Kenji Lee’s Elmo Hope Quartet at the Blue LLama
On a chilly Wednesday in October, we visited the Blue LLama in Ann Arbor to hear the second set of saxophonist Kenji Lee and drummer Pete Siers’s new project celebrating the compositions of the hard bop pioneer pianist Elmo Hope, in a quartet with Andrew Bishop on tenor and soprano saxes and Andy Peck on bass.
Born and raised in New York, Hope grew up with Bud Powell and early on befriended Thelonious Monk but following a stint in the army and a decade playing mainly in rhythm and blues bands, he began to make his mark in jazz at age thirty, when he made his first recordings in 1953 and 1954. With one exception, the tunes of the night came from this early period.
The band opened with “Bellarosa,” perhaps Hope’s best-known composition, based on the harmonies of “I Got Rhythm.” From the first moments, they were cooking, with Siers pushing hard, bringing to mind the controlled assertive drive of Roy Brooks, working perfectly in tandem with Peck’s powerful big-toned bass. The two tenor saxophonists explored the familiar changes with customary ease, finding new details in different ways, their well-developed beautiful rich tones blending well but also providing some good juxtaposition as Lee prefers a bit more of an edge in his sound than does his former teacher. This was ever so much more evident to good effect when both reached for the soprano saxophones. The choice of tunes provided good contrasts, including a medium tempo “Stars over Marrakesh,” a tender ballad “Eyes so Beautiful as Yours,” and the faster “Abdullah” that featured a wonderfully melodic solo by Siers. The evening ended with the exuberant minor key “Crazy.”
It was gratifying to hear Hope’s music being kept alive and to be reminded of his unique compositional contributions to the music. The piano-less quartet played the often-intricate melodies with inspired ease, and the soloing was exceptional by all. The occasion was a nice one as it was Lee’s birthday, made special by the presence of bassist Ron Brooks, whose contributions to the jazz scene in downtown Ann Arbor are legion, including running his wonderful Bird of Paradise jazz club, where for many years the house Ron Brooks Trio included Peter Siers on drums. And, of course, Ron was one of the founding members of SEMJA.