In a 75-minute set at on Saturday night, the trio covered not just decades, but millennia.
Potter’s latest album, “The Sirens,” is a group of original compositions based on Homer’s “Odyssey.” Itap rare when jazz songs come ready-made with a theme beyond the suggestions of their titles but, as Potter began the album’s “Stranger at the Gate,” the melodic line shifted palpably from the opening standard, “I Wish I Knew.”
Potter’s tenor sax wavered the echo-like opening phrase back and forth. Bassist Larry Grenadier entered a marching bass line and drummer Eric Harland filled in lightly between the steps, as Potter gradually built toward a spiraling improvised solo. At the song’s end, Potter returned to the melody on soprano sax and Grenadier bowed his bass in deep tones, a classical approach to a classic theme. You may not have had visions of a disguised Odysseus finally returned to the gate of his own home, but the epic tone of the song was undeniable.
What made the set so satisfying was that each successive song also had its own personality and mood, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise given Potter’s history. From his days as an 18-year-old in New York playing with Red Rodney to his status as one of the preeminent improvisers in jazz today, Potter has always been exploratory in his approach. He has studied more meditative music as a member of drummer Paul Motian’s group and has swung hard and fast as a sideman in the Dave Holland Quintet, arguably the best band in jazz today. All of these influences have left their mark on Potter’s music and helped give him his own voice.
The non-album composition “Sky” opened with a long, funk-inspired solo from Grenadier that Potter stepped in to accent on bass clarinet. Back on tenor, Potter let loose with a breathtaking solo that had Grenadier and Harlan smiling. As Potter took a step or two back from the mic, Harlan, who had mastered the difficult “quick but quiet” style of drumming up till now, drove up the intensity. Grenadier joined in and the whole band played in unison at full force to song’s end.
Closing the set was the raucous “Ask Me Why,” Potter’s composition from “The Monterey Quartet” live album. Beginning in jagged bursts from his tenor, Potter climbed through a solo that evoked phrases of Coltrane’s “Countdown.” Harlan wowed the audience at song’s end with an extended turn that was as melodic as it was frenetic.
When the lights came up and the band returned to pack out, the sellout crowd still hadn’t stopped applauding and calling for another song. “I just came out to put my horns away,” said Potter, “but you guys are persuasive.” The rest of the band came up for an encore of the 1939 ballad “Darn That Dream,” a nice end to a performance as eclectic as it was masterful.
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Denver-based writer Sam DeLeo is a published poet, has seen two of his plays produced and recently completed his novel, “As We Used to Sing.” His selected work can be read at .
