Michael Kasehammer Trio, Feb. 25, Winnipeg, Canada

Michael Kasehammer Trio, Feb. 25, Winnipeg, Canada
Last night, German-born, Vancouver-based jazz pianist sensation Michael Kaeshammer played what looked like a packed house at the West End Cultural Centre with bassist Marc Rogers and drummer Ben Riley. This was his first Winnipeg appearance since playing a small club show (the Liberty Grill) and opening for the Neville Brothers at Pantages Playhouse Theatre, last June at the Jazz Winnipeg Festival.

I had not heard about Kaeshammer until a co-worker raved about his astonishing performance at the Liberty Grill. A few months later, I heard this brilliant, rollicking, piano medly on CBC’s Vinyl Café and was absolutely floored. The audience in the live recording erupted with applause, as if they were hearing and seeing something truly extraordinary.

I arrived around 6:45 pm at the venue and was the fourth person in line. I made a bee-line for the front row and ended up saving two seats for a co-worker and his wife. My seat gave me a straight-ahead view of Kaeshammer and his furious hands. Thankfully, the sound was at a perfect volume level.

Early on in the show, Kaeshammer announced that they love playing encores and will play their encore now rather than later on in the show. Cue the audience laughter. At this point, I knew that this would be an evening of playfulness like I have not seen before in a jazz show. I can see some jazz purists not appreciating his humour, the multitude of false endings with long, meandering, esoteric soloing. At one point, just when it seemed he had finished yet another burst of soloing and brought a song to an end, an audience member began to clap. Still soloing, Kasehammer, raised one hand and pointed it towards that person as if to say, “I’m not done yet.” It was a comical moment that brought measured laughter from the audience.

Early on, he played Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies. He also played Fats Waller, one of his early influences. He told a story about how in the old days, piano players would take turns playing during intermissions in the clubs and if a newcomer was better than the featured player, the featured player would get fired on the spot in favour of the newcomer.

While playing, he typically kept a beat with one foot, while the other one sat still. It’s like he was his own rhythm section. It’s quite something to see. He also sang a few times, evoking the style of Harry Connick, Jr.

Article Author: Triniman

Almost weekly, Triniman catches new movies, and adds one or two CDs to his collection. Due to time constraints, he blogs about only 5% of the CDs, books and DVDs that he purchases. Holed up in the geographic centre of North America, the cultural …

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