Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Packed house for 'Trane tribute

Gilbert Castellanos welcomed Azar Lawrence, Alphonse Mouzon, Hamilton Price and Joshua White into a meditation at 98 Bottles.

The spiritual gravitas of jazz icon John Coltrane hung thick in the air at 98 Bottles on August 4, especially when tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence steered the ensemble into what would become a blueprint for the evening: a free rubato introduction into "Lonnie's Lament," which became a 20 minute tour-de-force. Gilbert Castellanos' trumpet swirled in orbits around the saxophone refrain over the skitterish, unsettled drums of Alphonse Mouzon. When the minor-blues form came bounding out, there were rough-hewn curlicues from Lawrence and smeary postulations from the trumpeter. Joshua White emerged, left-hand spring-loaded / right-hand splaying for locked-in exchanges with Mouzon, who may be the loudest drummer I've heard since seeing John Bonham in 1970. Finally, Hamilton Price drew the dynamics down, with strummed double-stops and flamenco gestures before the band took the tune out.

The super-charged Latin-to-swing aesthetic of "Summer Solstice," found Castellanos hitting first, darting though the changes with exuberant velocity and a strangling vibrato. Mouzon kicked each pedal section into an ecstatic dimension, spurring Lawrence into '65 Coltrane vortices with shotgun accents. Alternate universes were implied by the shifting harmonies of White, who used bluesy repetitions to create a tension that heightened with rhythmic counterpunches delivered with the force of Ali on a sparring partner.

A long a cappella innovation led Lawrence into a remarkably free "Body & Soul," landing stylistically somewhere between 'Trane's Atlantic version and the excoriating "Live In Seattle," Impulse session. Castellanos revealed a more tender and pensive signature with his muted solo, and White took the tune into a different reality with the energy structures of a beautiful mind.

Over a furious Price walk, Castellanos cut "Impressions," into short bursts that reconstituted in his improvisation to the length of old-growth redwoods. Mouzon kept an assault and battery pounding that rocketed off the stage and White strolled so that Lawrence could directly access the 'Trane/ Elvin Jones continuum with scales of alacrity and screams of delirium.

The malleted toms of Mouzon induced a squeal-trill-athon from the saxophone before White, beginning with the barest of materials delivered "Naima,' into a kinetic dust storm not seen since Pharoah Sanders' elastic burbling on "Live at the Village Vanguard Again" circa 1966.

The standing ovation following "Moments Notice," could not have been more appropriate.

Photo by Brian Ross

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024

The spiritual gravitas of jazz icon John Coltrane hung thick in the air at 98 Bottles on August 4, especially when tenor saxophonist Azar Lawrence steered the ensemble into what would become a blueprint for the evening: a free rubato introduction into "Lonnie's Lament," which became a 20 minute tour-de-force. Gilbert Castellanos' trumpet swirled in orbits around the saxophone refrain over the skitterish, unsettled drums of Alphonse Mouzon. When the minor-blues form came bounding out, there were rough-hewn curlicues from Lawrence and smeary postulations from the trumpeter. Joshua White emerged, left-hand spring-loaded / right-hand splaying for locked-in exchanges with Mouzon, who may be the loudest drummer I've heard since seeing John Bonham in 1970. Finally, Hamilton Price drew the dynamics down, with strummed double-stops and flamenco gestures before the band took the tune out.

The super-charged Latin-to-swing aesthetic of "Summer Solstice," found Castellanos hitting first, darting though the changes with exuberant velocity and a strangling vibrato. Mouzon kicked each pedal section into an ecstatic dimension, spurring Lawrence into '65 Coltrane vortices with shotgun accents. Alternate universes were implied by the shifting harmonies of White, who used bluesy repetitions to create a tension that heightened with rhythmic counterpunches delivered with the force of Ali on a sparring partner.

A long a cappella innovation led Lawrence into a remarkably free "Body & Soul," landing stylistically somewhere between 'Trane's Atlantic version and the excoriating "Live In Seattle," Impulse session. Castellanos revealed a more tender and pensive signature with his muted solo, and White took the tune into a different reality with the energy structures of a beautiful mind.

Over a furious Price walk, Castellanos cut "Impressions," into short bursts that reconstituted in his improvisation to the length of old-growth redwoods. Mouzon kept an assault and battery pounding that rocketed off the stage and White strolled so that Lawrence could directly access the 'Trane/ Elvin Jones continuum with scales of alacrity and screams of delirium.

The malleted toms of Mouzon induced a squeal-trill-athon from the saxophone before White, beginning with the barest of materials delivered "Naima,' into a kinetic dust storm not seen since Pharoah Sanders' elastic burbling on "Live at the Village Vanguard Again" circa 1966.

The standing ovation following "Moments Notice," could not have been more appropriate.

Photo by Brian Ross

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.