DREW GRESS' 7 BLACK BUTTERFLIES at the JAZZ GALLERY, Feb 20, 2009
FEB 20, 2009 -- TRIBECA: The 7 Black Butterflies band consists of composer in chief Drew Gress on upright bass, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Tim Berne on alto saxophone, Craig Taborn on piano, and Tom Rainey on drums. Each of these talented fellows boasts a truly personal voice on their instruments and have each become sought after sidemen and bandleaders. The individual accomplishments and highly listenable catalogs of every member of 7 Black Butterflies place an unavoidable expectation on a live performance in which all parties are combined. Somehow, someway, Gress' compositions, and the individual tact of the band members brought the music itself to the forefront, and the pieces spoke for themselves, with the improvisations embellishing the creative arrangements, rather than outshining them.
A prominent difference between many popular jazz and improvised musicians versus rock or pop stars, other than whether or not their Grammy acceptance speak is televised, is physical presentation corresponding with the bad-assery of the music. Pete Townsend had his wind-milling right arm, Kurt Cobain had his crowd prone somersaults, and GG Allin had his stage defecation. The members of Drew Gress' 7 Black Butterflies represent a different breed of performer, and I will attempt to represent that and the feelings the performance gave me in the following poem...
The Silent Badass
The only thing this show is missing is
Pyrotechnics.
Performers stand stagnant.
Still, their notes do moonwalks, and break bones
The silent Badasses
"I usually don't perspire this much on stage"
Whispering inside jokes
Fucking, great music.
