Jonathan Kreisberg at The Spin, Oxford 9th April 2025

Jonathan Kreisberg-guitar, Javier Santiago -Fender Rhodes, Luca Allemanno -bass, Colin Stranahan drums

This was a coup for The Spin being just one of only two UK dates on New York based Jonathan Kreisberg’s 2025 European Tour, the other being at Ronnie Scott’s. Needless to say it was standing room only for the visit of the highly admired guitarist who has released 11 critically acclaimed CD’s, has been a long standing collaborator with jazz master Dr Lonnie Smith, and also is a respected educator.

He brought with him long-time drum partner Colin Stranahan, a winner in the Thelonious Monk drum competition 2012 whose other high profile engagements have included playing with another leading jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. He he too is an educator with a teaching position at the Royal Academy of Music.

Javier Santiago who we were told usually plays piano when performing with Kreisberg tonight was seated at a Fender Rhodes. Los Angeles based Santiago was a finalist in the American Jazz Pianistcompetition of 2015 and is known on the beat and hip hop scene as well as the jazz scene there.

The only reliable information available to me about bassist Luca Allemanno was that he’s based in Lecce, Italy.

The group began with a Wayne Shorter tune which Kreisberg did not name but I think was ‘Fall’. They started as a trio until Santiago joined in. Kreisberg embellished the tune with one harmonic idea after another, while underneath there was a sharp contrast between Strahan’s pacey drumming and Allemanno’s steady bass line. Santiago immediately impressed when he picked up the melody in his solo before Kreisberg came back in with a second solo which hinted both at a joyful peel of bells and a restless spirit. Towards the end of the number Kreisberg seemed to capture the human voice and it was easy to imagine a singer scatting the melody.

It was very impressive how Kreisberg and his colleagues sustained the very high standard they’d set with this opening number through the whole set. Next they played the Kreisberg original ‘Relativity’  The attractive melody initially featured Kreisberg and the very impressive Stranahan on drums combining in high speed angular darting runs before Kreisberg stepped back and Santiago stepped in to keep up the pace along with Stranahan.

Next came a lesser known Thelonius Monk tune ‘Ugly Beauty’ which Kreisberg introduced as the only waltz Monk wrote. The opening section which Santiago sat out, felt like going back to an earlier era when the role of drums and bass was to just support the leader by steadily playing the rhythm in unison. But it wasn’t long before Kreisberg and company began to deconstruct the waltz. The number though was really a feature for double bassist Allemanno. His extended solo could be justly said to be ‘awesome’ and it certainly left The Spin crowd ‘awestruck’. (In the interval his solo was the talk of the queue at the bar).

The highlight of what had already been a stellar first half and arguably the highlight of the whole set was ‘Devika’. I am not sure if this might have been derived from a song with the same title composed by saxophonist Dave Hubbard in 2002. There were many changes of mood, tone and dynamics, and it felt like a symphony was being unfurled over the course of what was a gripping fourteen or so minutes At the conclusion the attentive Spin audience responded with cheers and prolonged warm applause.

The second half began with a number that showcased Kreisberg’s skill and creativity with harmonies and flowing arpeggios, and it had a rather jolly ending.

The quartet then moved on to a tune from twenty years ago which Kreisberg said he had to relearn as now he plays differently. .It was noticeable that this was the most overtly chord driven number in the set.

This was followed by what Kreisberg called ‘Bagabond’ which was a version of his own tune ‘Vagabond.’ It swung attractively and featured another quality double bass solo.

The quartet finished with an encore built around a four note pulse, in which Colin Stranahan was given plenty of space to display his creativity with what was a very subtle drum solo.

This was a set full of uplifting music that frequently made me smile. Kreisberg is a player whose creativity created complex patterns while his commitment to melody ensured that what he did was very accessible. The other musicians bought into his creative ideas totally as an ensemble, and were very impressive individually when they soloed.

The supportive Spin audience latched on early that what they were hearing was high quality, and
responded with cheers and prolonged applause not only at the end but throughout which built up a great atmosphere.

Overall it was a terrific night of jazz, which if I was to list the best gigs I’d been to at The Spin this one would be right up there, and I am saying this as not the biggest fan of jazz guitar though Jonathan Kreisberg could convert me.

COLIN MAY

 

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