[Dixielandjazz] The Alessi Brothers was Oh Dem Bones

[Steve Barbone]

Not OKOM, but ties to Oh Dem Bones and classical technique vs. jazz playing.
The Oh Dem Bones thread had several references to Joe Alessi, principal
trombone of the NY Phiharmonic. Then this article in the Times about his
brother, Ralph Alessi, an extraordinary, classically trained, jazz
trumpeter.

Ralph has superb classical technique. He also has the sense not to let it
detract too much from his jazz message. Note the following review extract:

"At times Mr. Alessi¹s trumpet projected a cold, clear tone that bordered on
the clinical. He seemed to catch himself and consciously push toward greater
tension."

Jazz musicians will understand the meaning of "tension" in solos, and how a
coherent solo builds "tension" and then continues on to "release" that
tension, cyclically, throughout the solo. The reviewer's opinion being that
"cold, clear, tone bordering on the clinical" (read 'classical' tone) does
not produce the requisite "tension". Carry it further and infer that without
tension, there is no release and without either, there is no coherent
conversation coming out of the horn. Ergo, a solo that says nothing.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone 

Music Review | Ralph Alessi¹s This Against That

In Spartan Space, Jazz in a Communal Mode

NY TIMES - By NATE CHINEN - March 8, 2007

Ralph Alessi has a prodigious trumpet technique, and a pedigree worthy of
it: His father was a celebrated classical trumpeter, and his brother is the
principal trombonist with the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Alessi was probably
headed for an orchestral career himself until a hard turn toward
improvisation at the California Institute of the Arts. It was the right
decision, given that what Mr. Alessi prizes in music is not the impeccable
but the ineffable: the thrill of seeking but not knowing.

That motive has guided Mr. Alessi¹s left-of-center jazz career. In 2001 it
also led him to establish the Center for Improvisational Music, a nonprofit
institution now based in Park Slope, Brooklyn. There, in a spartan but
acoustically accommodating space, Mr. Alessi and a roster of other artists
hold performances and educational workshops, including an intensive two-week
summer program. The driving idea is that advanced jazz training thrives best
by a communal model, unencumbered by bureaucracy, hierarchy or dogma.

Mr. Alessi presented his own working band, This Against That, at the center
on Tuesday night, drawing a full house amply stocked with young musicians.
In a single set that ran a little over an hour, the group played original
music from an impressive new album called ³Look² (Between the Lines). In its
stronger moments the set was noticeably looser and more immediate than the
recording, and entirely free of pedantry.

One of the best things about it was the musical kinship between Mr. Alessi
and the tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. They provided some enlightening
contrasts in their solos ‹ Mr. Coltrane sounding more slippery, Mr. Alessi
more exacting ‹ and they struck an effortless push-pull as a front-line
pair. On the album¹s title track they played intertwining strands of melody,
making the most of some tight dissonance. Later, in a song called ³Platform
Velvet,² they held a single long tone, dissolving into unison.

A number of Mr. Alessi¹s new compositions are moody and incantatory, with
chiming harmonies. So the dynamic sensitivity of his rhythm section is
crucial. The one currently enlisted, with Andy Milne on piano, Ben Street on
bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums, handily proved its subtle power. Mr. Milne
also contributed some fine solos, notably on ³Lap Nap,² a piece with a cycle
of bouncing intervals and a wafting quintuple meter.

At times Mr. Alessi¹s trumpet projected a cold, clear tone that bordered on
the clinical. He seemed to catch himself and consciously push toward greater
tension. Of course he sounded best when he didn¹t have to try, as on a
spiraling étude called ³Near Cry² and a fractured acoustic-funk workout
titled ³At the Seams.²

On ³Sir,² a near-dirge with a vaporous tempo, Mr. Coltrane played the first
solo, employing artful silences and multiphonic split tones. Then Mr. Alessi
took over, moving from a prayerful whinny to a series of triplet flurries,
some piercing whole notes and finally a lacework of chromatic lines. It was
an exhibition, but not a shallow one. When the song faded into silence,
there were several long seconds before a burst of applause.

Ralph Alessi¹s This Against That performs tomorrow in Reno, Nev., Friday
through Sunday in California and next week in Colorado and New Mexico.
Schedule: ralphalessi.com/live.