JEFF HAMILTON TRIO, Sheraton Hotel, Oct. 21.
Synergy is what happens when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and synergy is what happens when the three members of the Jeff Hamilton Trio play together.
Jeff Hamilton, Christoph Luty and Tamir Hendelman brought their united sound to Salt Lake City Monday night as part of the Jazz at the Sheraton series.
Although Hamilton is the leader, probably the greatest strength of the group is the communication between the three — the way they are all so very much in sync with each other.
Of course, Hamilton has a lot to do with that. You can't have unity unless everyone cooperates, but Hamilton certainly exerts an unmistakable presence that sets the tone for the group and sort of ties everything together.
The trio mostly played standards arrangements Monday, as well as a couple of miscellaneous pieces — original compositions, a Scottish folk song, etc. The three stayed very much in the "straight-ahead" style, exerting their creative forces therein rather than exploring new tonalities or musical frontiers.
Some of the adaptations were delightful, creative and energetic, and some were solid but uneventful. For example, the opening "I Love Being Here With You" was nice but not terribly exciting. However, the next chart, Hendelman's "Lullaby of the Leaves," came together in an easy groove with some really interesting ideas from all three musicians.
"Too Close for Comfort" had a lot of energy, and "Poinsettia" was also fresh and interesting. Hamilton's solo on Ellington's "Caravan" was worth the price of admission by itself; he managed to create the entire ensemble — melody (yes, melody!), rhythm and accompaniment single-handedly on the drums.
With the exception of "Caravan," Hamilton didn't grab the spotlight much. His strength came through in the details — the way he punctuated this, provided counterpoint to that and added his own ideas to what the other two were doing. Rather than a lot of show, Hamilton displayed a lot of finesse, particularly with some mighty fine brushwork and hand drumming.
Luty was featured quite a bit on the bass, presumably because he is from Salt Lake City and his family and friends were in the audience. Most of his solos were respectable, and a couple were particularly fun. He had two contrapuntal lines going, punctuated with a slap rhythm on Porter's "I Concentrate on You," and he did an enjoyable bagpipe imitation in the Scottish folk song "Hamilton House."
Of course, Hendelman also added his own pizazz. In addition to his obvious talent on the piano, the band featured several of his arrangements and compositions throughout the evening.
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com