A Buddy and Flip fest

With no full-fledged local jazz nightclub now in existence, where better to showcase the art of jazz than in an art gallery? That’s the case for the South County Jazz Club’s high-profile concert series at the Venice FL Art Center.

The center’s main gallery holds a maximum of 100 people, and there were few empty seats for today’s treat. Tampa-based drummer Ken Loomer brought his longstanding trio with pianist Tony Castellano Jr. and tenor saxophonist Franco Marino. It was a flashy and fun afternoon, with the leader showing off chops and enthusiasm reminiscent of his hero, Buddy Rich, and Marino’s frisky tenor coming more from a Flip Phillips style.

The range of material was expansive, from American Songbook standards and a few big band staples to Miles Davis’s “Seven Steps to Heaven,” Sonny Rollins’ calypso “St. Thomas” and Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man.” Castellano doubled on vocals on several tunes, including two originals and “Nancy With the Laughing Face” and “Just in Time.”

Loomer plays the full drum kit with abandon and subtlety during his lengthy spotlight solos, such as on the closer “Caravan,” where he sometimes played one stick off the other with the most delicate touch. Then after a journey up and down one cymbal, got a delightful tone off the tiny tip- top of the cymbal stand.

These guys have fun together and love to bring the audience along in the same spirit. As the concert began, a cellphone rang in the audience. Not missing a beat, Marino quipped “We work alone.”

The club, which provides jazz events serving in Venice, Englewood and North Port, holds monthly concerts at the art center September through December and in April. They run bi-weekly January through March. Trombonist Greg Nielsen’s quartet is on deck for January 27.

Note concerning the bottom photo: even his bandmates get into Loomer's solos, as noted by Castellano's cellphone camera work.

Jazz in the SW Florida spotlight

Allan Vaché Quintet

Charlotte County Jazz Society
Clarinetist Allan Vaché may be best known for his 17-year stint (1975-1992) with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band, a San Antonio-based classic jazz/early jazz outfit that received heavy exposure on NPR’s “Riverwalk” weekly broadcast. That experience must seem like ancient history, since Vaché set out on his own as a solo artist 16 years ago. He’s based in Orlando FL, travels extensively for festivals and concerts, and has made a dozen recordings for the Arbors Jazz label.

Vaché displayed his stylistic range and strong chops Monday night with a quintet appearance at the acoustically marvelous Cultural Center Theater in Port Charlotte FL. It was his second performance in three years as part of the Charlotte County Jazz Society’s annual concert series. His band included cornetist Davey Jones, pianist Jeff Phillips, bassist Charlie Silva and drummer Ed Metz Jr. All of the players received significant spotlights.

The evening’s two sets included some updates on early Swing jazz, with Vaché also blending other styles. There was a bit of bop (“Bernie’s Tune”), obscure standards, chestnuts from the American Songbook, the Duke Ellington songbook, Nat King Cole (complete with Vaché‘s vocal take on the clever lyrics to “Straighten Up and Fly Right”) and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s beautiful boss nova “Look to the Sky.” The evening wound down with a blistering take on “Caravan” featuring Metz - with Phillips adding a twist with his clavé comping.

Vaché’s clarinet playing is marvelous, particularly as he digs in and shares the passion he finds within a tune. In that regard, he seemed at times to be channeling the emotional style of his clarinet hero, the late Kenny Davern. It was most evident on “Bernie’s Tune,” “After You’ve Gone,” the Jobim bossa nova and “Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me.”

As the leader introduced the band, he told telling the audience of about 300: “If you like me, my name is Allan Vaché. If you don’t like me, my name is Warren Vaché.”

There likely will be a lot more such sibling humor on March 9 when the Vaché Brothers Swinging Quintet, featuring Allan on clarinet and Warren on cornet, performs up the road at the Sarasota Jazz Festival. It will feature the same rhythm section.