By Diego Olivares
East Los Angeles College’s First Friday Jazz Concert was a sublime night filled with fantastic music created by great musical performances by the Wirechoir on Nov. 8.
The band is a reinvention of an early version from the ‘70s, lead by musician Tony Rizzi. However, this wasn’t just a simple performance. Joining many of the new members is four of the original band’s members.
The Wirechoir line-up includes Terry Carter as lead guitar, along with guitarists; Jimmy Cheesman, Joe Jewell, Sam Hoffman, Alex Medina and Jon Kleinhans.
The band also had Paul Kreibich on drums with Luther Hughes on upright bass. Rounding out the last part of the group is Pete Christlieb on tenor saxophone.
Jewell, Hughes, Christlieb and Kreibich were part of the original line-up. Many of the other members are part of the brand new line-up.
For nearly two hours, Wirechoir played with pure hearts and talents.
Much of the enjoyment was brought by the guitar work from Hoffman, Medina, Kleinhans, and Cheesman, all lead by Carter. The standout from this group was veteran player, Jewell.
They manage to switch from heavy, guitar playing, to a more soothing mood. Hughes’s bass helps give the music its strength.
Paul Kreibich on drums give the beat to every tunes in the group. He was able to make each tune very catchly. The biggest player among the group was Pete Christlieb on tenor sax.
He was able to inject much of his jazzy, sax sounds into the music, mostly halfways in most of the tunes. He was the real stand out of the group; he’s sax sound being the most remembered.
During the night, the band played a total of 11 songs from their playlists. Many of the songs were jazz-influenced with a bit of funk and blues mix along.
Wirechoir opened the show with their first song on the set, “Rose’s Loom.” When hearing a song like this, it reminds people of the classic sense of the genre and style of jazz. It felt like a blast of music, which was a great way to start the show.
The second piece of the night is a song known as “I Surrender.”
This piece of music is very moving. It’s the kind of song that someone would listen to while sitting in a coffee shop.
One of the best pieces of the set was the song “Whisper Not.” Unlike most of the music in the set-list, this would be the more calm and more slow-down song of the group.
It was a real mood changer, but it stood out the most with its tranquil tone. This was easily the best song of the group.
In a more somber tone, the tune, “Tom Thumb” came from a more personal place from the band. This song was dedicated to a past member named Will Lovell, who played bass for the band and died a few days before the ELAC show.
Unlike most of the tunes, this one was more in the vein of funk music. This tune shows that that the band is able to branch out to other styles and genres other than jazz.
It was a real 70s-style vibe, which gave a feeling of nostalgia. It was a nice tribute for their former member.
In between the tunes were little interesting tidbits about the history of the band itself. This includes the fact that the band’s, Wirechoir’s first album had big inspiration towards many jazz and rock ‘n’ roll bands for the future generation.
The night then came to an end with the tune, “Solo Flight.”
In this tune, all members of the band gave their very own solo performances within the very tune itself.
Other songs including in the program were “Breakfast Fund,” “Lemon Cake,” “A New Baby,” “Carvin, “The Bird,” “Four” and “Relaxin’.” All and all, it was an amazing performance bought by an astounding band.
ELAC’s First Friday Jazz Series for Fall 2013 will come to an end Dec. 6.
The ELAC Jazz band will be playing a series of Christmas song, just in time for the season. Admission is free.