Hard Bop Mastery at The Chubby Pickle: A Night of Stellar Jazz
It’s been nearly two years since Dan weeks and Joe Peterson first brought their quintet to the Jazz Café at our member venue, The Chubby Pickle. While the line up and repertoire has changed, both the music chosen and their playing has remained at a very high level. In addition to the rhythm section of Dan on drums and Joe on upright bass, the only holdover from that night was Greg Gispart on tenor sax. On this night, they were joined by Anthony Ware on Alto sax and the young phenom, Kenny Tam, on the keyboards. Unfortunately, promoter and JSJBF board member, Joseph Vincent Riggio, was under the weather, and was replaced on the sound board by Kevin Daly, who did an excellent job. He did mention to me “that with players of this caliber, it makes my job easy!”
With the set list this night, the emphasis was on hard bop, and if you are a fan, they did not disappoint. I was in NYC during the day and went via the Seastreak. The return trip didn’t get back to the Highlands until shortly after six that night, so I arrived towards the end of the first number, Bobby Watson’s “Wheel Within A Wheel.” Next up was Wayner Shorter’s song “This Is for Albert,” and this band gave it a harder edge with the twin saxophones trading leads. Roy Hargrove’s “Confidentiality,” traded the trumpet for Greg’s tenor sax with pleasing results. The first set ended with another Wayne Shorter tune, “Speak No Evil,” and while we didn’t the original pianist, Herbie Hancock, Kenney filled in with some imaginative soloing that made this tune a standout.
The second set kicked off with Hank Mobley’s “Up A Step,” a laid-back swing with a heavy cool jazz influence that worked to perfection. Next up was a lively version of the song, ”Tequila and Sprite,” with the sweet sound of those saxophones playing in unison, as well as being featured soloists. The gem “Strasbourg/St. Denis” was another of Roy Hargrove’s composition’s that underscored the fact that this jazz genius left us way too soon. It featured an exquisite bass intro by Joe followed by some of Anthony’s best soloing of the evening. “To Wisdom the Prize,” also a Hargrove tune, featured Mike DeSimone on the skins and was a welcome addition to the set. With the extended length of all the songs this evening, there was no time for a third set and they decided to come to a close with a fine version of Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers “In Case You Missed It.” Dan led off with a drum solo that demonstrated why he is one of the most in demand drummers on the local jazz scene. The band then joined in to really bring this song to life. The crowd was very attentive and delivered a rousing ovation at the conclusion.
For those of us who appreciate the best in jazz, those three hours just flew by. I recommend you be on the look out for the Weeks & Peterson Quintet, and whatever the lineup, you can be assured you will hear the best the genre has to offer.
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