The group was supposed to be a democracy, drummer Adam Nussbaum jokingly informed the audience. But he was the one with the microphone, and so the role of dictator fell on his shoulders. Nussbaum's leadership wasn't limited to emceeing Saturday night's Nuttree Quartet concert at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale, though. Among the most musical of jazz drummers, he drove the action from behind his kit, providing a veritable swatch book of colors and textures as he traded sticks for brushes, brushes for mallets and swung in all tempos. More of a role player than a dazzling soloist, he shone brightest when supporting his bandmates than in his solo spots.
Joined by longtime colleague John Abercrombie on guitar, Gary Versace on Hammond B3 organ and Bill Evans on tenor and soprano saxophones, Nussbaum led the group through two sets of exciting and highly imaginative modern jazz. Although incarnations of the quartet recorded two albums of standards (last year's uninspiringly titled but brilliant Standards, which featured Jerry Bergonzi on saxophone, and the soon-to-be-released Something Sentimental, with Dave Liebman on sax and Jay Anderson on bass), the concert rarely delved into the Great American Songbook. And when it did, the pieces were so radically reharmonized as to render them almost unrecognizable. Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean" was taken at a brisk clip and featured some outstanding solo work from the ever-creative Versace, who approximated the bubbly sounds of the briny deep. Evans stated the theme to Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love," but then Abercrombie's superb solo unraveled the skein of the melody like a cat toying with a ball of yarn.
A master of understatement, Abercrombie's hushed and sublime sonics provided a counterweight to his bandmates' exuberance, commanding a dazzling array of lovely chords and exuding quiet eloquence on his deeply soulful solos. The group opened with a couple of the guitarist's more joyful compositions, the brightly hued "Jazz Folk" and an ever-shifting tune he penned for his wife. On the latter, Nussbaum handed the microphone to the seemingly taciturn Abercrombie who got the night's biggest laughs with his intro to the piece; he explained that he wrote it at the suggestion of his wife after forgetting to get her an anniversary present. Another Abercrombie original, "A Nice Idea" showcased a mysterious and complex melodic line.
A couple of Nussbaum's original tunes made it to the highlight reel, as well, with the ballad "We Three" seguing into the charging "BTU," which the drummer teasingly said stood for something a mite more personal than "British Thermal Unit" (maybe "Black Thong Undies?"), and once again displayed the group's dynamic synergy. Evans offered a big, confident sound on tenor, his horn perhaps a bit too prominent in the mix. Still, his ideas were terrific, and his tone and phrasing even more engaging on the soprano sax. His composition "Cool Eddie" kicked off the abbreviated second set on a funky, uptempo note, and gave Abercrombie the opportunity to unspool some fiery blues licks, as well.
But the biggest revelation of the evening was Versace. Ensconced behind what appeared to be a much-used B3, he appeared to be having a blast, his playfulness and orginality on the instrument in evidence throughout. Cherrypicking notes, providing warm atmospherics, keeping a pulse on the bottom end and even dipping into reggae riddims, the keyboardist was truly a breath of fresh air.
The Nuttree Quartet concluded its performance with a read of Wayne Shorter's modern classic, "Footprints," a tune from Nuttree's Standards disc that truly allows Nussbaum to shine. From his (abbreviated) tribal intro to his slippery, snaky cymbal work and insistent sticking, he snapped the reins and drove the team through a quickstepping jaunt on this bit of modal exotica that surely sent what remained of the audience out the door buzzing. Of course, those expecting to hear a night of standards played the way they've always been played had already split.
