During the Spring and Summer seasons, the city of Benicia closes off First Street from the 300 block to the end of the block fronting the Carquinez Straits. A somewhat symmetrical line of vendors presenting their fresh wares for a reasonable price, add color and a vibrancy to Benicia?s Farmers Market.
Part of this social scene is a place that has a menu of prices for its fresh wares, but more importantly, today there is an item not on the menu that has no charge for an interested visitor. The Shoreline Restaurant on this Thursday (and each Thursday from 5pm-8pm) has assembled an impressive group of musicians, each of whom has on their resume an impressive list of musicians with whom they have worked: Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, etc..
Led by guitarist Barry Finnerty, the rest of the quartet is complimented by Mel Martin (tenor, ?curve? soprano sax, flute), Peter Barshay on bass and Jeff Marris on drums. Informed by Barry that we (the audience) would be listening to an afternoon of standards, I settled into my seat. Well, perhaps John Coltrane?s ?Equinox, ?Key Largo,? or even a blues written by Jacqui Bayard for Charlie Parker?s mother are considered ?standards? to the keenest of jazz affectionados, for those were some of the tunes laid down by this hip and experienced quartet.
Following the opening tune ?Equinox,? where each musician displayed his considerable talents, Brazil?s Antonio Carlos Jobim?s ?standard,? ?Triste? was played to an upbeat tempo uncommon for a bossa nova. When the tune was announced, I envisioned a Brazilian goddess strolling along the beaches of Ipanema. What I got was a harried New York dancer frantically hailing a cab for a ?cattle call.? Mel opened on flute and twice during his solo Peter and Jeff inventively changed the tempo to double time for four bars. During Barry?s solo, the tempo went from bossa to double time to half time and back to bossa. A different approach to a classic Jobim bossa nova, but an interesting one that could only be pulled off by seasoned musicians such as these.
Approximately eight years ago, Barry recorded an album, Straight Ahead, in New York which included an original as a tribute to John Coltrane. Coltane?s tune is ?Count Down? whereas Barry?s is ?Count Up.? The introduction was in a time signature that I could not count. It reminded me of the late Don Ellis where he would move from a funky 4/4 to a fast 7/8 which had a 6/8 bar for every fourth measure (got it?). After the remarkable introduction, the song settled into 4/4 time. Barry?s solo went into a free form mode in which Jeff followed suit while Peter maintained the 4/4 time and kept the ship on its proper course (don?t try this while driving your car). ?Count Up.? I?m down with it!
?All Or Nothing At All? (a standard!) was played as a cha cha with Barry humorously adding a James Bond 007 riff to the head of the melody. After 16 bars the tempo changed to swing with Jeff playing off beats and then eventually back into the cha cha tempo (led by the ?007? riff to its conclusion).
The last tune of the first set was the blues for Charlie Parker?s mother which kicked off with 8 bars of Miles Davis? ?Oleo.? This interpretation was more bebop than blues led by Mel Martin?s ?take no prisoners? up tempo solo. Barry?s solo went into a fusion mode where his wit once again went to work throwing in 4 bars of a tune associated with a calliope at a circus. Barry also included Thelonius Monk?s ?Rhythm-a-Ning? during his adventurous solo. Going out of the tune, Mel played ?Now?s The Time? while Barry simultaneously played ?Straight, No Chaser.? I felt like that person on the television commercial who cries out, ?I fell down and I can?t get up!? I could have walked away (if I could get up) after listening to just one set feeling fully satisfied, even if I had paid a ?New York? type of cover charge. A great assemblage of great musicians.
The opening number for the second set was written by another renown Brazilian composer, Milton Nascemento entitled ?Vera Cruz.? Once again Mel showed off his latin chops on flute. Songs like this are familiar to Mel as he was part of the first of its kind band AZTECA in the early 1970s which featured Pete and Coke Escovedo, Tom Harrell, Lenny White III, Paul Jackson, Victor Pantoja, Flip Nunez, George Muribus, George DiQuattro, etc. The song flowed to a fast samba beat and swung like a pendulum.
?Key Largo? again featured Mel but this time on the ?curve? soprano sax. Again a samba beat, though Jeff played with a lot of back beats. Barry began his solo with 4 bars of ?You Came To Me From Out Of Nowhere? and stayed within the samba tempo until the end of the piece where everyone went into double time to the song?s conclusion.
?Green Dolphin Street,? a jazz ?chestnut,? was played straight ahead swing time. However, I would say that Barry?s playing on this tune was ?Homeric? if in fact I knew what the hell that meant. Let?s just say that his playing was ?other worldly? and let it go at that.
The second set (my last) was brought to a close with a Duke Ellington ballad ?In A Sentimental Mood.? I was pleased to see and hear Jeff playing with brushes as this is becoming, sadly, a ?lost art? form.
Barry, Mel, Peter, Jeff. If you were paid a thousand dollars each, you were underpaid.
?An afternoon of standards.? Heh, heh. Yeah, sure.
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