Great show by Bobby Zankel and the Soultet performed at the 5 Spot in Philadelphia Tuesday, 16 September, 1997. I have come across Zankel's name in various places, have noticed that he's recorded for CIMP, kept thinking that he might be interesting, but never heard him at all. I club at 7:20 for what I thought as an 8:00 set, but was really browsing Tower Records, and I am very glad I did.
If I had known that the band included Uri Caine, Ralph Peterson, Jr.,and Tyrone Brown, there would have been no doubt in my mind that I ought to hear this music. This was jazz of the highest level, and I think it would appeal to all fans of improvised music. I had presumed that Zankel was a player who tended to the 'free' or 'out' side of jazz, and I suppose that's somewhat true in that he is not a neo-bopper (although he did a nice approximation of Charlie Parker while checking out the sound just before the show). But the band played compositions of substance, using written music even, and did would make on the material would be that the arrangements mostly involved having Zankel state the melody and structure backed by the whole band, followed by a Uri Caine solo, then Zankel, then Peterson, then a restatement of the tune.
The solos were consistently excellent. I have to restate my recommendation of Uri Caine as one of the finest younger players around. And his playing last night made clear the reason that he has one album in the spirit of Monk and one reflecting the spirit of Herbie Hancock: he has a touch that can be powerfully percussive(although not in the Cecil Taylor vein) but he can also let loose with flurries of melody and wide open chords. There was only one ballad-type tune last night, so he didn't demonstrate much of the lyricism of Hancock. I should also note that he played an electronic keyboard that sounded acoustic, almost. Not a bad tone, really, and it was cleaner sounding, easier to distinguish individual notes, than then I heard him play a real piano with Joe Henderson at the Clef Club a few months ago.
Ralph Peterson is a monstrously good drummer. I did not realize this until last night. I must go back to my record collection and pull out everything with him on it. How could I have missed this guy? Someone at the show said that Peterson reminded him of Tony Williams, and on at least one song, he was doing that "Rat Patrol thing" that Miles Davis got Williams to do on the cymbals. Overall, I don't know if the comparison holds up. But Peterson is a busy drummer, with four cymbals and a high hat, and I'm not sure how many tom-toms. He did play with dynamics, don't let me give the impression that he just beat the hell out of everything all the time. But he was in constant motion, using every part of the kit.
Bobby Zankel is an excellent alto player, with a very clean tone, no overblowing. On certain pieces he reminded me of Steve Coleman's sound, although that may have been due to the songs themselves, because some used the type of bass line I associate with the Five Elements. Zankel's soprano wasn't shoddy either, pretty full sound, not the thin whine of some.
Tyrone Brown sat in a chair playing a minimalistic-looking electric standup bass. He only took one solo, toward the end of the second set, but he was really anchoring the band the whole evening. And with the way Caine and Peterson were flying, they needed a solid foundation to refer to.
The interplay, lest I forget, was first-rate. I can't say intimate, it was too fast-paced and loud for that. Intricate, perhaps, with Peterson answering Caine when he'd toss in some off-rhythm figure, or prodding Caine with some invention of his own. And Zankel would come in over the top of all this and Caine would continue to throw in chords (never let it boil down to the freeform bass-drum-sax mix) and rhythm variations with Peterson.
Modern Jazz, not neo-avant-garde nor retro-bop, at its finest.