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The Journey is Just as Exciting as The Destination
When Emmet Cohen’s trio played last Sunday for the Santa Barbara Jazz Society event at SOhO, their fresh takes on classic standards kept everyone on their toes – not only the enthusiastic audience but even the stellar musicians looked amused by the spontaneity of where their tunes were taking us!
There can be no doubt that these three young jazz artists – Pianist Emmet Cohen, Upright Bassist Russell Hall, and Drummer Kyle Poole – are gifted masters on their own instruments. Yet it is the synergy of this group, plus their creative segues between familiar jazz pieces, which really sets them apart from other fine piano trios who may cover these same traditional tunes.
Leader Emmet Cohen might introduce a tune like After You’ve Gone with a bouncy Harlem Stride, but once joined by Russell and Kyle the three instruments took equal part in contributing to the balance of the group, as they were all ears listening, creating, reacting, changing on the spot. Certain rhythmic pulses were initiated by drummer Kyle Poole – a tune might morph between a 3/4 Someday My Prince Will Come into Bill Evan’s Waltz For Debby (which had a section of a waltz/mambo thrown in for good measure) before Emmet changed the tune into a 4/4 medium swing, just before breaking into a rousing up tempo version of If I Were A Bell. And that was all one exciting connected road trip as we were having a great time not knowing where we were going!
There were salutes to influential pianists and their trios: Ahmad Jamal (known for his equal balance between piano/bass/drums) was quoted with his famous version of Poinciana, Erroll Garner’s sassy split personality between his steady left hand 4-to-a-bar strum and rippling behind-the-beat right hand (plus Garner’s penchant for playing mysterious intros that kept his bassist and drummer guessing what tune was up next) made his presence felt especially during the second set. A nod from this group went out as Duke Ellington’s famous ballad Sophisticated Lady morphed into pianist Red Garland’s Trio when they performed a rapid take of Red’s signature tune Billy Boy. Admittedly Cohen said the group is also influenced by pianist Cedar Walton’s Trio – for when Cohen asked for what tune the drummer wished to play they launched into Walton’s composition Bremond’s Blues.
The Emmet Cohen Trio really brought out some old chestnuts such as Satin Doll with a dynamic vamp ending building for about 20 minutes before Intermission – yet it was played so well I don’t think any seasoned pianist in the house was even a bit bored to hear this familiar request again! We got treated to a mysterious ride when bassist Russell Hall got to select his featured tune of choice with a solo up front. Where was he going? What tune were they going to play? It ended up being a danceable Latin take on Tea For Two… the verse came after the audience almost rose to their feet to sway along, and then somehow it wove into a more heartfelt version of You’ve Changed.
The journey which Cohen, Hall, and Poole took us on that day included not only a show of impressive jazz chops but also substantial doses of humor with this trio throwing in bits of playful scat singing, and a funny vocal version with winks and grins of the old Armstrong hit, I Get Ideas.
Yes, The Emmet Cohen Trio definitely has ideas. Great ones!
-Debbie Denke with Natalie Wilson
Photos by Mark McDonald