Lewis Nash with Renee Rosnes

Today we bring you a complete concert featuring the stellar quartet of pianist Renee Rosnes with Steve Nelson on vibes, Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash on drums:





I recently heard this very same band in Toronto at the Jazz Bistro during the Toronto Jazz Festival. They are currently touring the Canadian Jazz festival circuit. I believe they will also be recording together this summer (lucky for us!)

The music I heard was outstanding and they exhibited a certain group sympatico that only comes from playing together for a very long time (in my estimation likely around 30 years given the different circumstances they have collectively played in...) I really identify with the style and sound of Jazz music in which these four music exhibit both individually and collectively.

I actually had the best seat in the house (!) and found myself directly behind Nash's drums (nice to see that the Jazz Bistro in Toronto has inadvertently continued the tradition of the "drummer's row", a strategically placed group of seats, not unlike those at the Village Vanguard, where you can enjoy an intimate and unobstructed view of the drummer...)

Nash's drumming was, of course, exceptional. I've seen him play many times but this time I was really drawn to his clear and constant orchestrations of not only the melody, arrangement and form but also the soloist in question. His ears and priorities are always tuned to the music and it all adds up to a very satisfying musical and hard swinging result. Quite a lesson indeed!