By Todd Matthews

KAREEM KANDI

KAREEM KANDI @ KERRY HALL | Pacific Northwest jazz saxophonist Kareem Kandi spent much of 2002 gigging regularly at the Hopvine Pub in Seattle, and The Spar and Red Kelly's in Tacoma. While the young saxophonist spent his nights in smoky bars and music clubs, he spent his days at Cornish College of the Arts, where he received a scholarship to study music. That college career came to fruition in November, when Kandi performed an inspired and exhilarating set of arranged standards and original compositions as part of his senior recital. Kerry Hall on the Cornish campus was a nice setting for Kandi, and a welcome reprieve from, say, a cramped corner at the Hopvine Pub, where Kandi's trio typically performs amidst a din of clinking glasses and noisy conversation. Kandi's quartet was well-presented, and moved quickly through a 10-song set. Bassist Evan Florybarnes was a formidable presence, and beamed on the original composition "Loved Ones" (his notes ran through the song like a heartbeat, pulsing and hypnotic right up to the final refrain). Ty Bailie on piano fleshed out the group; though Bailie and Kandi had a couple timing missteps, the pianist's performance worked positively to fill out the band, and add a dimension to Kandi's typical trio arrangement (bass, drums, and saxophone) of which I had never seen. Drummer Jacques Willis was exciting as always, at this point a regular fixture in Kandi's various member-rotating trios. Willis's explosive solo on Kandi's original composition "Chiaroscuro" -- a tune that was one of the show's standouts -- sought to inspire. Indeed, the original compositions were the touchstones of this performance. Songs such as "Past Time" (a punchy arrangement that worked well to kick off the evening), "Main Inspiration" (a thoughtful tune that was melodic and haunting), "Mad Dog" (a song that worked mostly as a vehicle for musician solos), and the aforementioned "Chiaroscuro" (a tune that started out with an almost avant-garde emphasis of Florybarnes's bass tones, and ended with all musicians nearly crashing together for a nice finish) were well-written and performed with precision and deft. And Kandi's arrangements of standards worked to display some of the young musician's influences and interests: Jimmy Van Heusen's "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (an arrangement wherein lengthy saxophone noodling kicked things off), Kurt Weill's "What Good Would The Moon Be?" and Dexter Gordon's "The Panther" provided audience members a glimpse at Kandi's musical inspirations.

CHRIS STOVER @ PATTI SUMMER'S | Trombonist/composer Chris Stover and his posse of jazz musicians are changing the face of traditional big band jazz -- adding an experimental-music twist. The result? An eclectic and refreshing sound that tweaks the genre without entirely ignoring or offending big band purists. If 'contemporary big band jazz' sounds like a contradiction of terms, you haven't witnessed Stover in action. Throughout 2002, Stover and his big band were regulars at Patti Summer's Lounge in the Pike Place Market, presenting a truly unconventional and slightly funky big band concert -- a showcase that Stover dubbed 'Involuntary Narcissism.' (During one performance last July, Stover turned to the audience between sets, wide-eyed and somewhat surprised by the turnout, and commented, "Not a bad crowd for a weird jazz gig on a Tuesday night.") Stover works within the parameters of big band jazz, but he is clearly pushing the envelope, leaning toward avant-garde and experimental influences. Stover's sets are long, with very few interruptions. It isn't uncommon for Stover to blend the pop tunes of Alanis Morissette and Elvis Costello with the classical compositions of Johannes Brahms. Though the compositions are sprawling and appear to meander at times, there is always something for the listener and the performer to latch onto.

MONKTAIL

MONKTAIL CREATIVE MUSIC CONCERN @ COFFEE MESSIAH | As young musicians in Philadelphia more than a decade ago, bassist John Seman and percussionist Mark Ostrowski hosted informal jam sessions with their high school bandmates. Parting ways for college, the pair re-joined in Seattle in 2000, and formed the Monktail Creative Music Concern. The result is a collective with more than two-dozen composers, musicians and artists exploring the atypical and exigent in improvised jazz through nearly a dozen different noms de plume. The Monktail collective seeped into the music scene last year on an almost subconscious level. The band's unique stickers started popping up on light poles all over Capitol Hill. On a number of occasions, a few of the members would set up shop on downtown street corners and jam. By year's end, the band had landed gigs at Coffee Messiah (billed as "The Monktail Residency"), Elliott Bay Cafe, Polestar, the Arts In Nature Music Festival, the Baltic Room, the Fremont Street Fair, Crocodile Cafe (as part of the Seattle International Film Festival), and Industrial Coffee in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood. Simply put, Monktail established itself as the must-see band in Seattle's rarely popularized experimental jazz scene. At one of the Coffee Messiah performances last fall, seven musicians (three saxophonists, two percussionists, one bass player, and one electric guitarist) huddled in a corner, laboring away through a repertoire of lengthy and sprawling experimental jazz that meandered through be-bop to marching band to hard-rock riffs. In one expansive, fifteen-minute song, the band started with barely a whistle from a tenor sax, stretched out to a hopping be-bop jazz melody, and came to a crashing halt with a performance of dueling, haunted saxophone solos. The music was hallucinogenic, spontaneous and sonic -- at times arresting and disturbing; at other times melodic and funky. A strange collection of sounds and music coming from a unique and unconventional collection of musicians.

This article originally appeared in Earshot Jazz