It may seem a little cruel to talk to you about a band that has only been on stage once and presumably will never be heard from again, but there is a reason.
On a hot August night in Ferrara, after just an hour spent at a pizzeria table, a group is formed under the name of the Chilean saxophonist, now a naturalized American, Melissa Aldana.
But Melissa is more of a primus inter pares: in fact, her companions, in addition to not having shared the stage with her on other occasions, are musicians with strong personalities and individualities and above all who have followed paths that are significantly different from that of the tenor player from Chile. This time too, the Jazz Club Ferrara has done a good job of hunting among the teachers of the Siena Jazz seminars that have just ended.
Micah Thomas and a young pianist we have mentioned in passing in the past. Bad, because he is a musician of great depth who, from his first rehearsals under his name, has demonstrated a decidedly unconventional personality, also the result of an unconventional and atypical education.
The credential likely to give him the greatest notoriety is that of his stable militia in the great quartet of Immanuel Wilkins of which he is the backbone and strongly characterizes the physiognomy of the group: we will see them again in October on tour around Italy (again Ferrara, Rome and Milan).
To complete a quartet “without a safety net” it was essential to count on a rhythm of absolute solidity and flexibility: perfect for the purpose were bassist Thomas Morgan, an increasingly frequent presence in our latitudes, and on drums our Enrico Morello, who like other young colleagues of the same generation is wisely filling his carnet with important international collaborations and also in situations with a high potential for randomness, as in this case.
In a jam session without any pre-ordained lineup it is obvious that the musicians oriented themselves towards solid standards, but mainly drawn from rather modern repertoire: I remember an inevitable Monk (I think a ‘Pannonica’…), then a precious ‘Lush Life’ by the unforgettable Billy Strayhorn. But often the themes were called with simple references to the initial chords, on which the other partners quickly converged, immediately starting the development and postponing a complete exposition to the finale.
Melissa therefore had to put aside her recent and all-consuming Shorterian crush, which however left visible traces in the soft and sumptuous timbre, which was well matched with a languid and sensual phrasing, very old fashioned.
Aldana’s is a gentle sax, well-tuned with a discreet leadership: her phrasing has never known overexposure and overlapping with the rest of the group. In short, a democratic leader who has left ample space for her companions while managing to maintain the cohesion of such an impromptu ensemble, moreover venturing into a completely improvised repertoire. You will be able to see her play at home with her group in October, when she will also be passing through Italy.
I do not deny that I had great expectations for the appearance of Micah Thomas, who had already escaped me a couple of years ago in a fascinating combination with Ambrose Akinmusire (last minute cancellation…
I have developed my own little theory about pianists: when one of them manages to stand out and attract attention already in the mere accompaniment phase, it means that we are in the presence of someone very special. This is the case with Micah: clear and sharp chords, always somehow open and unresolved, introduce a constant tension into his accompaniment. The result is a propulsive instability that reminds me a lot of Alexander Hawkins in a similar role.
In solo Micah shows off a nervous phrasing, with a barely outlined melodic design thanks also to a light and calibrated touch: wise pauses give essentiality and grit to the course of fleeting and subtly divergent lines. In a word, live the bar goes up several notches compared to the brilliant recordings under his name.
His contribution clearly affects the fabric of the group, and the contrast with the sensuality of Aldana’s sax is also very happy: perhaps this couple should not dance just one summer, as a beautiful Swedish film from many years ago said.
Naturally this loose weave also requires a plot, and a solid one at that. Morgan’s bass provides for this purpose, with its clear and measured gait, based on a powerful and full-bodied sound, which almost forcefully imposes itself on the balance of the group. It compensates for Morello’s usual lightness and careful subtlety of timbre: his pulsating and feverish drumming in one of his valuable solos was however punctuated by some greater and more marked accents on the drums, perhaps in the previous days he must have listened to a lot of Art Blakey…
The acrobatics without a safety net fascinate the audience, which responds with an attentive listening that fearlessly challenges the lively sound environment of the Parco Coletta – once again the very active and nocturnal Ferrarese childhood: but after about 90 intense minutes our acrobats leave the trapeze and come back down to the ground. They may have danced only one summer night, but the memory will last much longer…
