The Jeremy Ledbetter Trio – Live at First Ontario Performing Arts Center
Steve Obrien 
This past Nov 9, I experienced The Jeremy Ledbetter Trio – one of the most striking jazz trio’s on the current scene – at the First Ontario Performing Arts Center in St. Catharines.
Hot on the tail of their Juno win for “Jazz Album of the Year” for “Gravity”, The Jeremy Ledbetter Trio tore into a supercharged set covering the entire CD, and more – turning it up a significant notch while at it. Flanking Mr. Jeremy Ledbetter on piano was the jaw dropping rhythm section of Rich Brown on bass and Larnell Lewis on drums.
Typically, when you have such fervid musical technicians sharing the stage, you get a muscle flexing chops marathon, at times sacrificing flow and melodic content to focus on the “WOW” factor – and while Jeremy Ledbetter certainly busts out of the gate in that capacity, there’s a flip side to his musical coin.
That being, good old fashion compositional beauty. Ledbetter has an innate ability to convey ardent emotion via harmonic choices throughout his pieces, at times enamouring the crowd into utter, respectful silence. Whether engaging in lightning quick arpeggio’s, or lingering on one or two perfectly placed notes, he consistently displayed an intrinsic ability to touch his audience on a cerebral level, communicating to us that all is well in his musical universe. I also found myself marveling at his touch on the instrument, fanning out his chords in perfect harmonic adjunction.
In addition, Brown and Lewis execute perfect accompaniment for Jeremy Ledbetter’s musical expeditions.
When Jeremy Ledbetter touts Rich Brown as “the worlds most melodic bass player”, Brown responds not with a nod of thanks, but with an improvised solo that speaks to the possibility that he may very well be just that. When he gets to a point where he closes his eyes, we the audience are sonically beckoned to close our eyes with him, surrendering to his musical navigation. We WANT to go exactly where he’s taking us.
Larnell Lewis is a long standing Canadian drumming titan whose performance and educational youtube videos, along with his work with fusion/funk legends Snarky Puppy, have elevated him as a world class percussive heavyweight. His blinding technique and uber imaginative playing style fit Jeremy Ledbetter’s compositions perfectly. Kudos to Ledbetter for wisely giving both these gentlemen free reign to express themselves within his musical perimeters.
From the outset, Jeremy Ledbetter infused a personable, easy going banter with the crowd that helped to set the tone.
Out of the gate, he implored us not to be a “jazz audience” – “If you feel the need to yell, or scream, or jump up and down, have at it! Don’t be shy!”
He effectively set up many of the song choices with stories and revelations on what inspired him to write the particular composition. A stand out for me (and my companions that evening) was his retelling of the moment when he held his sleeping baby daughter in his arms, and how when she started to coo and flutter her eyes, prompted him to explore the concept of what a new born might dream about with everything being so new to them.
The resulting piece entitled “Suspirito” was a sonic revelation that brought a tear to my eye. (Yes!…jazz can be emotional!). It was simply beautiful.
The musical journey this night had many stops.
From Afro Caribbean festival to ballads, to all out fusion (the polyrhythmic layering of songs like “Gravity” and “Flight”, were nothing short of awe inspiring).
Witnessing this avalanche of musical talent in my hometown was especially gratifying…it was indeed our privilege.
Jeremy Ledbetter Trio exemplifies why Canada stands proud and strong on the jazz world stage. If you happen to come by an opportunity to catch them – do NOT let it pass you by!
Highly recommended
.
*Special thanks to Jeremy Ledbetter for his info sharing and gracious acknowledgements. And to Bravo Niagara for its contribution to the enrichment of local music culture.