The Christian Jacob Trio Breathes New Life Into Old Standards
Trio shines in KSDS Concert
French jazz pianist Christian Jacob and his trio gave new life to what could be thought of as worn out standards during a performance Tuesday, September 12 at the Saville Theater at San Diego City College. The concert was part of radio station KSDS’s recently revived Jazz Live concert series.
Jacob, 65, began playing piano at age 4, and has had an illustrious career as a music educator, arranger, composer and sideman and leader.
His skill as an arranger and long experience as a performer was on full display Tuesday night as he and drummer Ray Brinker and bassist Trey Henry took standards such as Tea For Two, I Got Rhythm and Bye Bye Black Bird and turned them on their heads using what he called “strange chords”.
George Gershwin may not have recognized I Got Rhythm as reimagined by Jacob and company.
Jacob told the audience that when he was about 10 when his piano teacher gave him Tea For Two as the basis for his first improvisational outing. Some 55 years later he was still able to wring new life from what some might considered a trite tune, allowing Henry and Brinker to stretch out with generous solos.
Brinker’s drum work was a highlight as used his sticks to bend the drum head on his ride tom and play the edges of cymbals. He deftly went from one percussive texture to another switching between the sticks, brushes and mallets.
Highlights of the performance came in the form of two non-standards. The first was an original song The Red Pig Flew Up The Hill from the trio’s 2019 album The Originals. The other was a song by seldom played French composer and pianist Michel Petrucciani called My Bebop Tune.
The second hour of Tuesday Christian Jacob Trio concert will be broadcast next year as part of San Diego jazz radio station’s KSDS’s new Best of the West jazz syndicated jazz show.
Jacob is slated to take part in an outdoor screening of the film La La Land at the Los Angeles State Historic Park overlooking the Los Angeles skyline this Saturday, September 16. Composer Justin Hurwitz will conduct his Oscar-winning score performed live-to-film by a 52-piece symphony orchestra and Christian Jacob Trio, accompanying the film's original vocal recordings.
This event will celebrate the film at the iconic State Historic Park,
On October 3, Jacob is slated to appear with long time collaborators Tierney Sutton and Randy Brecker at the SMOKE Jazz club in New York followed by an October 7 date with the Tierney Sutton Band at the Amelia Island Jazz Fest in Amelia Island, Florida.
Even if you aren’t a big jazz fan, if you have the opportunity to see the Christian Jacob Trio take it. Just the opportunity behold Jacob’s effortless skill at piano backed by his world-class rhythm section is well worth the price of admission.