Music
Sunday, 06 September 2009 01:09
Written by Jenn Chan Lyman

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Featuring the Theo Croker Quartet: Theo Croker (trumpet) from New York, Mark Bai (piano) from Nanjing, Alex Ritz (drums) from New York, and Curtis Ostle (bass) from Washington DC.

photo by Harleen Randhawa

Friday night, 9:25 pm. I'm ready to be blown away by Sound Blue, the new jazz club on Sinan Lu.

The moment I walk in, I'm struck by how small the space is. Another few steps in and I'm relieved by the tall ceilings. Intimate yet not claustrophobic. The interior is simple: exposed brick and mahogany furnishings with framed black and whites of jazz greats on the walls – this bar is dedicated to the music. The lighting is bright enough for guests to see their knees, not dark enough to be a cop-a-feel date place. In one word, classy. So far, there’s only one negative I’ve heard about this place – the daunting prices. House pours start around 60RMB – about a hair below House of Blues and Jazz and about the same as Cabaret. As I take a seat, I notice that the patrons are pretty subdued and seem to be waiting for the show. The band is ready to go and Theo introduces the first song as 'All The Things You Are.'

'All The Things You Are' is a jazz standard, which, much like many standards, was first composed for a musical (Very Warm for May, 1939). There have been many famous recordings of this tune, one of which was the live recording of Charlie Parker’s legendary quintet with Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach (Jazz at Massey Hall, 1953).

Alex and Curtis begin with a fast, fuzzy beat and Theo follows with a gentle take on this classic before rolling into a brighter verse. Mark's piano solo is fairly quiet in comparison to the drum and bass. The drums seem the slightest bit off-kilter, but perhaps I'm just not getting it. Curtis' bass is as constant as his impish smile. I enjoy the bass solo as I sip on a Sound Blue Special courtesy of the very hospitable owner, Simon Wu. I hear a rumor that we should be hearing him later in the night. For now, though, he's content to whoop it up and cheer on the quartet, and his enthusiasm for the music adds to the vibe.

Theo brings the band together for an elegant close before launching into 'There Is No Greater Love,' another 1930s standard, with a trumpet mute. Theo's muted horn gives the song an indigo tint. Sound balance has been adjusted (by Theo on the sly) and we can hear Mark better now. For a relatively small place, they seem to have the sound engineering down pat. The piano could still be more audible though. A very brave member of the audience begins jiving in front of the stage, shaking away until the drum beat confuses her for a half step. Alex's rhythm is easier to understand in this song, but you can tell he's an ambitious player, seeking something new in his expression. Taking risks, if you will.

Mark leads “I Fall In Love Too Easily” (a 1945 Sinatra hit) with a solo, contemplative yet playful. Curtis seems to be harboring a private joke as he takes us on a little saunter. Theo takes his horn to the edge for a couple high notes and brings it back down for a straight-to-the-heart close. This could be the best I've heard Theo yet. Mark's piano is be-fittingly subtle for this tune, but I'm still interested to hear him really break loose in a solo.

Theo chats up the crowd and there's a particularly vocal couple in the middle booth. Ah, it's that brave girl from before but it turns out that she's not so much brave as just massively drunk. She yells out “You suck!” and “You're great!” all in the span of forty seconds, mumbling an incomprehensible speech in between. That’s the thing with small bars, one annoying client can take down the vibe of the whole place pretty fast.

Next is 'Footprints' by Wayne Shorter, which has an altogether different beat and intensity. The rhythm section strides forward as Theo, again muted, has the lung capacity of a small whale as he riffles up and down and around without seeming to take a breath. This song is more complex and Alex's drumming is perfect in its measured chaos. Mark's face is puckered in concentration as he solos. I'm still waiting for more. I know he's got it in him. Alex is breaking down all sorts of crazy beats and I move closer to see what he's doing. He has quite a bit of control as he leads us through a spectrum of madness. I love it.

'Footprints' first appeared on Wayne Shorter’s album Adam’s Apple in 1966. Eight months later, Miles Davis recorded a crazier version on Miles Smiles that became more well-known than the original.

A yummy basket of popcorn has arrived just in time for intermission. Simon gives me a bit of his background as we wait for the next set. Originally from Shanghai, Simon studied in Tokyo for five years and has been playing the saxophone for twenty. Simon explains that he "want(s) to make [Sound Blue] a professional jazz club, like in Japan where there are jazz clubs that are small yet comfortable." This is a place where you can kick back with a glass and get away with being alone. No shame for the loners only here to soak in the jazz. Theo’s impression of the club echoes Simon’s aspirations: “[Sound Blue] is an authentic, straight ahead jazz club, with an American-Japanese vibe.”

I head upstairs to check out the second floor and find it’s quite a nice date place. View of the stage from the banister, intimate tables for couples, and booths for small groups. Bathrooms always give you a sense of the underlying classiness of a place, and Sound Blue’s is average. I was hoping for a super fancy Japanese wunder-loo. The two-in-one bathroom has the strangest placement, where your face is right next to the urinal bowl when you’re trying to use the toilet. But anyway, nothing can be worse than the hole at Xintiandi’s CJW.

Second set commences and Theo introduces a tune Jackie McLean wrote for his wife. I believe the name is 'Ballad for Doll.' [Post edit: doh, Alex corrects me later - it's actually 'Little Melonae' written for his daughter]. As Theo mentions, at Sound Blue you can "hear the nuances." The stage is close enough to the audience to see Alex's flying sticks and the high ceilings let the instruments resonate just enough. Definitely a place that jazz dorks could call home. The friendly management is also a positive. Now if those prices could just ease up a little...

'Oleo' written by Sonny Rollins in 1954 is next and Simon Wu jumps onstage with an alto sax. The band seems to be adjusting to find the groove as the quartet becomes a quint. They find it quickly and Simon's flying forwards and backwards. Ah, there it is, that solo I've been waiting for from Mark – charged and inspired. Fox from Germany, who's just gotten back into town recently, jumps onstage with his tenor for the next song by Dizzy Gillespie, “A Night In Tunisia,” a bebop standard written in 1942. Theo tells the audience that Dizzy tried to run for President back in sixties.

It’s true! The life and times of Dizzy G are full of fun trivia. Not only did he have the biggest cheeks ever, but he also carried around a strange looking trumpet (bent trumpet) and was a famous believer of the Bahá'í Faith (preaches the underlying unity of all major religions). In the year leading up to the 1964 presidential election, Dizzy was hot on the campaign trail, singing “Vote Dizzy, vote Dizzy!” in lieu of “Salt peanuts, salt peanuts!”

Fox bends along his solo and Theo's cheering him on from the side. It's nice to see the camaraderie in the group. A sax player walks through the door and is welcomed onstage open armed. We're getting heavy in the brass as Theo, Fox and Simon ensemble for a few seconds before Simon gives an energetically punctuated solo. The sound is even rounder with the additional brass. Theo's at the helm again and I'm appreciating his tone – there's just something very clean about his horn. Ah, those nuances.

Unfortunately, it's 11:30 and I'm being called away by a beautiful lady running the Absolut party at the Vue, but I know I'll be back for another Sound Blue Special soon. The night's still young. Perhaps I'll return in two shakes of an Absolut martini bartender...

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