Mostly Other People Do the Killing 2/17/2008

Mostly Other People Do the Killing
Sunday 2/17/2008
The Hungry Brain, Chicago IL
Peter Evans, trumpet
Jon Irabagon, saxophone
Kevin Shea, percussion
Moppa Elliott, bass/composition

I went to this show knowing only that my friend Peter Evans was playing. Most of the times that I have gone to hear him play, the music has been very freely improvised, structured by timbres and energies which end up falling into some kind of spontaneous and convincing arc (that’s how I hear it, anyway). Upon arriving at the Hungry Brain on Sunday night, and being informed by Peter that the group that night would be a “jazz quartet,” I was excited. I’ve enjoyed Peter’s playing every time I’ve encountered it, and I was really interested to hear what “jazz quartet” meant for him. I sat on the couch in the front row of the space with my friend Eric and some whiskey, and I waited expectantly.

The show was amazing, to cut right to the chase. Mostly Other People Do the Killing is a band of four well-matched creative and dirty improvisers who can all play the pants off their instruments. The group really is a jazz quartet—they played original tunes (all written by bassist Mappa Elliott) with the recognizable form of a head, solos, and some kind of ending. The playing, however, especially the solos, tore the tunes to shreds. Here I heard a lot of the things I’d heard in Peters playing before, with regard to timbres and colors and energies and just weird sounds, but in a differently-structured context—that is, within the context of a jazz quartet tune. And it was amazing.

I also got to hear Peter play in a way I hadn’t heard him play before. He played some solos that were more tonally-based, and in some ways more traditionally virtuosic than what I’ve heard him play before. I had recently talked with a good friend of mine who is also a jazz trumpet player, who had just met Peter and had heard him play. He pointed out that Peter’s technique on the trumpet is extremely good. Being a string player, I had kind of been oblivious to this way of listening, except to note that everything was obviously working quite well. Listening to Peter play on Sunday night, I tried to see if I could hear anything special about his technique. Yes I could. When I hear Peter play, I usually get completely sucked into whatever type of energy he is putting out, because it comes through so incredibly clearly in his playing. This might seem like it’s not that big of a deal, but getting an internal energy to come out through an piece of metal or wood can actually be really difficult and sometimes frustrating to a musician. With Peter, it’s like the energy exists in its purest and clearest form when it’s coming out of his horn. Thinking about technique as I listened, I noticed how every single note Peter played was really really played, and was thus able to be heard and felt very clearly by the audience. Also, in thinking about how exceptionally freely he is able to be expressive in his playing, I realized that Peter is in absolute and total control of his instrument. Only at such a point can a musician be truly free to do anything.

Another highlight was the playing of drummer Kevin Shea, who I learned many things from, even though I am a cellist. By imitating the energy of his sound in his physical gesture, he achieved some really fine music-making. I especially enjoyed his extended solo at the end of the set.

Lastly, The Hungry Brain is a great venue. It was the perfect place to hear Mostly Other People Do the Killing, and it was great to see such a full house of Chicagoans on a cold Sunday night. The Hungry Brain is doing something right, if they’re attracting full houses of listeners, from Chicago Symphony Musicians to broke college kids to hear improvised music. I’ll definitely go back there.

Check out Mostly Other People Do the Killing on myspace: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=128558398

And Peter Evans: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=108280971

Please go out and support live music!