© 2015 Svetlana Selezneva

Concert Review: Zerang's Blue Lights at Constellation

«If the recording is more accessible than listeners might have expected from well-known Chicago innovators such as Zerang and colleagues, the live performance at Constellation was still more alluring. Though certainly not for everyone's tastes, the music of percussionist Zerang & the Blue Lights clearly has been designed to welcome listeners into the world of avant-garde jazz. It would be difficult to imagine a much more effective enticement.»

«These fierce individualists, however, have wholly embraced Zerang's approach for the Blue Lights, crafting a music that bristles with dissonance in its solos but is very nearly euphonious in ensemble passages. Most of the pieces the band played during the first set were built on an easily perceived backbeats – or at least a fairly steady pulse – giving even casual listeners something to hang on to. Add to this songs that often conveyed catchy riffs and three-part horn writing of considerable tonal beauty, and you had the best of two worlds: fiery solo statements alternating with carefully crafted, melodically attractive passagework for the ensemble.»

Extract from the concert report by Chicago Tribune critic Howard Reich.

Read the entire piece on the Chicago Tribune website, by visiting the link below:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/reich/ct-michael-zerang-20150614-column.html

Tags: News, Michael Zerang, Michael Zerang & The Blue Lights, Mars Williams, Dave Rempis, Josh Berman, Kent Kessler, Live, Concert, Constellation Chicago, Songs From The Big Book Of Love
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