| John Lockwood & The Fringe
I saw a great double-bill this weekend: ROVA Sax Quartet and The Fringe -- George Garzone, John Lockwood and Bob Gullotti.
ROVA was great -- much joy and humor in their music, along with much quacking and honking.
So, Garzone steps out on stage, and says, "I dunno what to play. Doze guys played a lotta notes!" Here comes the head to Strangers in the Night, complete with the mother-of-the-bride modulation! Click: Gullotti pays a visit to Rashid Ali's neighborhood. Click: The Fringe launches into the most musically intense free-improv I've heard in years. While Lockwood and Gullotti chug like a Briggs & Stratton, Garzone spends two minutes exploring about nine false-fingered microtones across a whole-step and makes music out of it.
Y'know that funny feeling you get when you're on the way back in from Jupiter trying to land in Standard City? Here's how The Fringe solved the problem: They invented a slow standard, on the spot, with all the freshness of free improvisation and all the haunting beauty of a familiar refrain. It was the most riveting musical moment I have seen this year.
Oh yeah, Lockwood. I'll keep it short: He's a very fine musician with impeccable intonation and a gorgeous sound. Maybe if I play with my trio for thirty years I'll sound half as good. Maybe not, though.
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"We can give to those who listen to the essence the best of what we are. But to do that, at each stage we have to keep on cleaning the mirror." -- John Coltrane
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