STEVE KOVEN
TRIO PIANO MAN PLAYS IT SAFE AND SIMPLE
At the
Montreal Bistro
In Toronto on Tuesday
Jazz needs musicians like the Toronto pianist
Steve Koven. It doesn't need a lot of them, but it benefits
from their populist instinct. They may not advance the tradition
in any notable way but they do advance the cause, presenting
jazz in a palatable form without simply pandering to the lowest
common audience. It's the sort of thing Montreal's Oliver Jones
used to do so well.
Koven, who's on to his fifth CD since 1997 and
counts a 10-day stint in Tokyo among his most recent engagements
with bassist Rob Clutton and drummer Anthony Michelli, is essentially
a mainstream stylist, and a fairly young one at that. To the
extent that he departs from the time-honoured tenets of jazz,
he does so cautiously. Simple's best; short's good, too.
His arrangement of Juan Tizol's Caravan from
the Duke Ellington songbook, for example, drew on a variety
of avant-garde techniques for colour and texture during Tuesday's
first set at the Montreal Bistro, including an introductory
foray inside the piano on the instrument's strings. But it was
still an arrangement, finally, one that used the tune's familiar
melody as a recurring point of reference lest the piece get
away from him or, perhaps more importantly, his listeners.
He's careful that way. Having taken such risks
as his "free" approach to Caravan presented, he quickly
retrenched with two standards, Fats Waller's Honeysuckle Rose
and Jerome Kern's All the Things You Are, and the more recent
Bobby Hebb hit Sunny.
These, too, came with their own arrangements;
Koven's delicate handling of the Kern line was particularly
effective, a new look at an old classic, but his use of a reggae
beat under Sunny wasn't quite enough to rebalance that song's
reaching melody.
Koven filled out the hour with four of his own
compositions, including the very slow, fundamental Blues for
You -- more Otis Spann than Oscar Peterson -- and a new, untitled
waltz that was quite graceful in its melodic economy. He kept
the emotions involved relatively uncomplicated and the improvisations
reasonably straightforward, with no argument on either count
from bassist Clutton or drummer Michelli.
Both of his associates have shown a taste for
greater emotional and improvisational adventure elsewhere --
Clutton especially -- but they followed his lead faithfully
at all times. And in truth Koven covered a lot of ground in
a short time.
Mark
Miller Globe and Mail
STEVE KOVEN TRIO AT THE ROSELAWN JAZZ
SERIES
Last Saturday evening I witnessed the healthy future of jazz,
and the name they go by is the Steve Koven Trio. The jazz trio:
Steve Koven on piano, Rob Clutton on bass, and Anthony Michelli
on drums, opened the 5th season of the Roselawn Jazz Series
with a stunningly progressive performance of free jazz. The
innovative methods that each musician brought to the mix of
making music made it as arresting to watch, as it was to listen
to. At all times during this performance I felt as though I
was in the presence of something truly great happening on stage.
What absolute jazz bliss to hear and watch the chemistry between
this jazz triangle. The trio was almost telepathically connected
and seamless, it was difficult to know where the written song
ended and the improvisation began. And when it was clear that
the musicians were taking their own creative liberty with their
instruments, the other players hung back, respectful and encouraging,
relying on a uncanny acumen to make the transition to full band
music again. These musicians were right on the money –
at all times.
Steve Koven is a genius on piano, and nearly jumps off his
piano seat in his playing excitement. At times his notes are
like a whisper, minimalist, and clinging to the spectator silence
and awe. At other times he’s playing with fingers, hands
and even arms, rolling notes and sounds with quirky, electrically-charged
movements.
In Koven’s determination to create unique notes and rhythms
from the baby grand, there were times when he was working music
from inside his instrument, plucking and holding metal strings
and hammers to get a particular and unusual sound. He even stole
the show from percussionist Michelli for a moment as he banged
the front board of the piano for a rhythmical interlude. If
there was a sound to be evoked from his piano, Koven was right
onto it. Fantastic and masterful piano playing, with a flair
for improvisation that was powerfully fresh. Koven gave a truly
electrifying performance.
Michelli and Clutton were not to be outdone by Koven, and held
their improvisational weight during the performance as well.
Michelli on drums is an intense musician who, at times, was
so caught up in the music that he seemed oblivious to everything
else around him. Clutton too was coaxing his bass
The trio played a wide range of jazz songs, from straight-up
blues to jazz steeped in a sultry Indian flavour, from covers
of Fats Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose,” to some
of the most original and progressive pieces of music, such as
their song “Gak.” Their repertoire effortlessly
moves from haunting, swinging, waltzing, bluesy, lullabies,
or exotic, but whatever the jazz of the moment is, is at all
times, exhilarating.
In fact some of the songs were so fresh from the composing
board that they hadn’t been named yet, and Koven invited
the crowd to submit ideas for titles for one such song. In another
interlude between playing, Koven shared with the crowd that
the band had just returned to playing in Columbia, South America,
and had played to an audience of 2,500 people, explaining that
it felt much like a rock concert. If anyone could attract a
rock-star following for jazz in North America, this would be
the band to do it. They’re talented, unique, innovative,
and young – the face of neo-jazz.
This season opener was a concert I won’t soon forget.
The Steve Koven Trio is definitely one of the great ‘free’
jazz bands to watch out for. These musicians are gifted engineers
of musicianship and songwriting.
The
Tribune - Entertainment Section
By Lynn Peppas
Cont'd
