OK, I can already hear some of you saying “Why are you talking about Bent Spoon and Aaron Leaney in the jazz notes column?” After all, according to some, these guys aren’t doing jazz. It’s found sound, improvisational music, creative music or a heavy cocktail of all three. True, but “Nu Jazz” has also been tossed around in describing some of these performers. That ’90s term, a mixing of funk, electronic dance, free-improvised sounds and more traditional jazz instrumentals hits the mark, particularly when we’re talking about Leaney’s music. Genre-nitpicking aside, the most common word in all descriptions of Bent Spoon, Leaney’s trio and the Bug Incision events is improvisation.
The other thing they all have in common is Chris Dadge. Take the Bent Spoon Trio for example. After a short flirtation with original composition in its early years, this group focused all its energy on free improvisation. Their drummer and key founder is Dadge, and the trio records under their own Bug Incision label. Check them out at the Grand on January 11 for a mind-bending “found sounds” experience — it’s the fourth edition of the Bug Incision and Theatre Junction Improvisation series and is a pay-as-you-can performance.
A week later (January 18 and 19), the Beat Niq is holding a two-night CD release party for Leaney. Be ready for both improvised music and original composition at these performances. The Aaron Leaney 3, promoting their new CD, features Dadge on drums and Thom Golub on bass, with Leaney on saxophone. Leaney’s influences are broad, ranging from Thelonius Monk and Bob Marley to Bach and Björk, and he’s always been intent on defying genres and boundaries. His career spans eight years of teaching, studying and experimenting, and he and Dadge have known each other since they were teens. No accident, then, that Dadge is part of this new project. For an earlier project from the pair, track down Leaney’s first LP, Duo. That one, a live recording, was more of a free improv experiment.