Jazz nuts: John Abercrombie (from top), Adam Nussbaum, Gary Versace and Bill Evans.
John Abercrombie and Adam Nussbaum share an amazing synergy. Although they both came up through the fusion era, neither the guitarist nor the drummer employs the bombast so typical of that period. Abercrombie does cop to a guitar-hero moment or two in his long career, but he's more than atoned for any momentary lapses in taste with an extraordinary discography that's the epitome of refinement, prizing tone, texture and deep feeling over speed, flash or pyrotechnics.
Same goes for Nussbaum. Among the most musical drummers in modern jazz, he takes a prismatic approach to his kit, keeping a simmering, searing excitement boiling just below the surface as he shimmers and dances across snares and cymbals with an exquisite touch.
Abercrombie and Nussbaum form the core of the recently formed Nuttree Quartet. Taking its moniker from a translation of the drummer's surname (Nussbaum = walnut tree in German), the foursome will perform June 13 in Fort Lauderdale behind (or maybe ahead of) a new CD.
Nussbaum put the group together in 2007 at the behest of the Swiss-based Kind of Blue imprint, thinking of his longtime friend and colleague Abercrombie as the perfect foil for a label-requested album of standards. The pair had been working with organist Dan Wall (check out Abercrombie's gorgeous 1999 ECM recording Open Land), and both men also individually worked with tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. So, Nussbaum, mused, what would it be like if he brought both teams together? As Wall was unavailable, Nussbaum instead recruited organist Gary Versace, a longtime associate of Abercrombie, and the seed for Nuttree was planted.
Released last year, the group's first recording, Standards, takes a mostly hushed and atmospheric approach to tunes from the Great American Songbook, as well as a few modern-jazz classics. But make no mistake, this is hardly polite cocktail jazz. After all, these cats are masters of the modern idiom and their interpretations are scrupulously personal and far from rote. A paragon of understatement, Abercrombie simply and elegantly — but always with edge — finds emotional connection in evergreens such as Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday," Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and John Coltrane's "Naima."
Bergonzi certainly seems to have a line on Trane's silky, bluesy sound, without sounding derivative, although the album-concluding "Naima" seems more of a nod to the late Michael Brecker, honoring his transcendent read of the tune on 2002's Directions in Music. Nussbaum's remarkable percussive touch is in evidence throughout — dig the atavistic solo that opens "Footprints" with a tribal heartbeat — as he truly drives the session from his kit. Versace adds just the right touch on the Hammond B3, cherrypicking solos and laying down plenty of lights-low atmosphere behind his bandmates.
Nuttree follows up Standards with ... another album of standards. The soon-to-be-released Something Sentimental delves further into the songbook with traditional fare such as "Lover Man," "All the Things You Are" and "It's Alright With Me." But there's a reason behind the song selection: The album springs from a memorial concert Nussbaum and Abercrombie performed for Nussbaum's mom, who passed away after battling cancer in 2007. Following his mother's instructions, Nussbaum gathered friends and family for a celebration of her life (it was held at the Lockwood-Matthews Mansion, in Norwalk, Connecticut, which was featured in both the 1975 and 2004 versions of The Stepford Wives) and played some of the songs she liked best. Saxophonist Dave Liebman, who brought along his ax for the occasion, was so enchanted by how the group sounded, he suggested they record exactly what they were playing.
Not long after, the group converged on bassist Jay Anderson's New Paltz, New Jersey, studio and did just that. And so, (Another) Nuttree Quartet — which is how its listed on the new recording — sprouted, this time with Liebman and Anderson taking the place of Bergonzi and Versace. (Check out some samples here.)
The lineup for the June 13 concert, which takes place at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale, will feature the core group — Nussbaum, Abercrombie and Versace — along with former Miles Davis saxophonist Bill Evans (not to be confused with the late pianist of the same name), and should feature standards from both recordings as well as some of Abercrombie's and Evans' originals. But whatever they turn their hands to, rest assured it will showcase the ease of communication, warmth and anything-goes sensibility that typically follows when longtime friends and colleagues share a stage.
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