Jon Weber at the AQ: Concert review

Jon Weber by John Whiting

An evening with pianist Jon Weber is not to be missed. Witty, brainy, intimate, and enormously entertaining, it’s part concert, part music history class.

Weber engages the audience from the start, asking “What should I play? In what key?” He knows literally thousands of tunes and quotes liberally, so by the end of one you’ve heard bits and phrases from several. He tells you when each song was written, by whom, whether it came from a movie or a musical, when the composer was born, and what else he wrote, accompanied by musical examples. 

I wonder how he sleeps, with so much knowledge and so many facts crammed into his head, pushing and shoving and clamoring to get out.

While Weber’s performance borders on shtick—that’s the “show-business routine” meaning, not the “gimmick or gag” meaning—it never crosses over because he is so deeply and seriously musical. His playing is impeccable, his technique awe-inspiring, whether dashing through notes at top speed or interpreting “Autumn in New York” so tenderly and expressively that you stop breathing.

Maud Hixson by John Whiting

He’s also very funny. Following his own combination of Jobim’s “Wave” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” (strange, but it works), he mentions that he once thought the words to the latter were “Smell Cousin Walter.” He promises to give himself a 15-yard penalty if he uses the same musical quote more than once. He demonstrates the “sneaky fill”—where all the music happens in the right hand—by lifting his left hand high and mugging. He tosses off bon mots, like “Sometimes choosing the key is the hardest choice of all.”

Last night at the Artists’ Quarter, we experienced Weber’s customary romp through jazz, with bonuses. For part of the evening, he played solo; for part, with old pals Billy Peterson on bass and Kenny Horst on drums. Singers Maud Hixson and Alicia Renee were in the house; each was invited up to the stage. Hixson chose Irving Berlin’s “I Love a Piano”—in part, I’m sure, because of this verse and Weber’s signature ponytail:

And with the pedal I love to meddle

When Paderewski comes this way

I’m so delighted if I’m invited

To hear that long-haired genius play.

Alicia Renee by John Whiting

In the second set, she returned for “While We’re Young.” Renee brought her big, beautiful voice to “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

The best surprise of the night: young pianist Witness Matlou, originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, now on full scholarship at Berklee, who drove up from Iowa (where he spent a year as an exchange student at Drake) to see Weber. Matlou played the standard “Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise,” and even the chatty table behind us quieted down as he made it a masterpiece of spacious understatement, playing behind the beat, swinging hard. Peterson and Horst were right there with him. Wish I’d recorded it. (Don Berryman, maybe you did?) Matlou has several videos on YouTube of varying quality; go here for a recent example of his playing. I’ll be disappointed if we don’t see more of him soon.

Related: Jon Weber's "Piano Jazz Rising Stars" radio show, now airing on KBEM at 10 p.m. on Saturday nights.

Jazz comes to the Lex

Arne Fogel by John Whiting

Heavy double doors open to a world of dark wood, beamed ceilings, classic food and cocktails (including ice cream drinks--Pink Cadillac, anyone?).

Founded in 1935, frozen in time, the Lexington Restaurant has had just three owners in its long and storied history. It's a St. Paul tradition, the place to go for important lunches and dinners, family events, meetings, celebrations, receptions, reunions, wakes, to talk politics, to see and be seen. And now, to hear live jazz.

This week's jazz picks and news

Tonight (Friday, Jan. 13), pianist Jon Weber returns to the Artists' Quarter. Formerly of Chicago, now based in NYC, he's a regular at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, and before his performance, the headliners for the 2012 festival will be announced. I've seen Weber play several times and it's always new--new songs, new quotes within songs, new composers whose birthdays he knows, new versions of old favorites, played in any key. (Famously, he often asks the audience, "How would you like me to play this? With one flat, two flats, five flats?") After subbing now and then for Marian McPartland on her iconic NPR program "Piano Jazz," he was recently tapped to head a new series for NPR called "Piano Jazz Rising Stars." It airs locally on KBEM at 10 p.m. on Saturdays. Listen to Neal Conan's interview with Weber here. AQ, 9 p.m., $10.

Christian McBride's hat

Because Christian loves a good cigar and acts as a spokesman for Davidoff, his hat is based on the Davidoff Private Label cigar band.

Related: Doug Haining's hat

Christine Rosholt, remembered with music and tears

Tanner Taylor

Christine would have loved it. The Dakota was SRO, those without reservations (at least a hundred, maybe more) being turned away and told to come back at 9:30 (many did).

Musicians and singers were everywhere—on stage, at tables, gathered outside the Green Room and at the bar.

Club owner Lowell Pickett flew back early from the annual APAP conference in NYC, skipping the NEA Jazz Masters program in the Rose Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

So did pianist/composer George Maurer. I’ve never seen Scott Seekins at the Dakota; he was there, too.

We came to remember and honor singer Christine Rosholt, who died at the end of December, a week before her birthday, a victim of depression. (As was Susannah McCorkle.)

This week's jazz picks and news

Tonight (Friday, Jan. 6) at the Black Dog in St. Paul’s Lowertown: George Cartwright, Pat Moriarty, and Nathan Hanson on saxophones, Pat O'Keefe on clarinets, Davu Seru on drums. What an enticing lineup. Part of the Community Pool: Deep End series of improvised music being curated by Nathan Hanson and Brian Roessler, who say, “Expect to be challenged and soothed, not necessarily in that order.” 8 p.m.-ish, tip jar.

Tonight and Saturday at the Artists’ Quarter in St. Paul: the Laura Caviani Quartet. Laura is such an elegant, tasteful pianist, and she chooses wonderful musicians to accompany her. This weekend it’s Chris Bates on bass, Phil Hey on drums, and Dave Hagedorn on vibes. They’re playing a program called “From Bach to Bop,” which Laura describes as “new arrangements inspired by classical piano works from her childhood.” If you’ve ever heard John Lewis play Bach, or Jacques Loussier, this could be similar—or not. Bach with a hint of Monk? 9 p.m., $10.

Christine Rosholt, 1965-2011

Popular Twin Cities singer Christine Rosholt died suddenly last Wednesday. Today, January 3, would have been her 47th birthday. Her favorite color was red, and she was famous for her red lipstick; she wore a pair of jeweled red lips on a chain around her neck. When I told her I wanted to make her a hat and asked what color she preferred, her immediate answer was "Red!" I sent her hat in early 2010, and she responded with this winsome self-portrait.

Christine was a good and faithful friend to MinnPost, and when co-founders Joel and Laurie Kramer learned of her death, they asked me to write about her. It was a privilege, but it didn't come easily.

Earlier this morning, when my piano teacher, Stephen Dewey, stopped by for my biweekly lesson, I told him the sad news. I wasn't sure if he knew Christine, but of course he did; almost everyone involved in music in the Twin Cities must have heard her name or seen her perform at some point during her too-short career. Turns out Stephen had attended the prestigious Yale Cabaret Conference with her in 2009. Part of the conference includes critiques designed to improve performers' stage presence. According to Stephen, Christine, who loved hats, was advised to move the one she was wearing back a bit so people could see her more clearly. "Why?" she retorted. "I can see all of you perfectly well."

Nachito Herrera at the Dakota: Guest review by Reece Peterson

A second review by a Theoroi member of Nachito Herrera's December 10 performance at the Dakota, reproduced with permission. Theoroi is the group of young Twin Cities professionals and arts lovers sponsored by the Schubert Club. Read Rea Rettarath's perspective(s) here. bb

Nachito Herrera – I got a fever, 

and the only prescription is more cowbell!

“There are only two types of music, good music and bad music,” Nachito Herrera explained before his set at the Dakota Jazz Club on December 10th. The brilliant Cuban pianist is the definition of “good music,” which he demonstrated by playing a holiday set infused with modern Cuban jazz. From the first note struck by Herrera and his band (Kevin Washington on drums, and Jonas on bass guitar), the environment of the Dakota Jazz Club took on the warm, festive mood of Cuban jazz. A quick survey of the audience portrayed a lot of foot-tapping and shoulder-swaying. There is no doubt in my mind that if there was a section of floor that remotely resembled a dance floor it would have been packed to the gills with salsa dancers.