With Cyrus Chestnut booked as Blues Alley’s year-end performance, comparisons with the famous pianists who preceded him there — Ahmad Jamal, who rang in 31 new years, and Monty Alexander, who did five — are inevitable. These veterans are two of the most acclaimed jazz pianists of all time. Could Chestnut, relatively young at 52, escape their long shadows?
On Saturday, the first night of a six-night stand that culminates on New Year’s Eve, Chestnut didn’t so much escape shadows as dissolve them. His trio, featuring D.C. native Eric Wheeler on bass and Chris Beck on drums, offered a nearly perfect evening of straight-ahead jazz that made no attempt to “live up to” anyone or anything but Chestnut’s own vision.
Much is made of his deep gospel influence, which made itself known in his soulful “Ami’s Dance,” and the chiming chords of the standard “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” But on Saturday night, Chestnut’s filter was the blues. Everything he touched came out sounding like the blues, be it Charlie Parker’s bebop “Yardbird Suite” or a vaguely Latin take on Lionel Richie’s “Hello.” (“You’ll have to forgive us for not playing it Lionel Richie’s way,” Chestnut joked.) That second work introduced another motif that would continue throughout the set: quotes from other songs. “Hello” incorporated “Summertime,” “My Favorite Things” — even the theme from TV’s “Bonanza,” which resurfaced later in “Yardbird Suite.” Another tune morphed into the “Jeopardy” theme, then “Three Blind Mice” — usually calculated for laughs but also beautifully played.
Although he never abandoned the blues, Chestnut showed his virtuosity by recalibrating his approach with every song. He pursued Ellington’s “In a Mellotone” with a double-note voicing that suggested the Sicilian piano tradition. “A Door for the Door of No Return” made use of masterful dynamics, while “Giant Steps” received a delicate touch that seemed to tease the sound out of the keys. “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” seemed to change flavors with every improvised chorus.
But if Chestnut was unpredictable, Wheeler and Beck were together a model of solid support. They held the swing beat steady in the closing “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” even as the pianist re-syncopated it in his solo, and they played frenetic bop rhythms on “Giant Steps,” Beck even dropping bombs on his bass drum. Wheeler had a feature in Chestnut’s “Soul Brother Cool,” embodying the song’s title with a solo that combined walking bass with a muscular swagger.
The one flaw in the set was a persistent buzz in Chestnut’s microphone. The pianist is already soft-spoken, and his announcements came in a near-whisper that was tough to hear in the best of circumstances. The mic problems rendered him incomprehensible in the back of the room. Chestnut took it as a sign: “Maybe I just need to stop talking and play some music,” he said.
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On Saturday, the first night of a six-night stand that culminates on New Year’s Eve, Chestnut didn’t so much escape shadows as dissolve them. His trio, featuring D.C. native Eric Wheeler on bass and Chris Beck on drums, offered a nearly perfect evening of straight-ahead jazz that made no attempt to “live up to” anyone or anything but Chestnut’s own vision.
Much is made of his deep gospel influence, which made itself known in his soulful “Ami’s Dance,” and the chiming chords of the standard “I’ve Never Been in Love Before.” But on Saturday night, Chestnut’s filter was the blues. Everything he touched came out sounding like the blues, be it Charlie Parker’s bebop “Yardbird Suite” or a vaguely Latin take on Lionel Richie’s “Hello.” (“You’ll have to forgive us for not playing it Lionel Richie’s way,” Chestnut joked.) That second work introduced another motif that would continue throughout the set: quotes from other songs. “Hello” incorporated “Summertime,” “My Favorite Things” — even the theme from TV’s “Bonanza,” which resurfaced later in “Yardbird Suite.” Another tune morphed into the “Jeopardy” theme, then “Three Blind Mice” — usually calculated for laughs but also beautifully played.
Although he never abandoned the blues, Chestnut showed his virtuosity by recalibrating his approach with every song. He pursued Ellington’s “In a Mellotone” with a double-note voicing that suggested the Sicilian piano tradition. “A Door for the Door of No Return” made use of masterful dynamics, while “Giant Steps” received a delicate touch that seemed to tease the sound out of the keys. “I’ve Never Been in Love Before” seemed to change flavors with every improvised chorus.
But if Chestnut was unpredictable, Wheeler and Beck were together a model of solid support. They held the swing beat steady in the closing “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” even as the pianist re-syncopated it in his solo, and they played frenetic bop rhythms on “Giant Steps,” Beck even dropping bombs on his bass drum. Wheeler had a feature in Chestnut’s “Soul Brother Cool,” embodying the song’s title with a solo that combined walking bass with a muscular swagger.
The one flaw in the set was a persistent buzz in Chestnut’s microphone. The pianist is already soft-spoken, and his announcements came in a near-whisper that was tough to hear in the best of circumstances. The mic problems rendered him incomprehensible in the back of the room. Chestnut took it as a sign: “Maybe I just need to stop talking and play some music,” he said.
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