Larry Brown, Master of the Hard Bop, at Keystone Korner

The Larry Brown Quintet, who delivered a solid, virtuosic, and swinging set at Baltimore’s Keystone Korner on November 6th, are veterans of the hard bop style with a sound comparable to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. As Larry Brown relayed with his wry but warm stage patter, the current lineup has been together for 18 years, and the band’s familiarity and love for each other’s playing was clear from their interaction on stage.

Tenor saxophonist Peter Fraize’s leaping solos, full of phrases that connected flawlessly, were a high point of the show. His lines felt polished and fully realized, coming to him quickly and naturally. The band crescendo’ed with him as his playing lit up the room. Trumpeter Thad Wilson’s spare, bluesy phrasing featured subtle, sliding notes with playful use of embouchure, and the soloists’ contrasting presences rounded out the band’s intensity throughout the night.

Another standout performer in the group was drummer Greg Holloway, whose sense of groove elevated the whole set. His agile, complex solos showed an impressive command of the kit, and his sharp, cutting snare drove the beat and pushed the band forward. Kent Miller’s bassline stayed thoroughly locked into Holloway’s feel, and the rhythm section deftly traded solo breaks while outlining the dynamic swells and ebbs of each tune.

The musical language and rhythmic content of Brown’s solos were always faithful to the hard bop sound, and at certain moments he reached a remarkable point of effortless musical invention while improvising. His distinctive harmonic choices with his left-hand accompaniment added a personal stamp to the style.

Brown’s tune choices came from a deep intimacy with straight-ahead jazz repertoire and included the less well-known selection “New Rhumba,” an Ahmad Jamal composition recorded by Miles Davis, and “This I Dig of You” by hard bop tenor icon Hank Mobley. But he also included his own take on the classical Eric Satie composition “3 Gymnopédias,” introducing the tune with a plea for finding personal peace amid troubled times.

by Kai Knorr

Kai Knorr is an aspiring journalist and an alumnus of St. John’s College. He is a member to whoWhatWhy’s Mentor-Apprentice Program. He is also an adept player of the upright bass and regularly plays at the Monday night Django jazz jam session in Baltimore.