![\"pdx-kuhn](\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/pdx-kuhn-by-sheldon-4852.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nKuhn followed with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Two By 2,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a blues with altered harmonies, the title tune from his 2007 duo album<\/a> with bassist Steve Swallow. Then came \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Blue Bossa\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by trumpeter Kenny Dorham, the first name musician to hire the young pianist in the early \u00e2\u20ac\u02dc60s. Kuhn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unaccompanied out-of-tempo introduction was a high point of the set. He told the audience about the importance to his development of the eight weeks he His dreadlocks contrasting with his impeccable business suit and sensible shoes, Phillips played Billy Eckstine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I Want to Talk About You\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. P.C.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The choice of tunes was intended as a tribute to Coltrane. It was effective on that basis, but the guest shot with Kuhn also served to provide a major showcase for a young player of considerable potential. A favorite in his new hometown, Phillips stimulated substantial applause and cheering. Perhaps even more rewarding, he earned a smile from the Phillips departed to long applause and the trio played Henry Mancini\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Slow Hot Wind, which Kuhn laced with the flurries of 16th note triplets that have become one of his signatures. He played the piece out with a slow cool ending that subsided into a natural fade. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stella By Starlight\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was an exercise in \n Next time: wrapping up the festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steve Kuhn’s Portland festival edition of his trio teamed the pianist with his longtime collaborator Joey Baron on drums and Buster Williams playing bass. The flow of Kuhn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s melodic lines, the density of his harmonies and his assured swing established him long since as one of the major trio pianists in modern jazz. The humor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4498","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a> spent in John Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quartet in 1960, then introduced a musician heavily influenced by Coltrane. Tenor saxophonist Devin Phillips is a New Orleanian who moved to Portland following Hurricane Katrina. He has made his mark in Oregon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s jazz community. <\/p>\n<\/a> veteran Williams for his up-tempo playing on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. P.C.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kuhn sat out Phillips\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 first choruses of the famous blues, then entered with stealth and began increasing his power through several choruses. That set up Williams for a complex bass solo ending with his simply walking the 4\/4 time. That, in turn, introduced a round of four-bar exchanges between Phillips and Baron, leading into the final statement of the theme. It was a stimulating performance, crafted on the fly by four canny musicians. <\/p>\n<\/a> reflection, rich with deep harmonies. Kuhn closed with two of his best-known compositions. For \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Trance,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Baron produced red and green rods, using them to etch shimmers, splashes and whispers of sound behind Kuhn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s solo and a mesmerizing Williams bass improvisation. In the fast waltz \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oceans in the Sky,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kuhn achieved the unique intensity that gifted players can generate in “\u00be time. He built the feeling into a platform upon which Williams and Baron constructed what became not so much a duet as a mutual solo, two minds joining as one. Then Baron executed a long, melodic statement full of suspensions, silences and pauses. It was wizardry at the end of a magical set. <\/p>\n