The Return of the Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: Special Edition

Fans of the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins should enjoy the sounds of the Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: Special Edition, performing this Friday night at the Sheba Lounge on Fillmore. An accomplished alto, tenor and soprano saxophonist, Rehmann is considered one of the "elder statesmen of jazz" in his native Montana, and for his annual SF performance, he will be joined by pianist, composer Nora Maki, 7 string bass virtuoso Edo Castro, and BeyondChron's very own E. "Doc" Smith, on Zendrum. Rehmann's "Special Edition" quartet is primarily an electric group that will be performing some of the music made famous by his friend and mentor Rollins, as well as the likes of John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and originals by both Smith and Castro. A frequent visitor to the Bay Area, Rehmann's return has been a long time coming, and most welcome.

Rehmann, grew up in Burlington, Iowa listening to the last of the traveling big bands in the late forties and early fifties. As a teenager, he got interested in bebop and wanted to know not only why they played like that, but how. Now he knows, and he plays it on the alto, soprano and tenor saxophones. In 1954 he began playing the saxophone in public school and started his first group, "The Reformers Combo," in high school. An admirer of many great saxophone players from Charlie Parker to Stan Getz, he has been particularly inspired by the mentoring and music of Sonny Rollins. Rehmann's trademark sound is uniquely his own, and watching and listening to him play is a joy. His regular quartet in Montana, featuring legendary guitarist Blackie Nelson, his son, the "disgustingly talented" Ken Nelson on bass and keyboards, and the remarkable Dennis Unsworth on drums, have delighted "Big Sky" audiences for years.

The group's three albums, Back Home Jazz (1996),  Mann Gulch Suite, (1999), and Old Friends and New (2011), have an underlying message unique to jazz, (or any other genre to be fair); protecting the environment. Rehmann's concern for a clean and healthful environment, and his desire for everyone to be made aware of the effects of pollution and global warming, are clearly a motivating, if not inspiration force in his music, and a passion shared by many of Rehmann's friends and colleagues, including the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Rehmann's delightful cover of Horace Silver's "Nica's Dream", is another fine example of his spacious, airy sound of "Big Sky" jazz, free to roam and soar, swoop and swing. "Rehmann and his Quartet," wrote Mike Clark of the Great Yellowstone Coalition, "have brought to us a sense of joy, wonder and solitude with their original jazz interpretations, which explore the interior landscapes of the American West and the meaning of wilderness". Rehmann's "Going Down the Gulch" is but one of many fine examples of that style, and embodies a true "Big Sky Jazz" sound. His most recent album, Old Friends and New, is his best yet, and his quintet's new interpretations of some great classics by Rivers, Pat Matheny, Michael Brecker and Horace Silver. This is a passionate outing by two genuine jazz veterans and the joy of playing with their family and indeed, new friends.

The "Special Edition" Quartet

E. "Doc" Smith has performed and recorded with a wide array of artists in both jazz, rock and world music, including Howard Levy, Paul McCandless, Paul Bollenback, Brian Eno, Bon Lozago, Ed Howard, Paul Wertico, Jack DeJohnette, and many more. His work with Brian Eno and the group the Same, featuring now famed composer Carter Burwell, and Stephen Bray, led him to join Bray and his platinum selling work with the pop singer Madonna. Smith worked with Bray and Madonna for several years, and on many of her greatest albums, including Desperately Seeking Susan, True Blue, Who's that Girl?, Express Yourself, and Pre-Madonna-The New York Years.

Smith's twenty plus years of percussion work, also led to the creation of his one-of-a-kind and critically acclaimed instrument, the "Drummstick". His tours with the group Between the Lines, allowed him to open for acts as diverse as the Neville Brothers, 10,000 Maniacs, and The Violent Femmes. His invention has also led to performances with some truly great musicians from around the globe, including the Indian phenom, Sandip Burman, and perfecting his technique with Roy "Futureman" Wooten, of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. "When Rehmann and I first played together back in 2006, I was using the Drummstick, my drum-guitar, MIDI instrument." These days, Smith is using his Zendrum ZX, a custom, digital drum instrument made for him by the Zendrum Company of Atlanta, GA.

After some gentle prodding and spirited discussions with Rehmann over the years, Smith soon hit upon the idea of a performance, and the electric version of Rehmann's Montana group, the "Special Edition Quartet" was born. "This is always a real treat for me personally, to play with an all-time great like Rehmann and good friends like Edo and Nora,  I hope everyone who comes to Sheba to see us will enjoy it."

SF Bay Area bassist Edo Castro initially was a self-taught bassist but later moved to Chicago and attended The American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. He completed his studies and earned a BA in 1987 with a focus on Jazz Studies and electric Bass. He continued to hone his craft in Chicago through 1990.  Returning to the Bay Area, Edo released his first solo effort of original music entitled simply “Edo.” Castro’s 2nd release “Phoenix” (on Passion Star Records) made the 49th Grammy Entry List for "Best Contemporary Jazz Album" in October 2006 as did his third and latest release, Sacred Graffiti, in 2010.

Castro has put his signature on over 20 local CD projects and has performed/recorded with David Amram, Mark Walker, Hassan Kahn, Pete Cosey, Roy Haynes, Fareed Haque, David Onderdonk, Ed Thigpen, Johnny Griffin, Joel Harrison, Jim Trompeter, Ian Doogle, Deborah Winters, Jill Knight, Paul Van Wageningen, Caroline Aiken, Dan Zinn, Bethany Pickens, Michael La Macchia, Armando Peraza, Caren Armstrong, Percy Howard, Mike Molenda, Stu Hamm, Lorn Leber, George Brooks, E. "Doc" Smith, Michael Manring, Mark Egan, Yves Carbonne, Todd Johnson and David Friesen.

Pianist Nora Maki was born in Osaka, Japan. She started her first piano lesson at age 6. She studied classical piano with Katsuyuki Mastui and musicianship with Masaru Adachi at Osaka College of Music. Encountering jazz music in her late teens has changed her way of making music to her own terms.  She studied the piano style of Art Tatum & Oscar Peterson with Minoru Ozone. Interested in jazz & American culture, she was exposed herself to a broad range of American music from Miles Davis to James Brown. After immigrating to United States of America in 1989, she went back to school and studied advanced jazz arrangement, theory, harmony & history and jazz combo under the direction of Andrew Speight at San Francisco State University. Her great passion for music has brought her to much broader music communities. She has also performed her jazz in various settings and shared the bandstand with many area musicians in San Francisco Bay Area. Maki will debut both her acoustic and electric talents to Rehmann's Special Edition Quartet, in what promises to be a lively and memorable show.

The Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: Special Edition
Sheba Piano Lounge, 1419 Fillmore
Friday, February 22th from 9:00 pm - 12:00 am

The Re-Make Redux

Last week's column looked at the premiere of Netflix' "House of Cards", and the American penchant for  remakes of British television shows with at best,  mixed results. Kevin Spacey was brilliant by the way, in the darker and grittier remake of HOC, but once again, the story changed considerably from the original BBC series; new characters were added, and the writers were surprisingly able at times, to effectively translate it to American audiences. Netflix now looks to follow through on a sequel, which could be a re-make of the second part of the HOC trilogy, "To Play the King". Although the newer version lacked the subtlety and the government-shaking gravitas of the original, the acting by Spacey and his cast, the DC and Baltimore cinematography, and the music by Jeff Beal was enjoyable.

Our American obsession with remakes isn't limited to just England or earlier made films. Oh no, many American filmmakers have tried their hands at updated remakes of classic American TV series. Nearly all of them have been dismal, miscast outings, saved by a few bright moments. Many should never have been made; others have been made poorly, yet there are a few that came close to getting the spirit of the original series right. A brief look at some of those efforts reveals a strategy and a recipe for disaster. Here's a list of just 10 such films, in no particular order, of hits, misses and bulls-eyes.

10. The Mod Squad

One of best TV shows of the late '60s and early '70s was the Mod Squad; a trio of undercover cops, "who wore a badge, but never a gun". The principal cast of Michael Cole, Clarence Williams III, Peggy Lipton, (as Pete, Linc and Julie), and Tige Andrews as Captain Greer, were great; the stories were topical, often touching, and believable, which made for an excellent series. "21 Jump Street", a show that would appear later, was never as good, (nor was the recent re-make of it). The film version, was woefully miscast, with the exception of Claire Dane as Julie, (seen now in HBO's "Homeland"), tried to follow in the spirit of the original for about a minute. As soon as they killed off one of the series main characters in the early going, (Dennis Farina as Captain Greer), they jumped the shark. A miss, which is too bad, because keeping an actor of Farina's calibre alive could have saved it. 

9. Lost in Space

Who can ever forget the immortal words of the Robot shouting, "Danger Will Robinson, Danger!!", or Dr, Smith calling out the Robot as a "bubble headed booby"? One of Irwin Allen's craziest sci-fi series, (along with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", "Land of the Giants" and "Time Tunnel"), LIS followed the exploits of the "Space Family Robinson" as they tried to navigate their ship back to earth, despite the constant trouble caused by Dr. Smith. The film re-make with William Hurt, Mimi Rogers and Gary Oldman as Dr. Smith, even had cameos by some of the original cast. The drama of the pilot episode was re-created in the re-make, but once the cheesy, Allen-like plot twist came near the end, you wished you were watching the campier original. So close, but so far. A miss that could have hit. Nice marketing and happy meals kept it alive.  

8. The Wild Wild West

One of my favorite TV series was "007 in a saddle", the Wild, Wild West. Robert Conrad and Ross Martin were superb as partners James West and Artemus Gordon, and Michael Dunn as the evil Doctor Miguelito Loveless was one of TV's best villains. The re-make could have been great, but please, Will Smith as West?!! Kenneth Branagh as Loveless?!!  Michael Dunn was the Peter Dinklage of his day, and to re-invent him as Branagh in a wheelchair was just terrible. One of the worst, miscast remakes ever. Kevin Kline was great as Artemus Gordon, but Will Smith?! Smith later apologized to Conrad (who had no love for the film), for even taking the role that he'd made famous. Where's Tom Cruise or George Clooney when you need them? The film's best moment comes near the end of the film, when Smith and Kline ride off after Branagh and the theme to the original series plays for about 20 seconds... A huge miss.

7. I Spy

Another one of my favorites, I Spy was the first show in the late '60s, to have black and white co-stars: Bill Cosby and Robert Culp. Posing as a coach and a tennis pro, Cosby and Culp were actually CIA agents on a mission to save the world one day at a time, and filmed on location in Paris, Rome, London, Hong Kong, Madrid; and all to the beautiful music composed by the great Earle Hagen, (Mod Squad, Dick Van Dyke, Danny Thomas, Andy Griffith, Mike Hammer), well, you had some thing really special. The remake was a different story. With Eddie Murphy as a boxer, Luke Wilson as the coach, (roles reversed); I Spy was horrible, miscast and lacked the spirit of the original. Unlike Cosby and Culp, Murphy and Wilson never clicked. Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt might have pulled it off, but not  this comedy duo. Even the music was hopeless. A huge miss.

6. Mission Impossible

Peter Graves was the leader of the "Impossible Mission Force", and his team of stars; Barbara Bain, Martin Landau, Greg Morris and Peter Lupus, did what no one else in the US government could; clandestine nation building and bad guy capturing. Methodical planning, tight spots and Barney's gadgets saved them each week. Tom Cruise and Ving Rhames updated the series through three blockbuster films. The plots are typical, the special effects are dazzling, but why did they need to make the series hero, (played byJon Voight as the Peter Graves/Jim Phelps character), into the bad guy, the traitor, and kill him off in the first film? Is nothing sacred?! A near hit.

5. Miami Vice

Don Johnson and Michael Thomas were great as Crockett and Tubbs on Miami's Vice Squad. Driving their Ferrari and shooting up drug dealers ruled Friday nights on NBC back in the 1980s; spectacular music and guest stars like Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Bruce Willis, et al; MV was amazing until the show finally jumped the shark after they first killed off Crockett's wife, (played by Shena Easton); then gives him amnesia, which turns him into a drug dealer and eventually gets his memory back and his revenge exacted. The re-make with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx wasn't bad, all things considered, in fact, I felt like I was actually watching an episode of Miami Vice. Close, but I'll call it a hit.

4. Get Smart

The Cold War got the comic treatment with Agent 86, Maxwell Smart and his partner, Agent 99. Played by Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, Get Smart was the brainchild of comic geniuses Buck Henry and Mel Brooks. This ridiculous show still continues to make me laugh on those late Saturday nights. The re-make with funny-man Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway is also hilarious and just as stupid, just like you want Max to be. The original seemingly jumped the shark after Smart and 99 got married and had twins, so there was no way the new version could be any worse than that. Besides, Carell is hilarious in almost everything he does; he definitely tries to pay tribute to Adams in this, as does Hathaway. Another close one, but comical hit. 

3. Dark Shadows

ABC's hit series of the 1970s featured a vampire who returns to his ancestral home and all the machinations that come with it. Jonathan Frid played the original Barnabas Collins on TV, cameos in the new version; Johnny Depp brings him back to life in a hilarious re-make, surrounded by an equally crazy cast of Michele Phieffer and Helena Bohnam Carter. Still chuckling, just thinking about that silly film. A comedy hit. Speaking of comedy hits and misses...

2. Starsky and Hutch

For many of the same reasons I Spy fails, I was not a fan of the Starsky and Hutch re-make. Although original stars Michael Glaser and David Soul appear near the end of the film, and gives their implied blessings, not all these remake, drama-turned-comedies actually work. This Ben Stiller/Luke Wilson vehicle became a straight-up comedy which was unlike the original series. Starsky and Hutch had comic moments, but was for the most part, serious. Stiller and Wilson did have one thing going for them, and that is great, on-screen chemistry; something lacking in many of these remakes. It may have been a box office hit, but for me, it had none of the drama of the original series. Great as a comedy, but it's still a re-make miss.

1. Hawaii 5-0

Made famous by Jack Lord in the late '60s and '70s, Hawaii 5-0 was one of the best cop dramas on TV. "Book 'em Danno!", "Nobody gets off my rock!" were some of his best lines. The series would often jump the shark whenever "the evil Wo Fat" showed up to make trouble, but for the most part it was your typical island adventure with kingpins, smugglers, murderers, Chinese agents and crazed vets just back from Vietnam. CBS decided to revive 5-0 to some acclaim, and became one of the rarest of all re-make animals: a hit series remade decades later. The new 5-0 features a rebooting of the original characters, yet the plots are more akin to shows like CSI, NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles, all on CBS by the way. There have been a few sub-plots and secondary story-lines, but the original never had that kind of thing going on. The stories were edgy, and at times, you really felt the urgency. Steve McGarrett is hard act to follow, as few actors had the intensity that Jack Lord brought to the role. Unfortunately, it's so much like all the other "alphabet cop" shows, that I almost can't ell them apart, which makes "5-0" a miss for me.

Many others have tried and failed, including "Mission Impossible" and "Knight Rider". On the plus side of the ledger, Star Trek's "Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager" enjoyed success, until "Enterprise" ended the trekkies TV run. Sci-Fi Channel's "Battlestar Galactica" and prequel  "Caprica" were both decent updates to a franchise that had begun back in the '80s. As I look over the list, it appears sci-fi and comedies are the most successful; on second thought, the new "Green Hornet", the "Avengers" (the Ralph Fiennes/Uma Thurman remake of the Patrick MacNee/Diana Rigg series), "Kojak"(with Ving Rhames), and the "Beverly Hillbillies" weren't too successful either.

Movies made immediately after the end of a series, like the "X Files 1 & 2", "Firefly and Serenity", and "Sex and the City 1 & 2", are more logical extensions of successful TV filmmaking, because they are still fresh and relevant to their fans. For the rest, it's a matter of timing, casting, nostalgia and luck that determine the success of these endeavors.

Remakes are here to stay, for better or worse and yet sometimes, it's best to leave the originals right where we found them, with our memories intact and our hope restored.

Gary Willis Trio's "Retro"

One of the most formidable fretless electric bassists in the post-Jaco Pastorius era, Texas native and current Barcelona resident Gary Willis joins forces with Catalan keyboardist Albert Bover and Budapest-born drummer Gergo Borlai on this exhilarating take on the electric piano trio. Co-founder (with guitarist Scott Henderson) of the premiere fusion band Tribal Tech and former member of Wayne Shorter’s band, Willis and his highly interactive crew shift deftly from slamming funk (“Old School”) to percolating fusion (“Disconnectivity”) to aggressive swingers (“Change Agent,” ”Move”) while embracing quiet ballads (Paul McCandless’ “Amaryllis,” Milton Nascimento’s evocative “Tarde” or Willis’ aptly-titled “Dream”) with uncommon sensitivity and a lyrical touch. They also turn in expressive interpretations of the Lennon-McCartney classic “Norwegian Wood” and Bill Evans’ “We Will Meet Again.” And the album closes on a poignant note with Willis’ tasty, subtly reharmonized rendition of the Depression era standard “For All We Know,” a tune famously covered by the likes of Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and Donny Hathaway.

Says the great bassist of his impressive sidemen on Retro: “Gergo is an incredible drummer. I had done some playing with him in Budapest, and since he moved to Barcelona Albert and I have been able to work up some nice chemistry as a trio with him.

This new record is about us playing together. It’s not about big productions or anything, it’s just Rhodes, bass and drums. It’s a totally different direction from what I did last time (on 2007’s Actual Fiction, also on Abstract Logix). It shows what can happen when you just make it about the interpretation of the material and how we play together. And for that reason it’s maybe more personal than anything I’ve done before.”

From the modal opener “Change Agent” to the bubbling “Old School” (which recalls the old school funk-fusion of Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters) to the atmospheric “Tarde,” these three kindred spirits demonstrate a remarkable capacity to groove in loose-tight fashion throughout Retro. They collective burn through a labyrinth of chord changes on the uptempo romp “Move,” which is fueled by Willis’ urgent walking bass lines, and settle into on mellow accord on Oregon’s floating “Amaryllis” and a chill 3/4 take on the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.” Bover proves to be both a consummate accompanist and accomplished soloist from track to track while Borlai’s crisp, polyrhythmic pulse and supple brushwork fuel the proceedings.

Willis’ virtuosic solo contributions here, particularly on “Disconnectivity” and “Move,” show why he is regarded as one of the most outstanding bassists on the scene today. “I just wanted to feature the fun of playing together and the expression that comes out in this stripped-down setting,” says Willis of his fifth album as a leader overall and second for Abstract Logix. “Whatever direction it’s going, we’re going to try to get into it pretty deep.” They’ve succeeded in brilliant fashion on Retro.