Potter and Wolf traded some crisp, four- and eight-bar tunes. Vibraphonist Wolf was playing his part with only two mallets, but compensated with the blinding speed of his hands. When it shifted into a faster tempo, the three-piece horn section of Potter, Sanchez and Charles provided some forceful momentum. The piece opened with a musical dialogue between Wolf and Simon, who played a series of intertwining lines, gradually building in complexity. Monday night’s late show opened with “Vicissitude,” a composition by Wolf, featuring Parlato’s ethereal vocalizing. This group also has a more international flavor than some earlier versions of SFJazz, with members from Trinidad (Charles), Venezuela (Simon) and Puerto Rico (Sanchez). The more than the sum-of-its-parts ensemble also includes saxophonist David Sanchez, trumpeter Etienne Charles, vibraphonist Warren Wolf – who led his own combo at the Dakota a few weeks ago – pianist Edward Simon and bassist Matt Brewer. (Last year, Kendrick won a Rising Star award from Downbeat magazine.) The Houston-born Scott has toured and recorded with artists including Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller, Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, The Crusaders, Joshua Redman, Robert Glasper, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Parlato, and the Blue Note All-Stars. Along with Parlato, new SFJazz members for this season include fat-toned saxophonist and music director Chris Potter, and Kendrick Scott, a force of nature drummer who provides a steady flow of percussive energy and support. Some earlier versions of the Collective featured instrumentalists only, but the current group puts more emphasis on vocals, with two fine singers, Gretchen Parlato and and the R&B-oriented Martin Luther McCoy. A new SFJazz recording, “Reflecting the Moment,” was released on March 18 by the San Francisco-based nonprofit. But, since beginning its 2021-2022 season last fall, SFJazz has been dedicated to performing new compositions by band members “inspired by and in response to the extraordinary social and global issues we have faced over the last year,” according to the group’s artistic mission statement. In its past iterations, each season of the leaderless ensemble has typically focused on the music of selected jazz and pop music icons, with re-arranged versions of familiar tunes (although each member composes at least one original tune per season for the group to perform). Freed from the bonds of COVID lockdown, the SFJazz Collective brought plenty of creative and performing energy with its annual (in “normal” times) visit to the Dakota jazz club in Minneapolis, on March 28th.
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