Montreal, Day 5

The one thing I’m most looking forward to upon returning to the States is going to breakfast where the coffee keeps flowing. For whatever reason, the Quebecois waiters haven’t exactly been quick with the refills, and it’s been a week of severe undercaffeination.

My final day in Montreal (though not the Fest’s, which runs through next weekend) starts out with the second of Joshua Redman’s Invitation series concerts. As opposed to last night’s modernistic set with Aaron Parks and co., tonight’s show is a bop-leaning tenor duel with Joe Lovano, with Redman’s frequent collaborators Sam Yahel (piano), Reuben Rogers (bass), and Gregory Hutchinson (drums) providing support. The set opens with Booker Little and proceeds through Lennie Tristano and the Sonny Stitt/Gene Ammons showcase “Blues Up and Down” with a little Shorter and Ornette thrown in for good measure. For the most part, the show is a barnburner, with Redman and Lovano crossing swords and one-upping one another. The odd man out here was Yahel, who insisted on playing in a sparse, fragmentary fashion wholly inappropriate in this context. While comping he seemed to disappear, when soloing he killed momentum, almost tripping up Rogers and Hutchinson who had to slam on the brakes to accompany him.

This was followed by Kenny Werner’s Quintet, featuring his latest solo-mates, Scott Colley and Antonio Sanchez, along with saxophonist David Sanchez and trumpeter Randy Brecker. Werner has a knack for assembling trios, and when the rhythm section played unaccompanied, I almost wished that the horn players had stayed home – until Sanchez stepped up and delivered solo after solo of depth and fire. Brecker was Brecker for the most part, and I would have much preferred to see what a player like, say, Dave Douglas – who guested on Werner’s last CD – would have done. But Brecker did match well with the closing number, a surprising take on John Williams’ “Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter soundtracks. Brecker seemed to mesh with Williams’ narrative sense, which is something that must have appealed to Werner as well. The set, culled mainly from Werner’s 2007 CD Lawn Chair Society, which the pianist continually shrugged off as “dated social commentary”, was full of the whimsy and humor that marks much of his work. But it also featured a tearjerking take on “Uncovered Heart”, a tribute to his daughter, and a gorgeous solo fantasia on the folk song “Barbara Allen.”

The final show was an appearance by the Branford Marsalis Quartet, featuring their latest addition, Philly’s own 18-year-old drum wunderkind Justin Faulkner. Coming off so many shows that were both superb musically and unique in their make-ups, this came off as something of a disappointing close, though it was a perfectly solid evening for the group. Faulkner’s place in the band makes sense, as he is very much a powerhouse in the Jeff “Tain” Watts mold, but his and the quartet’s unrelenting approach came off as too busy and more than a little tiring after so much music.

All in all, though, a fantastic festival, and one which I would have gladly stuck around for another week to complete. Maybe next year.