By Herb Boyd | Published March 2020
Guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg might be right when he attributes the success of Capturing Spirits—JKQ Live! to its setting. But that shouldn’t minimize an appreciation for his group’s coherence or the bandleader’s own smooth fluidity of articulation.
The lovely, lilting melody of “Trust Fall” is proof Kreisberg’s ensemble attained a musical clairvoyance. There’s a delightful symmetry, a nice ballast of communication. Clearly, the band’s been probing and interrogating tunes, bouncing ideas off each other for more than a few sessions. The intensive interplay between Kreisberg and Martin Bejerano (on both piano and Rhodes) during “Known You Before” is a picturesque tableau of sound, and a good depiction of how they blend and anticipate each other. The pair arrives at a similar intersection of creativity on “Relativity” and “Everything Needs Something,” where Colin Stranahan’s tick-tock beat establishes a tempo perfectly suited for bassist Matt Clohesy’s imaginative solo.
Based on the reaction of the crowd at Jazz-Schmiede Düsseldorf, Kreisberg’s quartet—in a singular moment back on March 15, 2019—touched on a collective nerve.
Capturing Spirits—JKQ Live!: The Lift; Trust Fall; Everything Needs Something; Relativity; Known You Before; Wild Animals We’ve Seen; Body And Soul. (62:08)
Personnel: Jonathan Kreisberg, guitar; Martin Bejerano, piano; Matt Clohesy, bass; Colin Stranahan, drums.
