This past weekend was one hell of a way to end the summer for myself before my day job as a middle school music teacher begins for the 2nd year now. Believe me, I love teaching the little ones but I felt I needed to celebrate the end of summer vacation and Jeremy Pelt and his electric band, Wired, at Smalls was just the ticket.
Like I have said in the blog Unlimited Breadsticks, I am a big fan of Mr. Pelt's playing. I first heard him in a small and now non-existing club and now have even become a student of his and his concepts.
Jeremy currently leads two bands: Wired and the Jeremy Pelt Quintet. I was lucky enough to finally hear Wired at Small's for the first time ever. Wired is Jeremy's "electric" band, meaning unlike a more traditional setting electronics are a major figure in the sound of the group. Frank LoCrasto is featured on Fender Rhodes with effect pedals, Gavin Fallow on electric bass with his own army of pedals and effects and Dana Hawkins who plays your standard drum kit but by standard I mean he destroys your ears and melts your face with his intense and very groovin' drumming. Jeremy himself plays on and off with effects of his own, playing through a VOX wah pedal.
The concept of this electric band is nothing particularly new, Freddie Hubbard, Miles Davis, Nicholas Payton, Dave Douglas and even Chris Botti apply these same concepts in bands through out their career. Miles Davis you could say was the father of applying effects to the trumpet. His album Bitches Brew can be considered the stepping stone for all trumpet players who try effects in their playing. In Miles' footsteps came Eddie Henderson, who in the 70's led various funk oriented groups where he applied effect pedals to his trumpet. His tracks from this era became a huge success in the UK where his music is still played in night clubs. Check out: Heritage http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfrxq9gldae.
So anyway the concept of an electric trumpet led group won't rattle the world of music but the vibe, groove and spark that Wired creates with only 4 players is outstanding.
Wired recorded their only album Shock Value in 2007 and has only been playing rarely since and mainly overseas. The reason is really JP recorded a quintet album in 2008 and that has been his primary focus. I was lucky enough to speak to him Saturday night after the show in Small's very tiny stairwell and he told me he loves what Wired does and would like to do more but because of the Quintet it has always been slow moving. Saturday afternoon in between shows, the band was able to go into the studio and lay some tracks down of new material which this guy right here cannot wait to hear!
So Friday night i dragged two good friends to the show promising a night of face melting and intense music they loved and I'd like to take this moment to applaud myself at how right I was. The band opened with the first two tracks of their album: Circular then into Blues. Circular opens with a trancey vibe where the band is allowed to set the mood. Jeremy comes in with a simple melody that just builds tension in the overall groove through his effect pedal and it creates this explosion of music. Dana Hawkins' drumming is quite far the pivotal driving force in this band and the effects on the keys and bass are amazing. The band then settled down into Blues which as JP has said often "it has no name so its entitled Blues, because that's what it is....Blues." This tune takes things in a much calmer and opposite effect than the earlier tune. The next tune, Suspicion, is one of a kind, with a driving tempo, intense groove and very demanding melody on JP's part it then launches right into a great solo. The tune takes a complete 180 and drops to a groove 1/16 or slower of what it was before for a trancey solo by LoCrasto. Other selections were the driving Pythagorous which featured Dana Hawkins and the sublime Beyond that featured wonderful flugelhorn playing by Pelt and great bass soloing by Fallow.
I stayed for the second set and the next night. There wasn't much of a change in terms of tunes, with a small book of material the band pretty much hit the same tunes every set. This might sound redundant but in fact it was a treat to hear the band over 2 nights work with the material they don't get to play too often together in the first place. By the last set Saturday night the band was on a completely different level than before. The playing was so perfect the band mates seemed to have a sense of intuition together.
Lastly the band ended each set with my favorite tune Scorpio with an open groove that sets up the band into different territory every time. I couldn't keep track of how many times I heard a Miles lick here or a Bitches Brew reference there it was quite exciting.
This past weekend was definitely a treat for myself and I couldn't have enjoyed what I heard more. Like I said, complete face melting.
I'm hoping I'll get to hear this band more often.
P.S. Thanks to JP for taking the time to shoot the shit, it is always, a pleasure and a delight.
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