by Kurt Gottschalk

Muhal Richard Abrams 80th Birthday Celebration

Muhal Richard Abrams has made a career of not resting on his laurels. As cofounder and spiritual father of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Abrams has spent close to 50 years lobbying for innovative approaches within jazz traditions. Even still, the music he presented for an Interpretations birthday tribute at Roulette Dec. 2nd (Abrams turned 80 in September) could hardly have been predicted. He began the concert with a series of resounding gong crashes, then moved to a decidedly metallic, celestial synthesizer. Adam Rudolph joined in with soft congas, then Tom Hamilton on second synth, all very quietly. Synthesizer experiments have long been a subplot to Abrams’ work, but it’s not something he’s often presented live. The piece built slowly, Abrams playing more pianistic, Rudolph’s percussion growing more rhythmic, Hamilton eventually falling off into a wavering white noise, before the leader turned to the grand piano and Rudolph picked up a shakuhachi. The second set for the standing-room-only night was closer to expectations, an acoustic group with longtime collaborators Marty Ehrlich (bass clarinet) and Brad Jones (bass), Jay Clayton singing lyrics of spiritual consciousness. More conventional instrumentally, the second half was still markedly subdued, a direction Abrams’ playing has gone in recent years. But overall, the evening was a fine celebration of an artist who continues to look forward. (KG)