This is becoming a summer that celebrates the bass violin. Several performances have been memorable in the past few weeks. It began with an invitation from Jane Grenier for “An Evening of Improvised Alchemy,” on June 15, some days before the summer solstice. Jane and I met downtown in 2012 at a community meeting hosted by Patricia and William Parker of Arts for Art, Inc., and Jane has become a friend. She willingly helped us get the word out about our 2012 Merkin Hall Tribute to Wilbur Ware. Getting the chance to experience her work, I thoroughly enjoyed “Tragically Hip,” the poetry of Jane improvised with Albey’s musical concepts. It was a pleasure meeting Jane’s husband Albey and hearing his acoustic bass approach. A poet at heart, I was captivated by the poetry and mesmerized by the bass. Experiencing the performance is vital, but seeing the words on the page with Albey’s art adds a dimension otherwise unavailable. I thank them for sharing both.
Following this duo performance was Albey’s Bassentric. Joining Albey were bassists Ken Filiano and Francois Grillot, along with special guests, vocalist Fay Victor and dancer Mayo Yamaguchi. These were unusual and inspiring performances with other interpretive elements. Nowadays, it is rare to hear acoustic bass playing or see the bass used as a literal percussive device; I remained until the end. (I had planned to leave and catch the performance of Reggie Workman at The Vision Festival...I missed this performance.)