\/p>\n CHINA MOSES AND IKIZ<\/strong><\/p>\n The singer China Moses appeared with Ikiz, a Swedish quintet led by DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Benny-Green.jpg\" "\\"Benny")
<\/a>occasionally, of a rehearsal. A few seconds into a fast tune titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Flying Saucer,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Green declared a false start, called a halt, counted off a new tempo and started over. Following the opening melody chorus he got fully into the performance, legs angling away from the piano to the right, upper body leaning to his left, cranking up the swing, grinning![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Ben-Wolfe.jpg\" "\\"Ben")
<\/a> at bassist Ben Wolfe and drummer Rodney Green. Among Green\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new compositions, the lively \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cactus Flower\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Priestess,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a ballad, have the potential to become standards. <\/p>\n<\/a>the tradition of his bebop forbears his focus at any speed is on the development of narrative lines. One of his heroes was Sonny Clark, whose name Green made the title of a new tune. Taking the piece at a fast clip, he captured Clark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s essence in the melody and in his improvisation. Rodney Green soloed using wire brushes at blazing speed. <\/p>\n<\/a> Robert Ikiz, a drummer born in Turkey whose music education was at the Swedish Royal Academy. Moses, the daughter of Dee Dee Bridgewater, sings with enthusiasm reminiscent of her mother, blues phrasing and audacity inspired by Dinah Washington and an easy relationship with the band and her audience. At the Ystad Saltsj\u00c3\u00b6bad concert, Moses shared billing and attention with the Ikiz group, which included impressive soloists in trumpeter Carl Olandersson and tenor saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist. <\/p>\n<\/a>
\nAlmqvist is also a featured soloist with the powerful Norrbotten Big Band from the north of Sweden, which backed Bridgewater in her Billie Holiday tribute at the Ystad Theater. For background on Bridgewater\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153To Billie With Love\u00e2\u20ac\u009d project, see this Rifftides<\/em> review<\/a> of her appearance at this year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Portland Jazz Festival. In Portland, working with her quartet, she achieved intimacy and spontaneity. In Ystad, riding on the power of the big band, she reflected more of the Holiday who sang with the Count Basie and Artie Shaw bands than the subtle singer who bonded with Lester Young in the famous Okeh combo recordings. In any case, Bridgewater\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aim is not to imitate her idol but to honor her in a program of pieces associated with Holiday. And so she did, from the opening \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lady Sings the Blues\u00e2\u20ac\u009d through a dozen of Holiday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s signature songs. <\/p>\n