More Live Jazz: Isaiah J. Thompson

I saw a terrific jazz concert the other night here in The Berkshires. The pianist Isaiah. J. Thompson led a quartet playing holiday music, including a familiar batch of songs written by Vince Guaraldi for the “Peanuts” series. I became aware of Thompson during the past few years when he appeared here in Great Barrington with the guitarist/vocalist/raconteur John Pizzarelli. I was extremely impressed with his playing. He has really strong technique and, even better, he really swings. When I saw that he would be appearing with his own group at a relatively new venue in Great Barrington, I got tickets immediately.

For some reason, I was expecting a trio, but it was a quartet featuring Thompson on piano; Julian Lee on tenor sax; Matthew lee on drums, and Sebastian Rios on bass. These are all relatively young jazz musicians and they can all really play. The set featured mostly Guaraldi’s holiday classics, including Linus and Lucy, Skating, Christmas Time is Here, Thanksgiving Theme, and others. There were also some standards, such as White Christmas, Let it Snow, and What are You Doing New Year’s Eve.

As I said, Thompson has great technique and really swings. I heard a lot of Oscar Peterson, Horace Silver, and Bobby Timmons in his playing. I overheard him talking to an aspiring young pianist after the show, and he also mentioned Phineas Newborn Jr., which you could hear in the way he used both hands, as well as an occasional emphasis of using his left hand to solo.  As I said, terrific stuff.

Lee on tenor was also a revelation. He is a straight-ahead player who swings. If I were to cite any influences that I noticed, Dexter Gordon was one that comes to mind, and, as most of you know my taste in music, that is high praise indeed. The Dexter influence, to me, was most pronounced on the ballad What Are you Doing New Year’s Eve. Lee on drums and Rios on bass kept the band swinging all set and had a great rapport with one another and with Thompson and Julian Lee.

After the set, Thompson was in the lobby selling and signing copies of the CD A Guaraldi Holiday. I bought a copy and spoke to him briefly. I don’t think he had heard of the Jazz Collector web site, but maybe he’ll find us now. The great thing for me is that now I have a new CD to play on my upcoming Christmas radio show for WTBR-FM, live on the air Dec. 21, followed up here at Jazz Collector with the podcast thereafter. I just listened to the CD and it is excellent. Here’s a sample from YouTube: Linus and Lucy.

A couple of other things about the concert. The new venue, called the Indigo Room, is terrific for jazz. It is affiliated with the larger Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA., which is next door and where John Pizzarelli will be appearing on Dec. 20, with Mr. Thompson backing him on piano. The club is set in an old firehouse and it easily held about 100 people for the concert. Acoustics were excellent, as were the sight lines. I hope they are able to bring more jazz here.

The other thing that impressed me was the enthusiasm and knowledge of the audience. Whenever I looked around the people were bopping and smiling, and based on the reaction to the music, it was clear they had a strong affinity and appreciation for jazz. It made me think that perhaps I should be doing more in the community to promote my radio show and perhaps even expand the show. We’ll see.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for Isaiah. J. Thompson. He is a young pianist who plays in a style that most of you here at Jazz Collector will appreciate. I took a quick look at his web site, and he will be playing with Pizzarelli in Boston Dec. 19, and with the Guaraldi set in Vail, Co., on Dec. 22.

Here’s another pictured taken by my wife, the Lovely Mrs. JC.  She wanted to share it.