Jazz breaking news: Pino Palladino And Chris Dave Invoke The Spirit of Fela, Marley and D’Angelo At Ronnie Scott’s
Thursday, October 6, 2011
A bass player’s bass player for the best part of three decades Pino Palladino has carved an enviable niche, latterly with The Who, John Mayer, Adele and a huge swathe of hip hop and R&B stars, not to mention his own jazz fusion trio, as the go-to guy for that perfect pocket groove.
He’s also won an army of followers for his deferential style that’s all about hitting slinky, behind the beat bass lines rather than showboating solos, and last night’s debut show for the bassist as bandleader was typified by exemplary group interplay over individual heroics. Yet if there’s one rhythm section player who’s been leading from the back in recent years it’s explosive hip hop fusion drum monster Chris ‘Daddy’ Dave, whose extreme dynamic range encompasses the lightest and tightest of beats to the most extravagant metric manipulations and outright solo onslaughts. Together Palladino and Dave dipped into a whole history of iconic rhythm section sounds from the rock-edged dub of Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett on a chugging take of Bob Marley’s ‘Crisis’, to an outstanding version of Fela Kuti’s ‘Zombie’, the febrile Afrobeat groove kicked into overdrive by Pino’s gyrating fingers and some fulsome horns, all to uproarious effect.
The latter brass trio included trombonist Harry Brown, young gun trumpet ace Mark Crown and the ever compelling Jason Yarde who switched between soprano, tenor and baritone saxes in commanding style, all three players soloing with aplomb. Keyboardist James Poyser, best known for his work with acclaimed hip hoppers The Roots, and versatile guitarist Tim Stewart also played their part in slipping between styles without pause for breath that saw Stewart’s jabbering funk licks and Afrobeat riffing bobbing and weaving with pulse-quickening intensity. South African chromatic harmonica virtuoso Adam Glasser also made several melodious contributions, his sweet sounding harp at times taking on melodica-like Augustus Pablo qualities, while former Average White Band vocalist Hamish Stuart added his warm soul falsetto to husky updates of ‘Who’s That Lady’, reworked from its 1960s original, and a horn-stacked take on Marvin Gaye’s ‘Desperate Situation.’
Yet this was Pino’s night, and as with every great bass stylist (be it Jaco, Jamerson, or our own Danny Thompson) it was the sheer breadth and depth of his musical interests that shone the brightest here. His sure footed and purposeful playing always pushing, probing and propelling all manner of genre-hopping delights, that even included a fired up rendition of Tony Williams’ Lifetime classic ‘Fred’ (still a favourite of Allan Holdsworth today). Dave’s drumming on the latter was rightfully emphatic too.
The second set’s knotty prog-fusion instrumentals gave way to a heavy hip hop flavoured section that peaked in excitement with a much-requested version of D’Angelo’s ‘Chicken Grease’. Akin to Pino’s "‘greatest hit" its sly darting bass line created another hypnotic, head bobbing groove that further entranced the spellbound crowd. It was testimony indeed to Palladino’s unrelenting groove power that for a moment it felt like they could have played all night.
– Mike Flynn