What a great show! This ticket was the epitome of a jazz musician’s show. Great band, great club, great vibe, great special guest and great music. I’ve been watching clips of shows at Smalls for years and finally had the chance to experience it live in the flesh. I was not disappointed in the least. And to be able to hear one of NYC’s great underground jazz guitarists? Absolutely fantastic.

Let’s start with Smalls. Although the club is not as old as some of the other notable haunts in NYC–think Village Vanguard or Blue Note–at 30 years young this club is just getting started as one of the coolest underground venues to see some of the hottest up and coming musicians in NYC. The namesake fits the club well–the capacity is about 60 seats and it is SMALL. However, the acoustics are great and there is a decent view of the stage from just about everywhere. It’s also nice to have a small bar along the wall to enjoy a cocktail while listening to the performance. In short, this should be one of the clubs on your todo list of NYC jazz. If you have the opportunity, don’t miss out!

Now on to the show… Gilad Hekselman is not going to come up on your Spotify playlist nor is he likely to appear on Pandora. In fact, I would posit that most jazz musicians don’t even know who he is. Let’s just say that if you’re going to a show to see Gilad, you are probably a fan already or at least a well versed in modern jazz guitar knowledge. Having said that, this guy is fantastic and the fact that he is so underground only makes it better. I had plenty of time to buy a couple of the tickets from the sixty available and was very happy to see that it sold out by the night of the show.

It’s funny sometimes how certain musicians fall into one’s field of view. If not for having other great musician friends and players, I may have never come across Gilad on my own. It just so happens that a drummer friend of mine from my trio turned me on to a guy named Ari Hoenig (incredible modern drummer–check him out). I think I remember seeing a clip of him at Smalls (or some other micro jazz club) playing an odd time signature version of Wayne Shorter’s “Fee Fi Foe Fum”. There on guitar was Gilad Hekselman. It looked like he was playing an old brown 335 or even a 150DC and the tone was so sweet. As I dialed into his phrasing it didn’t take me long to become a fan. From there, I started paying more attention to this guy and expanded my reach into the many shades of Gilad!

If I had to catagorize Gilad’s guitar style, I would lean towards modern jazz with an almost gypsy style phrasing/fingering, accompanied by very cool broken chords and juxtaposed rhythmic movements. Needless to say, it was extremely fun to watch him up close. His tone is fantastic. He has a nice semi-hollow jazz timbre (I could not tell what guitar he was playing) with a subtle but noticeable delay. Every so often he steps up the gain a bit and adds a soft crunch, just slightly elevating his volume above the band when they really get shakin’. He tends to use wider intervals and broken arpeggios (very modern) in his playing and all around is versatile and super intelligent both in phrasing and harmonic background comping. He is a jazz guitarist’s jazz guitarist. I highly recommend!

On stage with Gilad that evening were two of NYC’s legendary rhythm section veterans, Vicente Archer on upright bass and Jonathan Blake on drums. Vicente is on the A list of NYC’s jazz bassists. He has performed with so many legends there are too many to list. For a short rundown think Scofield, Robert Glasper, Pat Metheny and Freddie Hubbard. For me, Vicente’s playing is reminiscent of Ron Carter; he holds down solid rhythms in the background, never playing too far above the band very often. His solos are thoughtful and tasty, with just the right amount of notes, never overplaying. He really held down the bass position well and grounded the trio between the frantic dueling of the call and response between Gilad and Jonathan.

On the other hand, Jonathan Blake was over the top–in a good way. This guy is a killer drummer. He’s played with Roy Hargrove, Randy Brecker, Joe Locke, Jonathan Kreisberg and many others. Jonathan is a technician, extremely versatile and chops ready at will to explode onto the audience. There were many drum solo sections during the show and as mentioned, the call and response between Jonathan and Gilad was very cool. It’s great to hear a drummer who can hold the floor with solidarity and at the same time interject such intelligent poly-rhythm and musicality to the group, seemingly at will. I was very entertained watching this guy beat the skins and will look for him again.

One thing I would mention about this show that really hit home, especially for a fellow trio player and aficianado–this show was a fantastic tutorial of how to perform in a jazz trio. Everything about the performance was so polished and yet felt organic, even easy going as the notes were flying by. The result was often serendipitous, with the various tunes twisting and winding down trails with unknown treasures lying in wait. It’s really a great thing to watch but even more incredible to think that often these players are just coming together for that particular gig. Sure, they’ve played together before but there likely isn’t a “rehearsal” happening before the show; they just go out there and perform at a high level because that’s what these guys are capable of. It is the result of a countless number of high value reps night in and night out, with the best jazz players available that produces this kind of talent. And it jumps right out at anyone who is really listening, especially jazz fans.

One of the great attributes of shows like this is a command control of dynamics. While I could go on and on about all kinds of really cool things that happened in this particular show, the dynamics stood out as the clear winner. The band’s ability to go from pin-drop silence (admittedly, I did have to shush the bar staff during Gilad’s a cappella section early on–and it helped!) to full frantic, loud (but not too loud) upper volume registers at the drop of a dime was simply incredible. Often, these guys could do it within a couple measures! They would go from crazy busy to full stop and then crazy busy again with the skill and expertise of an old school NYC cab driver! I couldn’t believe how insane of a dynamic show this was and had to go up and drop a large tip in the jar after show. Great job fellas!

If all of that wasn’t enough, the group was joined on stage by a remarkable chromatic jazz harmonica player. I wish I could remember his name; he is supposedly the “house” harmonica guy at Smalls and Gilad referred to him as one of the best jazz harmonica players in the world. Whether this is true or not, this guy could rip the harmonica and added a super cool vibe to the night. Catching someone “sit in” to an already great show always seems to open up the harmonic and melodic possibilities even further and adds extra special flavor–in this case it really jazzed up an already fantastic jazz show. It’s too bad he was only able to sit in for one song.

If I had to pick one thing to criticize about Smalls, it is that the shows are very short. Maybe it’s a good thing in that you leave wanting more. However, about 30-40 minutes in is where players really start to warm up (even the good ones) and as a listener this is where the show really gets going. And then it’s over. I wasn’t able to catch a lot of the set list–I know that they played mostly Gilad’s originals, but I have no idea the names/titles. Gilad’s tunes are pretty complex and have a lot of variety in both the rhythmic and harmonic content. These are real modern jazz type of joints. I’ll have to study up on his material.

I do know that they closed the show with an insane version of Coltrane’s “Countdown” and they did it in true modern jazz fashion. For those who don’t follow the latest modern jazz stylings, the band will often seem to rush into a measure and then pull back, almost whipsawing the rhythmic feel while keeping the time and tempo steady. Think of a subway train ride. It is so cool to hear this happening musically and very fast forward jazz in this modern age. They also changed the feel underneath to a kind of half-time groove, while still double-timing over the top. So you’re listening to “Countdown” and every few measures or so the feel oscillates between half-time and double-time, sometimes mushed together and other times completely juxtaposed, while Gilad is just shredding over the top. This is modern jazz at Smalls NYC.

So happy to experience this show. Of all the shows that I’ve seen–even the really incredible ones–I always seem to gravitate towards the small, intimate shows. These seem to be the greatest memories and hold the best value over the years. Smalls NYC is no exception and being able to hear and watch the Gilad Hekselman trio do their thing was awesome. Hope to see these guys again soon! Being in NYC? Not so much, but that’s another story!