The Jazz Culture Feature
RAY GALLON, PAT O'LEARY & DAN ARAN at ARTURO'S
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Jazz Feature Pat O'Leary, Ray Gallon & Dan Aran, a Trio at Arturo's by L. Hamanaka
Caught Pat O’Leary (bass), Ray Gallon (piano), and Dan Aran (drums) at Arturo’s on Monday, May 20. The first song this writer heard was “If I had You,” (Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connolly and Irving King) at about 106=quarter note, in a funky and bluesy style with the bass and bass line of the piano in unison, where the musicians combined the flavor of early jazz and a sort of boppish swing—mainly scalar talk with some blue notes thrown in, in an unfamiliar styling of a standard. The bassist, on his solo, ended his lines on an upbeat, with the effect of asking a question, and pushing the beat ahead, with a fluttering touch to his quarter notes. O’Leary and Gallon were like two old friends having a real talk about someone else they knew—through music. Trading 4’s with 2
The Jazz Culture, VII:55
the drummer, Dan Aran, who was minimalistic at first but opened up later, adding some rum shots as the Trio did an extended tag, quoting the melody of the A section, with a little funk, and then ending in a diminuendo. Monk’s “Rhythm-a-ning” was next, at about 175, as the piano scampered through the changes, sometimes picking out a two note or seven note lick and then cascading through the scales, with machine gun rapidity, with a nice arc to his phrases. Pat O’Leary did some octave work (a la Wilbur Ware?) and picked out some tasty notes trading 4’s with the drummer. Mr. Aran, who has moved here from Israel is a talented drummer. Another song the Trio played around with was “Down by the Riverside,” a folk song—making it into a Blues with a humorous lilt, at about 168=quarter note, Mr. Gallon basing a lot of his solo in the lower register below middle C, with well placed accents that were sometimes reminiscent of Sonny Clarke, but not as emphatic,
Thelyric Trio is inMr. a pensive between tunes with a more glint. Gallon mood also threw in some Monk type
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Tony the bartender serves some regulars, among them, Reverend Lind and his wife
phrases and voicings. The bassist played rising lines expressing Monk-like thoughts, and the drummer played nice licks, softly and subtly, using brushes. “When You’re Smiling” followed at about 126=quarter note, with a clave rhythm by bass and piano superimposed over drums playing 4/4, similar to that used by John Coltrane in “Body & Soul.” The bassist Mr. O’Leary had a very pretty tone, solid and sort of baritone colored.
In the middle of “When You’re Smiling,” Reverend Lind came over (he was there with his wife), and started telling me stories about Arturo’s. He said Arturo told him some years ago that Dizzy Gillespie used to come over on his break from the Village Gate and have dinner; and sometimes Diz would pick up a white napkin and go around taking orders from the guests. Reverend Lind also said that Tony Bennett occasionally came and sat in with the band then. 4
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The next song was an original of Mr. Gallon’s, “So Somi” at about 145=quarter note, played with a provocative cross cultural rhythmic combination, of latin, Jazz, and funk beats, played in Mr. Gallon’s style of romantic lyricism. Pat O’Leary played with an earthy, dark baritone sound and resilient feel and close to marcato touch on bass, with post bop phrasing, accenting upbeats with bass and piano in tandem a lot of the time. Mr. Gallon and Mr. O’Leary performed with a nice contrast in colors, rhythms, and Mr. Aran was sensitive and did tasty brushwork. About the Artists: Mr. Pat O’Leary, bassist, born in Buffalo and
raised in Poughkeepsie, went to the Crane School of Music. He joined Lionel Hampton’s Big Band in 1983 when he came to New York. Pat O’Leary can be seen at the Blue Note in Tokyo with Bob Dorough during the last weekend in June, and at the Kitano on June 7 & 8, as well as at Arturo’s.
Decor at Arturo's is always festive
Mr. Ray Gallon, pianist, is a native New Yorker, raised between Chinatown and City Hall, and teaches at CCNY; he recalled that he The Jazz Culture, VII:55
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attended City College when John Lewis was teaching there. Mr. Gallon can be heard at Small’s on June 7, at the Early Show from 7:30-10. Mr. Dan Aran, drummer, recently moved here from Israel.
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