[Dixielandjazz] Nate Chinen's NY Times Article on EarRegulars

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Old-Time Jazz Swing, But Modern MetabolismBy NATE CHINENPublished: April 26, 2010var articleToolsShareData = {"url":"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2010\/04\/27\/arts\/music\/27kellso.html","headline":"Old-Time Jazz Swing, But Modern Metabolism","description":"The Ear Regulars, a jazz group led by the trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and the guitarist Matt Munisteri, perform in an old drinking house in the South Village.","keywords":"Jazz,Ear Inn","section":"arts","sub_section":"music","section_display":"Arts","sub_section_display":"Music","byline":"By NATE CHINEN<\/a>","pubdate":"April 26, 2010","passkey":null};function getShareURL() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.url);}   function getShareHeadline() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.headline);}   function getShareDescription() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.description);}   function getShareKeywords() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.keywords);}   function getShareSection() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section);}function getShareSubSection() {	return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section);}function getShareSectionDisplay() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.section_display);}function getShareSubSectionDisplay() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.sub_section_display);}function getShareByline() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.byline);}   function getSharePubdate() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.pubdate);}   function getSharePasskey() {    return encodeURIComponent(articleToolsShareData.passkey);}   Sign in to Recommend
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 The New York jazz landscape has always been defined partly by its underground, with the tacit understanding that such a region is usually zoned for experimentation. That’s as true as it ever was, but it’s an incomplete truth because of all that it overlooks. One case in point would be the Ear Regulars, the traditional jazz cohort led by the trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso and the guitarist Matt Munisteri every Sunday night at the Ear Inn, on the westernmost edge of the South Village, near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. 
Enlarge This Image Hiroyuki Ito for The New York TimesThe Ear Regulars, with, from left, Neal Miner on bass, Harry Allen on tenor saxophone, the guitarist Matt Munisteri and the trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso, at the Ear Inn. 
The weekly stand is coming up on its third year, and it’s still touched by a spirit of affable contrarianism. There’s nothing forward-looking about the Ear Regulars, but neither is there anything didactic, self-important, preachy or defensive. Mr. Kellso and Mr. Munisteri specialize in small-group swing and Dixieland, music regarded as old-fashioned even 60 years ago. But the clarity of their enthusiasm and the caliber of their execution add up to a present-tense transaction. Context has something to do with it. The Ear Inn is a beloved old drinking house with its own clientele, and the band, wedged into an alcove near the door, doesn’t disrupt the metabolism of the place. Sunday’s first set was accompanied, typically, by a background hum of conversation. (A Mets game played on one of the televisions over the bar.) Yet there was an attentive hush in the immediate vicinity of the musicians, who had no problem projecting without a sound system in a manner both intimate and casual. 
This time around the Ear Regulars included Harry Allen on tenor saxophone and Neal Miner on bass, and both played with poise. Mr. Miner’s bass lines properly framed and cushioned Mr. Munisteri’s chug-a-lug strumming, whether they were walking four beats to the bar or with a jaunty two-step feel. Their foot-tapping momentum was as much a factor on the songbook standard “I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love With Me” as on a New Orleans-pedigreed set opener, “Royal Garden Blues.” 
For his part Mr. Allen was impeccable, stamping “Limehouse Blues” with unpredictable turns of phrase and bringing a Ben Webster warble to his reading of “September Song.” And he fell right into step with Mr. Kellso, digging into improvised counterpoint and on-the-spot riffs. During “Tea for Two,” their rapport lit up a series of four-bar solo exchanges before locking in on an ensemble figure and finally the outgoing melody. 
Mr. Kellso maintained a neatly conversational tone in his solos, sounding mellow but to the point. Mr. Munisteri went in for more dazzle, though he too kept things drawn to scale. When they ended their first set neither musician had to take more than a step or two to mingle with the crowd. 
The Ear Regulars perform every Sunday night at the Ear Inn, 326 Spring Street, near Greenwich Street, South Village; (212) 431-9750, earinn.com.



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