“Carl Allen Bangs Out a Groovin’ Set at SMC”
On April 3, New York-based jazz drummer Carl Allen swung an electric performance — the latest installment of the SMC Music Department’s Friday Night Jazz Series. Hosted in the Music Hall of the Performing Arts Center, these evenings welcome renowned masters of jazz to showcase selections from their repertoire.
Allen was joined by bassist Dan Chmielinski and longtime friend Bob Mintzer on tenor saxophone.
Chmielinski — a New York Times-lauded touring member of the Chris Botti band — was a student of Allen’s during his tenure as artistic director of Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School.
Mintzer, in addition to his 30 years playing for Grammy-nominated jazz fusion band The Yellowjackets, has garnered widespread acclaim as a composer and arranger. He is the current holder of the Barbara and Buzz McCoy endowed chair at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music
A handful of the pieces that comprised the night’s set list were picked from Allen’s recently released record, “Tippin’.” The record features charts from notable names such as Christian McBride, Pat Metheny and Freddie Hubbard, the latter of whom Allen expressed a profound sense of gratitude for expanding his musical sensibilities.
Allen met Hubbard as a college student and worked with him extensively over the course of eight years.
Allen, Chmielinski and Mintzer shared smiles throughout, exulting in one another’s sound.
Chmielinski was lush yet nimble on the strings, providing a solid bedrock for his fellow musicians while plucking out provocative lines. Mintzer sang butter-smooth melodies that brought the pieces into context, and Allen kept a thumping heartbeat for each composition, dynamic and lithe in his style.
A native on the kit, Allen glided through polyrhythms and shifting time signatures, playing with exuberance and momentum.
A wave of delighted chuckles from the audience could be heard with every daring lick, and several audience members infected by the beat, grooved along with the nod of their heads.
In an address to those gathered to watch the trio Allen said, “… we love what we do, but we can't do it without you. It's not a lot of fun playing in an empty room.”
The 64-year-old drum set player has had an illustrious career spanning over four decades, having amassed more than 200 recording credits, collaborated with innumerable legends and worn many hats, being not only a musician but an educator and businessman.
Allen, reflecting on the opportunities his craft has afforded him, said, “…as musicians, we get a chance to travel all over the world. We're very blessed to be able to do that. And after all of these years, I'm still surprised that one of the most popular questions people ask… ‘You from a musical family?’”
He continued, “I’m the youngest of five kids, raised just by my mother. Everyone in the family played an instrument except for my sister… However, my mother was a gospel singer, but as time has progressed, I've learned to appreciate my mother's taste in music more so now than ever before.”
Before closing out the night with a rendition of Lenny White’s “L’s Bop”, Allen said to the audience, “…music is supposed to wash away the dust of everyday life… And I always say, if you leave here feeling the same way you did when you came in, we didn't do our job.”
On May 1, SMC’s Friday Night Jazz Series will conclude with a performance from pianist Theo Saunders.