by Michael Ouchakof and Mike Engel
Regardless of medium, there are few art forms that embrace the fluidity of improvisation as whole-heartedly as jazz. The final night of the Undead Music Festival unleashed a tour-de-force of improvisation at 92YTribeca, featuring a host of musicians in the form of round-robin duets, much to the delight of the packed house.
In his introductory statement of the evening, festival curator Adam Schatz remarked that, "You don't know what's going to happen, I don't know what's going to happen…not even the performers know what is going to happen." It was remarkable how prophetic that statement came to be, despite the fact that the order of musicians was predetermined and published. For instance, I would wager that nobody would have predicted that Matthew Mottel would have taken a brief break from his keyboards in order to blow bubbles across the stage.
Mottel's bubble blowing was one of many unexpected outcomes from the night's improvisations. Aside from that whimsical surprise, I also saw Brandon Seabrook use a violin bow on his banjo, Cooper Moore play two instruments I had never seen before (and therefore cannot identify), and John Hollenbeck and Mike Pride share a drumset. During the drummers' duet, I was mesmerized by the way John Hollenbeck hit cymbals of all sizes, and then wove a microphone around them to "paint sonic pictures."
Similar to the spirit of Medeski, Martin, and Wood’s display of collaborative musicianship just two nights prior, the round-robins demonstrated the power and flexibility of jazz as an art form through its structure of the continuously revolving participants—adding layers of sound, experimentation, and energy with each change.
The energy was not lost on the sold-out crowd (or the seemingly endless stream of seventeen musicians who built upon the improvisational efforts of one another), resulting in a rich sound that only the Undead Festival could evoke after three nights of unbridled music throughout the city.
True to the nature and intent of the night’s format, the music, its participants, and those in attendance became integral components to the overall experience; transcending the individual in the utmost sense of the word and capping off a remarkable run for the Festival.
Round-robin duet participants (in order of appearance): Amir Ziv, drums; John Ellis, tenor saxophone; Matthew Mottel, keyboards; Brandon Seabrook, banjo; Bob Stewart, tuba; Jeff Lederer, tenor saxophone; Marika Hughes, cello; Linda Oh, bass; Mark Helias, bass; Bill McHenry, tenor saxophone; John Hollenbeck, drums, cymbals, percussion; Mike Pride, drums, cymbals, percussion; Loren Stillman, alto saxophone; Cooper Moore, instruments; Miles Okazaki, guitar; Fabian Almazan, piano; Graham Haynes, trumpet.