 Photo by Andrea Canter
Click to preview Curtis Stiger's new CD "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"
Known for years as a pleasing pop
crooner and adequate sax player, Stigers has reached new heights as a
legitimate jazz interpreter and increasingly effective tenorist.
While his fans still call out requests for his classic hits (“Baby
Plays Around”) and covers (“Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your
Mind?”), the Boise, Idaho native marvelously keeps jazz standards
(“All the Things You Are”) and his original tunes (“Swinging
Down at 10th and Main”) out front. Although it really
doesn’t matter what’s on the play list—Curtis Stigers sings
Curtis Stigers, from deep baritone to high tenor, from wailing blues
to sensuous ballad to—yes, even “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
On stage, his face moves across a galaxy of emotion as seamlessly as
does his voice; the elasticity of his phrasing allows just the right
note to linger in mid-air, lending support to the New York Times’
suggestion that Stigers “may be the most convincing ballad singer
in jazz.” “Elastic phrasing” is also an apt description of
Stigers’ efforts on tenor sax, which he delightfully interspersed
with his vocals throughout the night, his scratchy vibrato adding
funk to John Sebastian’s classic “Did You Ever Have to Make Up
Your Mind” and putting the swing into his Gene Harris tribute,
“Swinging Down at 10th and Main.”
 Photo by Andrea Canter
Drawing his Dakota set list from his
past recordings and new material from the just-released I Think
It’s Going to Rain Today, Stigers covered Willie Dixon and
Willie Nelson, Joe Jackson and Bob Dylan, Kern and Hammerstein and
Lennon and McCartney, as well as original works. Take any tune in the
broadly defined popular canon and Stigers creates what is
unquestionably jazz interpretation. Nothing is out of bounds.
Dedicating the tune to diehard Twins fan and local jazz critic Tom
Surowicz, Stigers hit a home run with “Take Me Out to the
Ballgame”—scatting his way through baseball’s theme song, and
creating what ought to become a new jazz standard. But the stage
did not belong to Stigers alone, but also to his fine rhythm section of
Matthew Fries (piano), Phil Palombi (bass), and Keith Hall (drums).
This is a tight group that has meshed well over several years of
touring, and their mutual respect and empathy are palpable. So much
so, in fact, that this threesome recently released their own trio
recording, self-titled Tri-Fi (2005).
 Photo by Andrea Canter Pianist Matthew Fries
studied with the great jazz pianist, Donald
Brown, which may explain his
engaging swing. Winner of the 1997 Great American Piano Competition,
he’s been described in the New York Times “as the best
jazz accompaniment I've seen in a cabaret in years." Familiar to many
through his work with Stacey Kent as well as Curtis Stigers, he also
appears on local bass legend Gordy Johnson’s latest Trios, 3.0
recording. Fries’ two-handed improvisations and bubbling
stride-tinged gambits were both fun to watch and apparently fun to
play. The late Gene Harris was surely smiling at his turns on
“Swinging Down at Tenth and Main,” but Fries was equally
effective on ballads.
 Photo by Andrea Canter Phil Palombi is a veteran
bassist who has served the likes of Toshiko Akiyoshi, Michael
Brecker, Maynard Ferguson, Etta Jones, Chris Potter, and
Chucho Valdes. His cross-genre experience with funk, R & B, and
Brazilian pop bands as well as jazz is apparent in his support of
Stiger’s wide repertoire. With his penchant for placement of key
single notes, Palombi particularly shined on the ballads (“All the
Things You Are” and “Don’t Think Twice” in particular), but
he really cut loose with his plucks and slaps on “Swinging Down at
10th and Main.”
One of the most entertaining drummers
on the Dakota stage in recent months, Keith Hall has
chops and fuel to hit the after-burner zone. An alum of Betty
Carter’s “Jazz Ahead,” Hall (also known as "The Reverend of
Swing") has the fastest hands I’ve seen since Steve Smith,
“churning” the skins as noted by John Fordham (The Guardian)
and giving the audience a lot to watch as well as hear. His knock-out
round on “Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind” suggests he
could have been a successful rock drummer, but jazz is much the
better for his choice.  Photo by Andrea Canter
Finally, although music was indeed the
main attraction, Curtis Stigers is a full-service act, bringing
warmth and humor to his interactions with the audience and his
story-telling. Over time he seems more and more comfortable as an
entertainer as well as musician, but he never loses sight of the fact
that it is the music first and foremost that is the
source of entertainment. And it is undeniably his music, no
matter who penned the tune or lyrics. His history as a pop artist
notwithstanding, Curtis Stigers has most definitely arrived as one of
the most engaging and creative jazz vocalists on the scene today. And
not a bad sax player, either.
Preview Curtis Stiger's new CD "I Think It's Going To Rain Today"
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Wednesday, 07 January 2009
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