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The groove is the key
Former bay area resident Jonathan Powell says to keep that in mind when listening to the different sounds of his new jazz group.
By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 3, 2002
[Times photo:
Thomas M. Goethe 2000]
Jonathan Powell says his New York-based quartet, Nexus/Plexus, can be daring in live performances because of the trust the members have in each other.
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Jazz and hip-hop wunderkind Jonathan Powell returns to his old stomping grounds this weekend with Nexus/Plexus, his new New York-based experimental jazz quartet featuring saxophone, bass, drums and Powell, 20, a former St. Petersburg resident, on trumpet.
The band will record its Friday performance at Skipper's Smokehouse for a live album to be released on Powell's Balance Records.
Nexus/Plexus has received an enthusiastic response on the New York club scene, and Powell hopes the music, which he says is a little out there, will go over well in other locations. The band is on a brief tour of the East Coast, eager to turn on new audiences to different musical sounds and sensibilities.
"The music comes from a crazy jazz vein," Powell said by phone while driving to the tour's first stop, in North Carolina. "But it's really energetic, extremely so. It's filled with lots of grooves. It's not hard to understand. If people can get into a groove, they'll understand it."
Playing in a live setting is most important for Nexus/Plexus, whose material is all original composition. "It can get pretty intense," Powell said.
The band, which includes Powell's brother Jeremy on saxophone, has been writing and performing together for a year. The trust the musicians have built over time, as well as the sibling connection, frees them to be daring onstage, Powell said. The brothers frequently collaborate musically.
Tampa jazz combo Ghetto Love Sugar will open the show. That band and the brothers Powell enjoy a musical friendship, with the brothers doing guest spots on The Uncertainty Principle, Ghetto Love Sugar's recent album.
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Nexus/Plexus with Ghetto Love Sugar, 8 p.m. Friday, Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. (813) 977-6474. $6.
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