The Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: "Big Sky Jazz"

I recently had the pleasure of playing with one of Montana's legendary saxophonists, Wilbur Rehmann, during one of his frequent visits to the Bay Area. Known for his keen ear and smooth tones, Rehmann is the leader of the "Wilbur Rehmann Quartet", and the man behind "Montana Jazz". "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.

Rehmann grew up listening to the last of the traveling big bands in the late forty's and early fifties. and as a teenager, 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. Watching and listening to him play is definitely a joy.

Rounding out Rehmann's quartet is guitarist "Blackie" Nelson, one of the most creative and inventive musicians around. Nelson is also one of the sweetest sounding guitarists in Montana, and apparently knows more songs and music than any one person ought to. In 1954 he and his wife Isabel drove to Bozeman to hear Charlie Parker who personified the cutting edge sound of his day, and that's exactly what Nelson is today.

Bassist Ken Nelson does it all, and he does it well. Acoustic and electric bass, piano and synthesizer, organ and guitar and, of course, dobro. He has a tremendous sense of time and rhythm but it is his harmonic explorations that continue to amaze and enthrall. Drummer and percussionist Dennis Unsworth plays his full kit with exquisite sensitivity and grace His quick wit and melodic sense come through whether it's taking a full-fledged solo flight or when he's simply trading fours with the rest of the group.

The group's two albums, "Back Home Jazz" (1996), and Mann Gulch Suite, (1999) 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 "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 plans on expanding his group to quintet for an upcoming event, with the addition of percussionist Jeremy Slead. There are also plans for a Bay Area show in 2006, featuring Rehmann and some fine local jazz musicians. Meantime, visit Rehmann's informative site at montanajazz.com, and learn that, yes, you really can swing in Montana.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building Bill Bruford's Symmetrical Tama Kit

Image
In two of my previous blogs, I wrote about successfully restoring a Tama "Bill Bruford Signature Series Palette" snare drum , and then building a duplicate version wrapped in chrome . Although they looked and sounded great, I thought about completing this project by adding a kit to go with it. Now I suppose I could always could buy a Tama Starclassic kit, and use the snares I built, but where is the fun in that? Bruford's Signature snare drum had all black Tama lugs, just like his Tama kit with King Crimson. That particular kit was a Canary Yellow Tama with deep power toms. Bruford would reappear with a another version of that yellow kit at the 1999 Modern Drummer Festival alongside his all acoustic Earthworks band. That kit also had black lugs, and featured an 18" kick drum, 16", 13", 12" and 10" toms. That kit appeared to be a rarity, perhaps even custom-made for Bruford. I've never seen another Tama kit that matched it. If I could gather...
Read more

Building the Phil Collins Gretsch Kit - Part One

Image
Back in 2017, I managed to acquire a dozen of the revolutionary new wireless Versatriggers from Poland; Battery powered drum triggers you can mount inside a drum shell. Replace the acoustic drum head with a mesh head and you have yourself a v-drum. I first tried out the Versatrigger on an old Viking snare I'd converted previously with an internal Pintech trigger, and a Remo Silent Stroke mesh head. After connecting the Versatrigger wireless USB hub to my MacBook Air, I was able to tweak the sensitivity and trigger the drum surprisingly well. I also learned I needed to be able to access the trigger for adjustments and battery replacement, so double headed toms weren't practical. The kick and snare are easy enough to cut out a round hole in the bottom head, but the toms would have to be easy to access as well. A modest kit with concert toms would work perfectly. I didn't want to build just another small v-drum kit of virtually identical trigger pads either, so when ...
Read more

Building the Bill Bruford Signature Snare - Part One

Image
Bill Bruford's "rimshot" is one of the most unique and exquisite snare drum sounds ever heard. From his earlier days on his 14"x 5.5" Ludwig Supraphonic Super-Sensitive snare with Yes, to his brass 14" x 6.5" Tama Big Beat snare with King Crimson, Bruford's crisp rolls and sticking technique were a thing of beauty and a joy to behold.  In his later years, Bruford moved away from the metal snare drums of rock, to the jazzier sound of the all-maple 14"x 6.5" Tama Starclassic snare drum with his all-acoustic group Earthworks.  It was during that era that Tama offered the "Bill Bruford Signature Palette Series" snare drum, a customized, 6 ply Starclassic; 2 ply Maple, 2 ply Birch and 2 ply Maple. It was also outfitted with all black hardware; lugs, hoops, strainer and a custom "Black Metallic Sand Blasted" finish, with Bill Bruford's personally autographed and numbered decal. Listing for around $650, the snare quic...
Read more