I went into this gig blind. I didn’t know what to expect. I dig Robert Glasper (seen him), Kamasi Washington (seen him too) and Kendrick Lamar (nope, haven’t seen him). Terrace Martin has played with them and contributed to many other projects as musician and/or producer. The list of collaborators is long and includes a who’s who of jazz, hip-hop and R&B. He does it all.
I enjoyed Terrace’s banter as much as I enjoyed his playing. He hails from Los Angeles, where I was born and raised. As a child, during the summers he spent time with family in St. Paul. He gave mad respect to the Twin Cities for our love of good music.
He debuted his “Curly” project with Pat Bianchi on the Hammond B3, Nir Felder on guitar and Trevor Lawrence Jr. on drums. They were all top notch musicians. My wife, who doesn’t consider herself a jazz aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, noted excitedly that even she could tell that Trevor Lawrence Jr. was off the hook on drums. Between songs, Terrace informed us that Trevor invented the clap stack, which I’ve heard many drummers use over the last year.
While Terrace and Trevor are from Los Angeles. Nir Felder and Pat Bianchi are from New York. Nir sounded like Wes Montgomery on steroids. Pat Bianchi on the Hammond B3 also didn’t disappoint.
Listening to the Hammond B3 reminded me of Joey D. Since his death I yearn for someone as potent. To this day, my favorite concert of all time was Joey DeFrancesco on Hammond B3, John McLaughlin on guitar and Dennis Chambers on drums. Even the setting was amazing. It took place at the Guthrie theatre back in the 90’s, when it was attached to the Walker Art Museum.
Back to “Curly.” These dudes lit the place up. I will definitely be listening to more Terrace Martin and look forward to seeing him when he returns.
