Nik Bartsch's Ronin, live @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Ever get tired of the same faces in American Jazz? Looking for some good music with a little international flavor? The Latin guys a little to picante for you? I know just the thing. Scandinavian Jazz! They’ve got cute, exotic names like Jan Garbarek and Esbjörn Svensson. They’ve got docile, funny sounding accents in which they express their utter fanaticism for the music. And since the 70’s there’s been some great music coming from that neck of the woods. Just check out at least half of the ECM catalogue. Established Jazz greats like Keith Jarrett and Dave Holland have been known to dip into the Scandinavian scene with great results.
And yet I have yet to hear any. So I know about these guys. I read downbeat magazine. And Wikipedia. That doesn’t mean I’m a fan. But sure, I want to be.
I got my first chance to hear some last night. I saw Nik Bartsch's Ronin. It was…interesting to say the least. Bartsch plays piano and the Rhodes, and had a couple splash cymbals clamped onto his instruments. There was a reeds player who blew into an alto sax, a bass clarinet, and an exotic looking contrabass saxophone, that was literally taller than he was. There was a drummer and a slapping electric six string bass player, and lastly a percussionist who had some funny looking instruments.
Each tune, if I can even call them that, seemed to be at least 15 or so minutes. Bartsch’s approach to music is very minimalist, with a bunch of repeating figures that slowly morphed a la Steve Reich. He would reach his hand into the piano and mute the strings, and play a simple two note rhythmic figure as the bass played some fast repetitive fragment. Then a minor riff would develop, with the sax adding more texture than harmonic or melodic material. All the while the drums laid down a backbeat groove that kept it just under danceable. There were some crazy time things going on too, 5 against god only knows what, I couldn’t count it -- maybe 13 or something. Bartsch called it “stoic funk,” which is a pretty perfect description. The meditation-like grooves would be punctuated by a drum struck run down the un-dampened piano strings, or a banging on a metal spaceship-looking-orb of of a percussion instrument.
The best part though, besides the in between song talks with his wonderful accent (I’m sorry, I can’t help it) was what he was wearing. It was a black robe that looked a little Japanese but mostly like a Jedi that has gone to the dark side. The mood was also enhanced by low, blue lights.
I have to say, I appreciated the music. But I don’t know if I liked it. The rhythmic stuff was interesting, and anyone who is into Jazz always seeks the interesting. The grooves were complex and bouncy. The technical veracity involved was staggering. I just think a little more melodic material would have really enhanced it, perhaps using the interlocking grooves as a bed on which to add some fresh colors. Each song really was just a vamp on about one chord, and I can really only listen to a minor chord played for so long before I want to scream. Especially if it is Phrygian in flavor (think flamenco music.) There was certainly some Asian, Zen aesthetics, and times when everything seemed to be in prefect balance. But with the equally Spartan song titles, which, spanning all his albums, are all simply “Modul 1” or Modul 34,” I just don’t see how this music can be anything more than background stuff for an art gallery or something.
I do need to keep checking out the Scandinavians though, and I hear a lot about EST. Bartsch is just trying to do something really specific that is outside of my taste.