The Presence of Prezens

Walking into the Clef Club on Saturday, we didn't know what to expect. For us, it was a totally new venue, totally new genre. Our forays into jazz music have extended deeper and deeper, with the freest being David Torn and his latest, Prezens. It was our first avant garde show and we were psyched that our companion was a jazz musician, there to light our way in case we got lost.

Opening the show was The Offbeat Manifesto, composed of bassist Michael Formanek and saxophonist Tim Berne. The two played music that serpentined together and apart repeatedly. Perhaps it was because we had spent the day at a meditation retreat, but the sound evoked in us the idea of the scattered mind, being in two different places at once, then converging here and there. Though the sophomoric part of our musical brain yearned for an easy-to-follow melody, we liked the daring improvisations created by the duo. And we have never, ever, seen someone tear up an upright bass like that.

A short break later, Torn and co. took the stage. In all they played two pieces and an encore. When Torn described his sound as "schizophrenic," it wasn't an understatement. Armed with his guitar, a host of pedals, and some synthesizers, Torn directed the band in a meandering set. His ambient sounds, which came in blips, squeals, and waves, were the constant underneath Tom Rainey's thundering drums, Craig Taborn's idiosyncratic keyboard playing, Tim Berne's huge range of notes, and Michael Formanek's grounding bass.

As much as we'd heard about Torn, we weren't prepared for the intensity of Tom Rainey. He went from thunder to lightning to soft rain drops and back again so many times we felt our head was going to start spinning around. To watch him reach that crescendo of energy and then pull back so quickly to fade into the background was mesmerizing.

For our first live taste of free jazz, Saturday's serving was satisfying. We'd like some more please, so we'll be checking Ars Nova's Web site for upcoming shows.

Image courtesy of Ars Nova Workshop.