Dallas, 9.29.2024

The Bath House Cultural Center on White Rock Lake is a place of tranquil beauty, replete with old growth trees, bird songs, insect sounds, swimming ducks and geese. (I thought it was where the Velvet Underground played an antiwar rally during their End of Cole stand in 1969, but Jeff Leegood, who recorded them, informs me that was at Flag Pole Hill, on the north side of Northwest Highway.) 

For four weekends this fall, it's also the home of "Free Fall: Hard Blues and Harmolodics," a "firm rooted jazz series" curated by Oak Cliff's own percussionist extraordinaire, Stefan Gonzalez. The opening concert of the series, featuring Stefan's band, Trio Glossia, had perfect weather and a good size crowd for the free-admission event. Subsequent nights will feature the Shelley Carrol Trio (October 13), the South African Heritage Ensemble (October 27), and a duo of Lily Taylor and Aaron Gonzalez with Trio Glossia (November 9). It was worth the drive from Fort Worth to experience.

It was quite a striking contrast between hearing Trio Glossia playing through a rock PA at Growl in Arlington last week and experiencing the more-or-less pristine sound of their instruments (bassist Matthew Frerck had a small amp) in nature. At one point, Joshua Miller paused in the middle of Frerck's "Zoomorphology" to interact with insect sounds on the wind chime he had hanging from his tenor sax. At another, a barking dog supplied a response to the musicians. 

Part of the ongoing delight of watching this band grow together is seeing how the compositions morph in live performance, and how much more acute their three-way communication becomes. First single "Nerdy Dirty Talk," "Shedding Tongues," "To Walk the Night" (with Frerck switching to guitar), "For A Fee," "Ode to Swamp Thing," and a quick "Cikatiedid" (for the insects) were all played for maximum expressive potential. 

Gonzalez attacks his vibraphone with great intensity, and occasionally applies a lighter touch to the trap set, while Miller is a marvel of joyful abandon behind the drums, keeping time with his hi-hat while exploding all over the kit. (At one point, he quoted the percussion intro to "Nerdy Dirty Talk" during a freely improvised interlude.) His tenor voice has depth as well as power, and his small instruments add color and atmosphere to the mix. And Frerck is an astonishing virtuoso, whether driving the band with a brisk walk, soloing expressively, or slashing rhythmically with his bow. 

Trio Glossia is currently North Texas's best-kept secret. If you love jazz, improvisation, or any music infused with life and spirit, you owe it to yourself to see them. And "Free Fall: Hard Blues and Harmolodics" is off to a flying start. I recently learned that Fort Worth has an arts commission. Such a body could do worse than to fund something similar here.