January 22, 2003

FIRST OF ALL : a sold-out free jazz concert in San Francisco? With local musicians, not out-of-towners? That's unheard of, even if the venue only holds about a hundred people and there is, technically, a "rock band" headlining (in this case, the mostly instrumental Curtains). But that's what happened when Sound on Survival played the Hemlock Tavern, and everyone involved was surprised, from my friends who got turned away at the door to the venue's staff to – I'm guessing – the musicians themselves.

As any crusty, old free jazz fan can tell you, 40 people is a good crowd for a local show, 25 is about average, and 10 or fewer is not out of the ordinary. The more typical free jazz show-going experience – which involves finding out about performances with no publicity, trekking to storefront venues in undesirable parts of town, and paying twice what you would to see three or four rock bands of comparable stature – tends to separate the diehards from the more casual fans. But you don't have to be a diehard or a card-carrying avant-gardist to enjoy this music, and this show proved it.

Though it was the first official performance by Sound on Survival – a trio with alto saxophonist Marco Eneidi, bassist Lisle Ellis, and drummer Peter Valsamis – you'd never guess that from watching them. With a brief cue from Eneidi, they launched into the first piece with a decisive blast that immediately told people they weren't messing around. Things quieted down here and there later in the set, such as during a lengthy bass-and-drums intro on the third number, which was untitled, like all the others. However, there was none of the cautious pecking around or waiting for inspiration to magically fly in and bite them on the butt, as with so much present-day improvised music.

I've seen Eneidi play numerous times before, and the big revelations of this show were Ellis and Valsamis, who are much more than just the rhythm section in this trio. Ellis, in particular, plays the bass with such power and quickness, and with such a great sense of melody, that his instrument basically becomes a second lead voice. Like his bandmates, he has the technical ability to do just about anything he wants on his instrument, yet he avoids showing off or stepping on his fellow musicians' toes.

Which sums up what is great about this trio: yes, they're amazing musicians, but they also know the difference between merely putting on a dry show of virtuosity and playing real music with soul and imagination. That basic point, as much as anything, is why they're able to communicate to a Friday-night crowd at the Hemlock, and not just to people who read Cadence or sit around and listen to their ESP-Disk collections all day. Or people who will read this review and find it not sophisticated or analytical enough. (My response: "Too bad.")

The highlight of the set was fourth piece, which hit its climax with Ellis frantically bowing his bass, Valsamis stirring up a tidal wave on the drums, and Eneidi scraping through the upper registers of his horn before moving into a tense, repeating, hyper-bebop melody that brought the set to a close. I looked back, fearing the crowd had emptied out during this intense sequence, but folks were still standing – and clapping loudly – all the way to the back of the room.