Allison Lazur Photo
Hershkovits, Bareket, and Hoenig.
Ari Hoenig — drummer and bandleader of the Ari Hoenig Trio — counted off: 1, 2, 3, 4. Bassist Or Bareket and pianist Nitai Hershkovits flashed smiles at Hoenig, as a sign that they were ready to make music.
Hershkovits’s harmonies were a clear response to what the drummer had begun with, his rhythms sprinkled with melodious lines of a familiar tune. All three were completely in sync with one another, catching every clever musical gesture. A chuckle from Bareket confirmed this as he zoned in on their musical conversation.
His contribution: a walking bass line serving as the foundation, spinning the trio into a whirlwind of sound that demanded the attention of all in the room.
The room was Firehouse 12, where the Ari Hoenig trio Friday night forged auditory bliss. It was apparent from the first moment all three took the stage that the connection between these three musicians was something genuine and unique.
“The music makes it special,” Hoenig said, regarding his collaborating with Hershkovits and Bareket. “The way we relate to one another and the immediate intuition that seems like it was there since the first time we played together is what makes this very special.”
Anyone in the audience that evening would have to agree with Hoenig. The second tune on the set list was a ballad featuring pianist Hershkovits, whose opening solo — a melodious line with complex chords, full of emotion — prompted an approving head nod and smile from bassist Bareket. Moments like this continued throughout the night and made the audience feel as though they were a part of something artistically profound.
Hoenig.
Many of the tunes that evening were jazz standards, but played in a way they had never quite been played before. For instance, in the jazz idiom, the ballad “Autumn Leaves” (based on the 1945 French song “Les feuilles mortes,” is always played with four beats to every measure. Hoenig and his trio put it in the complex meter of five, in such a seamless manner that it left the audience wondering why the tune was not originally written in this meter.
“It’s jazz,” said Hoenig, “or punkbop sub-genre if you want to get really specific.”
The trio had many moments where the groove of the tunes completely enveloped the audience, then slowly strayed away from familiarity, only to return back to the bass’s buttery tones, the lyrical lines in the piano, and the drum’s driving rhythms, recreating the familiar groove that began the piece.
Hoenig was the obvious leader at all times. Whether the band was in the middle of a spiral of sound and euphoria or simply returning back to a familiar melody the audience knew, Hoenig commanded the tunes in a way beyond just playing the complex rhythms he is known for. He exemplified emotion, musical genius, and simple apparent fun, which Bareket and Hershkovits immediately locked into.
“Every time I have a concert like this,” Hoenig said, “I get to play with people I love and
I’m thankful for that.”