The Stryker/Slagle Band with Joe Lovano Dazzles Dizzy’s

Earlier this winter, New York jazz fans were treated to a week of top-notch bluesy neo-bop at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center. (www.jalc.org/dccc). For six cold February nights, The Stryker/Slagle Band, www.myspace.com/thestrykerslagleband
with stringsmith Dave Stryker www.davestryker.com and alto and soprano hornman extraordinaire Steve Slagle www.steveslagle.com took the bandstand with the jazz world’s ablest cohorts.

Dizzy’s treats its patrons to a glorious backdrop of Central Park and Columbus Circle, glittering against the night sky. But during this gig, the pyrotechnics came from the stage, as Stryker/Slagle rocked the house. It was their first engagement at Dizzy’s, but no doubt not their last.

The esteemed duo, who have been playing together since the mid-Eighties, were joined by accomplished bassist Jay Anderson and kickin’ drummer Victor Lewis (These roles are sometimes played in the Stryker-Slagle Band by Ed Howard and Billy Hart respectively.)

The gig boasted a very special guest, tenorman Joe Lovano. The Cleveland native, who took the stage in his trademark beatnik beret, has known Slagle since their student days at Berklee College of Music in the Seventies. On Stryker’s part, he says, “I’ve known Joe since the New York loft jazz scene 25 years back.”

The group, in this configuration, plays on the The Stryker/Slagle Band’s most recent release, “Latest Outlook,” on Zoho Music.

The Lineup

The band swooped right into Stryker’s composition, “Bird Flew,” based on the changes of “Confirmation” by Charlie Parker. The band members alternated solos. Slagle’s turn on alto sax closed with a bop flourish, and Stryker, on his Gibson semi-hollowbody, picked up the thread with a melodic passage rich in his characteristic blues riffs. Then Lovano did his authoritative thing, and the number ended on a high note with moments of dueling horns by Slagle and Lovano. Overall the approach was tasty and straight-ahead, with a diggin’-in tempo furnished by Jay Anderson and ever-classy background work by Victor Lewis.

Next the band tackled Slagle’s “Dear Mr. Hicks,” dedicated to late, great pianist John Hicks. The piece opened with an acoustic riff by Stryker atop ethereal percussion by Lewis; here, the song’s elegiac melody recalled “Goodbye Porkpie Hat.” Gradually, the opening led into inspired, controlled chaos. After this riveting intro, the band played ensemble with a sound like Sonny Rollins’ “Alfie,” and brought to mind the glorious late Bop exuberance of Kenny Burrell playing with Trane and the other “Cats.” Tonight, the quintet dug in and played a the focused concentration, producing the kind of tight modern jazz that this listener, for one, always hopes for.

The band’s third tune, “Chelsea Bridge” by Billy Strayhorn, provided a languid entr’acte. Then the band attacked Slagle’s compostion “6/8 for Tia,” dedicated to his wife. It was the most upbeat number thus far, a joyous soul-jazz tribute with Slagle contributing a heartfelt solo and Stryker unleashing the blues monster within.

Stryker’s “Hartland,” whose title honors drummer Billy Hart, featured the composer on his electrified Taylor acoustic, adding riffs that recalled The Who’s “Pinball Wizard.” Slagle, on soprano, doubled with Lovano as Anderson and Lewis ably backed it all up. Stryker burned it down with an incendiary solo, and the number finished up with a plantive, upward-moving section by Lovano.

The set’s final tune was “In Just Time,” written by Stryker and Slagle “one bar each,” joked Slagle onstage (which is not a bad name for a future tune). Stryker was back on his Gibson with a propulsive drive as Slagle and Lovano’s horns chorused and clashed amiably in a bop-like dual drive. Solos passed from player to player, with Lewis taking his longest solo of the set: low-key and inward, yet mesmerizing, and concluding with a wall of drum sound. The tune closed with the band playing ensemble in a bop chorus, Stryker’s fancy fingerwork leading into a clever coda for the two horns.

Dizzy’s full house drank up every moment.

The Band That Plays Together, Stays Together

Stryker/Slagle’s newest CD, “Latest Outlook,” on the Zoho label, features the Dizzy’s personnel. “We recorded the record at Jay (Anderson)’s studio in New Paltz, New York, and Jay engineered it,” said Stryker.

Says the guitar man about his keyboardless group, “I like not having a piano. I think it’s a cool sound.  It leaves space in the chordal area for me to fill in, and I have control over where the music can go.”

“We’re an interactive group with an original sound,” says Stryker. “Of course, we rehease and run down the music, but it’s very open, and the improvsation keeps it alive. We play ten sets of the same songs, we’re doing different stuff in all different places.”

About Dave Stryker

The Omaha native has a distinctive sound shaded by a latitude of American music traditions. He doesn’t like to pigeonhole his genre of Jazz guitar playing, preferring to call it “the Dave Stryker sound.” “the guitarists I listened to when I was coming up, and still like, are many,” he says. A few of them are Pat Martino, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Jim Hall, Billy Rogers.” He adds, “I also listened to a lot of Miles, Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, etc., etc.”

Now a New Jersey resident, Stryker’s first New York engagement was with organist Jack McDuff’s trio. He spent over 13 years playing with the late Stanley Turrentine, and considers “Stanley T” a mentor. 

Stryker has 27 CDs to date, 20 as a leader (and 15 on SteepleChase Records). He is featured as a sideman with Stanley Turrentine, Jack McDuff, Kevin Mahogany, Eliane Elias, and other top artists.

Stryker’s ongoing Shades of Miles project, bigger band, pays tribute to the master, and his popular Blue to the Bone Band could roar back to life. In addition, Stryker fronts an organ trio, simply named The Dave Stryker Organ Trio, with Hammond B-3 player Jared Gold and Tony Reedus on drums. “I’m always working on new projects,” says Stryker.

His website describes his approach as “combining the jazz burn with a soulful blues feeling.” The man himself characterizes his sound as “a blues-jazz sensibility, blues in the groove…I like to stretch the boundaries.”

Dave Stryker’s Gear

Stryker’s main instrument is a 1989 semi-hollowbody Gibson ES 347 that he’s had for 15 years. “It’s a little unusual in jazz,” he says. “Most guitarists like a bigger, fatter box.” He admits, “I also own a big, fat jazz guitar, but the 347 gives me the Dave Stryker sound.”

Stryker plays the Gibson through a Fender Blues Deville tube amp with 10” speakers, no effects. His strings are D’Addario round-wound 13-58.

The acoustic guitar that Styrker uses is a Taylor with six steel strings. It’s tuned to a DADGAD D-modal instead of EADGBE. This tuning, which is standard in Indian, Moroccan, and Celtic music, furnishes, says Stryker, “an open, almost trancelike sound.” His pick is a medium-heavy D’Addario teardrop.

Karen Tina Harrison for Jazz Guitar Life

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