RAMO, PIZZARELLI, BRUNO, HEPLER / CD Release Party "Live at The Triad"
Michael Steinman, Jazz Improv Magazine; Feb 1, 2007
I had not heard of the jazz violinist Michéle Ramo before this concert, but his stellar associates gave me confidence before he played a note, and the neatly programmed concert was a display of virtuoso swing throughout.
Pianist John Colianni was a fine opening act. In a leisurely “Easy Living”, a blues reminiscent of Ray Bryant, and a romping “Darktown Strutter’ Ball”, he showed off his beautiful touch, harmonic sophistication, and a technical mastery worthy of Peterson and McKenna in their glory years. The well-tuned piano and the Triad’s amiable acoustics added a good deal.
Then Ramo took the stage to accompany singer Heidi Hepler ( they are husband and wife), but left his violin untouched – utilizing a guitar he had invented, a “Mostro”, which adds two fretless bass strings for a portable rhythm section . He offered compelling jazz single-string solos decorated with classical flourishes. Hepler is an expressive soprano with an astonishing range. On the duo’s final number, their own “Island Paradise”, she ripped through rapid-fire passages with ferocious skill and added startling jungle cries that suggested that the Amazon rain forest had moved to 72nd Street.
Then the main act – Ramo on violin, Bucky, and bassist Jerry Bruno – musicians proud of their Italian ancestries (Sicilian, Abbruzzese, an Calabrese respectively) played nine standards from their new CD “Oh Lady Be Good”. They began with Bucky and Jerry together on a walking “Do Nothin’Till You Hear From Me’. Bucky creating simple, witty melodic improvisations and bending notes in the fashion of the late (almost forgotten) George Barnes, one of Bucky’s guitar partners. When Ramo joined them for “Oh’ Lady Be Good”, the CD’s title track, his rich tone and easy inventiveness instantly suggested Grappelli (with a lower register that hinted at Svend Asmussen on viola or even Itzhak Perlman playing Mendelssohn). But Ramo is not trapped in one style or one period: his improvisations summoned up barn dances and hoedowns, bluegrass fiddle, and he offered a number of spacious rubato cadenzas that had lives of their own. On “Satin Doll”, he created a numbly concise pizzicato passage, and played a romantic “Everything I have Is Yours” in honor of the widow of composer Burton Lane, in the audience. Jerry Bruno was rhythmically solid throughout, especially notable on “In A Sentimental Mood”; Bucky moved from delicate melodic traceries on “Nuages” to his patented jazz apocalypse on “Honeysuckle Rose”, which closed the set. Because Bucky and Jerry were celebrating their birthdays, a huge cake (ornamented with the CD cover) was brought on, and the crowd did a reasonably in-tune version of “Happy Birthday”, with a jam session by the locals a promised follow-up. Future concerts at this space (the last Wednesday of every month) will be worth attending.
Pianist John Colianni was a fine opening act. In a leisurely “Easy Living”, a blues reminiscent of Ray Bryant, and a romping “Darktown Strutter’ Ball”, he showed off his beautiful touch, harmonic sophistication, and a technical mastery worthy of Peterson and McKenna in their glory years. The well-tuned piano and the Triad’s amiable acoustics added a good deal.
Then Ramo took the stage to accompany singer Heidi Hepler ( they are husband and wife), but left his violin untouched – utilizing a guitar he had invented, a “Mostro”, which adds two fretless bass strings for a portable rhythm section . He offered compelling jazz single-string solos decorated with classical flourishes. Hepler is an expressive soprano with an astonishing range. On the duo’s final number, their own “Island Paradise”, she ripped through rapid-fire passages with ferocious skill and added startling jungle cries that suggested that the Amazon rain forest had moved to 72nd Street.
Then the main act – Ramo on violin, Bucky, and bassist Jerry Bruno – musicians proud of their Italian ancestries (Sicilian, Abbruzzese, an Calabrese respectively) played nine standards from their new CD “Oh Lady Be Good”. They began with Bucky and Jerry together on a walking “Do Nothin’Till You Hear From Me’. Bucky creating simple, witty melodic improvisations and bending notes in the fashion of the late (almost forgotten) George Barnes, one of Bucky’s guitar partners. When Ramo joined them for “Oh’ Lady Be Good”, the CD’s title track, his rich tone and easy inventiveness instantly suggested Grappelli (with a lower register that hinted at Svend Asmussen on viola or even Itzhak Perlman playing Mendelssohn). But Ramo is not trapped in one style or one period: his improvisations summoned up barn dances and hoedowns, bluegrass fiddle, and he offered a number of spacious rubato cadenzas that had lives of their own. On “Satin Doll”, he created a numbly concise pizzicato passage, and played a romantic “Everything I have Is Yours” in honor of the widow of composer Burton Lane, in the audience. Jerry Bruno was rhythmically solid throughout, especially notable on “In A Sentimental Mood”; Bucky moved from delicate melodic traceries on “Nuages” to his patented jazz apocalypse on “Honeysuckle Rose”, which closed the set. Because Bucky and Jerry were celebrating their birthdays, a huge cake (ornamented with the CD cover) was brought on, and the crowd did a reasonably in-tune version of “Happy Birthday”, with a jam session by the locals a promised follow-up. Future concerts at this space (the last Wednesday of every month) will be worth attending.