Dave Anderson Quartet

Jazz Bombs at Tula's

I went to our ‘Earshot Hall of Fame’ jazz venue, Tula’s, on a brisk Thursday night to see the Dave Anderson Quartet play. This was Dave’s debut performance at the club and surprisingly his 2nd performance with the personnel in his group. As Dave warmed up the first set with his band, the music seemed to transport me out of Tula’s into a club that felt more New York’ish. The music propelled me into a swirl of modern jazz luminaries such as Wayne Shorter, Kenny Garrett, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Many of the tunes were originals and arrangements composed by the bandleader himself. I list the other jazz luminaries because the music certainly felt on par stylistically and dynamically.

The group itself had a light sensitive touch interspersed with some cold Seattle “Bombs” dropped by drummer Adam Kessler. There was nice interplay and a kind of improvisation that goes along well with other groups like Wayne Shorter’s Footprints band. The music was open, angular, yet sweet and not so modern that it would go over an average Joe that could stumble in to take a listen. The group is definitely pushing the boundaries of Seattle with other groups like the Thomas Marriott Quartet, Jason Parker Quartet and the Victor Noriega Trio to name just a few.

That evening, Dave played exquisite lines that felt like stairways to M. C. Escher’s ‘Relativity.’ Out of his saxophone came melodic and swooping lines, executed with care and a relaxed precision. I was equally impressed with pianist John Hansen’s well-crafted chordal bombs and Chuck Kistler’s straight-up bass lines. The rhythm section backed up Dave as he whisked the audience around with his colorful and rich Soprano & Tenor Sax tone. The trio had such sensitivity to Dave’s playing I would have guessed had been developed from playing together for several years. To my surprise Adam told me they had literally come together for the last few gigs about a month ago - Jazz at its finest! It takes skilled players to play such modern sounding tunes, but it takes real maturity, listening and trust to come together as a group with such caliber.

I’ll look forward to hearing these guys in the future and think they will be pulling happy audiences into a new perspective of Seattle Jazz. Watch out – Cold bombs may be dropped!

-Josh Rawlings, Local pianist and partner of J&J Music

For more information on Dave Anderson and where he will be performing next please visit: http://www.daveandersonjazz.com/