All Ellington—New Dutch Swing Meets Vancouver lived up to its billing

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      The best book about Amsterdam’s vital modern jazz scene remains Kevin Whitehead’s 2000 opus New Dutch Swing, and based on two jazz-fest concerts those lowlanders know their way around old American swing, too. At the Eric Boeren 4tet’s Ironworks concert on Friday (June 26) the trumpeter and his colleagues got way out there, but also sounded at times like they could have dropped into the Duke Ellington Orchestra, circa 1938, with no difficulty at all.

      What some didn’t realize, though, was that Boeren and his Amsterdam friends host a monthly Ellington-themed jam session, much like the one they replicated at Ironworks the following night (June 27). All Ellington—New Dutch Swing Meets Vancouver lived up to its billing, with saxophonists Jon Bentley and John Paton, trumpeter JP Carter, trombonist Rod Murray, and drummer Dylan van der Schyff joining Boeren, bassist Wilbert de Joode, and California-born reeds player Michael Moore to revisit “Koko”, “Cottontail”, “Rockin’ in Rhythm”, and other ducal highlights.

      The night didn’t quite catch fire, perhaps due to the absence of Boeren’s wildman drummer, Han Bennink. Yet it had its sublime moments, some of which were also sublimely strange. Whether due to the heat or the octet’s impromptu nature, many of the arrangements oozed slightly askew, rather like a Salvador Dalí timepiece or a nice ripe Camembert. The effect was more attractive than off-putting, however, and allowed the musicians room for deftly personalized solos that invoked the Ellington spirit without imitating it.

      Moore was the undeniable star, adding slippery circular-breathing tricks to his deep understanding of the Johnny Hodges songbook, but the Vancouver players more than held their own.

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