Kneebody at Moody’s
October 30th, 2006
Kneebody, an almost infinitely versatile quintet made up of Adam Benjamin (keyboards), Shane Endsley (trumpet), Kaveh Rastegar (bass), Ben Wendel (saxophone) and Nate Wood (drums), stopped by Moody’s Bistro & Lounge in Truckee for two free shows last weekend.
Though unmistakably a Modern Jazz band, the member of the group aren’t quite comfortable with that label.
“When we’re speaking to musicians, we try not to put a category to it because we feel like this isn’t really a category yet. When we talk to non-musicians we say it’s progressive instrumental jazz music. But ‘jazz’ is such a dangerous word at this point. Jazz covers 60 years of music, so ‘jazz’ could mean 100 different things,” Ben Wendel said during a break in between sets at Friday’s show. “But basically it’s a little bit of jazz, a little bit of classical, a little bit of hip-hop… and we put it all in the bag.”
At Moody’s, the band pulled a number of tricks out of its bag including a good deal of improvisation and some very creative solos. But it was the interaction among the players that drew the most appreciation from the University of Nevada, Reno jazz program students in the front row, as well as the patrons sitting at the noisier lounge bar.
As is always the case at Moody’s — which caters to a dinner crowd in the lounge until 9:30 or 10 p.m. — the band picked up the tempo and the volume as the night got older and the crowd loosened up.
“This is a 100-percent democratically-run band. Everybody has their thing, and they’re able to express it within the band, and we all come to a common place together,” Wendel said, adding, “It is more challenging, but in a way it’s better to have five band leaders, because you can go more directions.”
Just getting the band together can be somewhat challenging, for while four of the members live in Los Angeles, trumpet player Shane Endsley hails from New York City. But while living on the opposite coast can make it harder to join the rest of the band for practice sessions, Endsley said that the New York connection also brings another element to Kneebody’s sound.
“When they come out to New York, there is just so much music there; it really is the most concentrated place for especially newer music and adventurous stuff. So when they get there, they’re really amped up and catch a lot of music when they go out. So it influences the rest of the guys too when they come into town. So I think New York does have a pretty big influence, and that kind of balances out the one-to-four ratio in the band.”
The Kneebody shows were part of Moody’s co-owner JJ Morgan’s continuing attempt to build the club into a fixture of the jazz scene in Truckee and Tahoe by bringing in a nationally recognized act each month. And while Kneebody likely won’t be back through town anytime soon, you can hear more of their music online at www.ColorToneMedia.com.
Tahoe World – Paul Raymore
Review : Kneebody at Moody's
Kneebody at Moody’s
October 30th, 2006
Kneebody, an almost infinitely versatile quintet made up of Adam Benjamin (keyboards), Shane Endsley (trumpet), Kaveh Rastegar (bass), Ben Wendel (saxophone) and Nate Wood (drums), stopped by Moody’s Bistro & Lounge in Truckee for two free shows last weekend.
Though unmistakably a Modern Jazz band, the member of the group aren’t quite comfortable with that label.
“When we’re speaking to musicians, we try not to put a category to it because we feel like this isn’t really a category yet. When we talk to non-musicians we say it’s progressive instrumental jazz music. But ‘jazz’ is such a dangerous word at this point. Jazz covers 60 years of music, so ‘jazz’ could mean 100 different things,” Ben Wendel said during a break in between sets at Friday’s show. “But basically it’s a little bit of jazz, a little bit of classical, a little bit of hip-hop… and we put it all in the bag.”
At Moody’s, the band pulled a number of tricks out of its bag including a good deal of improvisation and some very creative solos. But it was the interaction among the players that drew the most appreciation from the University of Nevada, Reno jazz program students in the front row, as well as the patrons sitting at the noisier lounge bar.
As is always the case at Moody’s — which caters to a dinner crowd in the lounge until 9:30 or 10 p.m. — the band picked up the tempo and the volume as the night got older and the crowd loosened up.
“This is a 100-percent democratically-run band. Everybody has their thing, and they’re able to express it within the band, and we all come to a common place together,” Wendel said, adding, “It is more challenging, but in a way it’s better to have five band leaders, because you can go more directions.”
Just getting the band together can be somewhat challenging, for while four of the members live in Los Angeles, trumpet player Shane Endsley hails from New York City. But while living on the opposite coast can make it harder to join the rest of the band for practice sessions, Endsley said that the New York connection also brings another element to Kneebody’s sound.
“When they come out to New York, there is just so much music there; it really is the most concentrated place for especially newer music and adventurous stuff. So when they get there, they’re really amped up and catch a lot of music when they go out. So it influences the rest of the guys too when they come into town. So I think New York does have a pretty big influence, and that kind of balances out the one-to-four ratio in the band.”
The Kneebody shows were part of Moody’s co-owner JJ Morgan’s continuing attempt to build the club into a fixture of the jazz scene in Truckee and Tahoe by bringing in a nationally recognized act each month. And while Kneebody likely won’t be back through town anytime soon, you can hear more of their music online at www.ColorToneMedia.com.
Tahoe World – Paul Raymore