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The Empty Bottle's Wednesday night series.

Saturday Dec 08, 2001.     By Greg Rolnick

Music Feed

Before I get into my recent experience at the Empty Bottle's Wednesday Night Jazz Series, let me give you the basics:

For the past four-and-a-half years of Wednesday evenings, a different group of jazz musicians has assembled at the Empty Bottle to spin the musical flax from 9 p.m. until closing. Performers range from local acts to national headliners, and the cover charge reflects each evening's offering. However, show organizers, John Corbett and Ken Vandermark, make a conscientious effort to bring in quality talent every week. Their hard work culminates every spring, when the Empty Bottle hosts an international jazz festival.

Now then, the first step to an enjoyable evening of music at the Empty Bottle is making sure you've written down the street address. To simply rely on seeing the small, black-on-red sign out front will most likely prove more frustrating than fruitful. I highly recommend arriving early and grabbing a bite to eat at the restaurant next door before the show (the burritos weren't too shabby).

Once inside, the Empty Bottle's exposed brick walls give it a cool, cavernous vibe. Combined with the couch and chairs in front of the makeshift stage for the evening's performance, it felt quite like being in someone's creatively decorated basement. Of course, if you ask this intrepid reporter, how you can you not love any bar that has $1 bottles of Huber Bock? C'mon!

Wednesday night jazz brought a sizable crowd, as somewhere between 60 and 70 folks gathered to hear the set. A warning to those looking to socialize and drink; as the band is not amplified and most of the crowd is there for the music, talking is somewhat frowned upon. The shows are designed for the appreciative jazz fan to enjoy great music in a relaxed, listening room atmosphere- not for picking up the hotties by the bar.

The group I caught on my trip to the Empty Bottle was superb. School Days is a quintet consisting of Ken Vandemark on saxophone, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Kjell Nordeson on vibes, Ingelbigt Haker-Flaten on bass, and Paul Nissen-Love on drums. They fired through three original sets of jazz that veered from be-bop to fusion to almost atonal experimentation. All of the musicians showed great skill in exploring the limits and possibilities of their instruments in order to find and exploit new sounds and musical phrases. Definitely not afraid to stray away from the melody or conventional musical logic, they took the rapt audience on a melodic version of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

The highlight of the evening was the outstanding drumming of Paul Nissen-Love, who anchored each piece with his rock-solid playing. On many tunes, the beat would propel his body into a frenzy -- his arms flailing around like an over-achieving octopus.

So the next time you're sitting around, wondering what to do on Wednesday night, just get on over to the Empty Bottle, buy yourself a Huber Bock, pull up a seat, and lose yourself in the music for the next several hours. It's a guaranteed good time. Really.

GREG ROLNICK 06/25/01