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THE TWINS: (L-R) Will is playing on alto saxophone and Peter on the clarinet. (Carol Rosegg)
NEW YORK—Growing up with identical twin brothers, I cannot help believing in the mystery of twin talk—and this belief was validated by watching the Anderson Twins Sextet last month. They celebrated the 100th birthday of jazz great Artie Shaw with a two-week tribute at 59E59Theaters and by recording a live CD of the event.
The Anderson Twins demonstrated that identical twins are fascinating beings whose special in-sync abilities and intuitive trust seems to find its truest expression when making music. Trust, grown as it has been from day one, profoundly affects twins’ sense of timing, allowing an even freer improvisation in jazz. In this case, with the comfort born of joining extraordinary life-mates to one task, the music from Will and Pete Anderson emerged pure and natural.
Complementing the music, throughout the evening candid comments by the pair created a friendly, down-home atmosphere. The Anderson Twins paid tribute to their presenter, for example, the owner of 59E59 St. Theaters, where the exquisite acoustics allowed playing without an amp and the sound that emerged was sweet, pure, and colorfully round. This was a far cry from their childhood days when, as Will revealed, the best acoustic chamber in their house was the bathroom where he practiced for hours.
Adding to the joyful music and conversational back stories was the spontaneous sharing by the twins’ various mentors and jazz greats as they agreed to bring their horns on stage and jam with the Anderson Twins.
Thus I was thrilled to take in three concerts, Friday, and Saturday nights of the first weekend and the second Sunday wrap. The first week was a show time challenge for eager listeners of "Benny Goodman meets Artie Shaw: Who Was King?" The second weekend was devoted to Artie with vocalist Daryl Sherman.
Who Was Jazz King?
With the saxophone noose around their necks, the 23-year-olds from Bethesda, Maryland, simply shifted from clarinet, to saxophone, to flute and back, as they changed-up the original big band sounds of unforgettable American swing songs. These they carefully crafted together and orchestrated for their sextet. Their music oozed with color and swing, as that tempting rhythmic invitation to the dance tugged at all who listened to these wonderful original arrangements.
The Sextet included Peter and Will Anderson (clarinets, saxophones and flute), Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet), Ehud Asherie, (piano), Clovis Nicolas (bass), and Kevin Dorn (drums).
With Dorn’s awesome drumming and Asherie, a pianist who listens for balance with a loose, light lilt, we were led right into jazzy instrumental dialogue through the American songbook of standards like “Avalon,” (A. Jolson) “What is This Thing Called Love,” (C. Porter), and “Stardust” (H. Carmichael).
The grand range of color and sweep of sound was glorious from Kellso on trumpet as well as the other soloists as they balanced the dancin' music of Peter and Will.
In his note-for-note transcription project for his sextet, Will delivered the “Concerto for Clarinet” that closed the first half of the program; particularly amusing was how the twin teased at the very end when Will and Peter divided that rising pitch “tit for tat” until alas, Shaw's “Concerto” ended one note higher as a response to Goodman's “Sing, Sing, Sing.”
Will said that after the last concert, one audience member said who he believed was king. Speaking to Will backstage, he had said, “You know, young man, I heard both Benny and Artie, and although both of them were Jewish, Artie played more Jewish than Goodman!” Will shared that they then realized the “Concerto” was full of Jewish melodies and scales and he asked us to listen for them.
