Chris Potter
Improvised Music Company Present From NYC:
Chris Potter’s Underground
Chris Potter – saxophones
Craig Taborn – Fender Rhodes
Adam Rogers – guitar
Nate Smith - drums
“One of the best saxophonists on the planet.” The Guardian
“It's a typically American, specifically New York thing; begin at full tilt and keep on going from there. And they did, with a brilliant outpouring of invention and skill that held a capacity audience enthralled throughout the night. This is a group which could turn on the proverbial dime.” - The Irish Times
8pm Sat 13th Jan: Dolan’s Warehouse, Limerick
Adm €20/12conc tel 061 314483
8pm Sun 14th Jan: Whelan’s Wexford St, Dublin 2
Adm €25 tel 1890 200078
IMC opens its 2007 offering with a return to Ireland by the brilliant saxophonist Chris Potter, undisputed keeper of the flame of the great American tenor tradition.
It burns brightly, and Potter’s Dublin concert of two years ago fairly rattled the joists of Whelans with propulsive, exhilarating solo passages built from a band foundation rich in new jazz language, with scalding, funky grooves and outrageous twists in rhythmic gravity.
His stylistic alchemy of legendary players like Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson with this most contemporary rhythm aesthetic demonstrates a shrewd respect for balance between old and new, a lesson absorbed during his lengthy tenure with bassist Dave Holland, with whom Potter has a unique creative rapport. Indeed, he’s actively sought out lengthy apprenticeships with the masters, and time spent in Steely Dan under the perfectionist Donald Fagan has yielded other rewards, including a musical sensibility that defiantly scoffs at the idea that jazz at the cutting edge is incompatible with a good night out.
His co-celebrants of the good groove include the riveting drummer Nate Smith, another mainstay of the lauded Holland Quintet, who creates rhythmic opportunity at every turn, and with a physical intensity that drives this band ever onward. Adam Rogers, on guitar and Craig Taborn at the Fender Rhodes are equally resourceful, spinning lines off the hip that continuously weave into the melodic and rhythmic loom, and creating the challenging angles for Potter’s virtuoso saxophone to negotiate. Buckle up.
