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SFJAZZ Spring Season 2007 • March 8-June 23, 2007 |
| SFJAZZ Spring Season
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"Orchestral Innovator"Guillermo Klein y Los Guachos featuring Chris Cheek, Ben Monder, and othersFriday, June 1 • 8pm“Whether he appears to be drawing from boleros, baroque music, ragas or Wayne Shorter, he's risking a bit, and going after the transcendental moment.”—The New York Times Program NotesA native of Argentina, Klein studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music before moving to New York City in the mid-’90s. From the moment he stepped foot in Manhattan, Guillermo Klein was one of the scene’s most notable composers and bandleaders, holding down regular weekly gigs with his big band at Smalls and the larger Jazz Gallery. It was a heyday for creative improvisers, with Greenwich Village alive with ingenuity and inspiration into the wee hours of the night. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times shares his impression of Klein’s impact on the scene: His music resembled nothing else, especially as it moved toward grooves and away from the harmonic exercises he had learned in music school. It was jazz, of a kind, but it included brass choirs, counterpoint, drones, Argentine and Cuban rhythms and a lot of singing. But just as soon as Klein emerged as a leader, he made the decision to return to Buenos Aires. The 2001 Argentinean fiscal crisis prompted his move to Barcelona, where he still resides. He continued to write for and record with Los Guachos, releasing a number of acclaimed albums, including 2005’s Una Nave. It made Ratliff’s 2005 ten best albums list, with All About Jazz calling it “a boldly sweeping album that transcends its individual components.” One thing that remains constant with his New York days is the high quality of loyal musicians that Klein attracts to his ensembles. Tonight is no exception, with Chris Cheek, Bill McHenry, Ben Monder, Diego Urcola, and Bill McHenry, all alumni from the Smalls era, reuniting for a rare West Coast performance of Klein’s exquisite compositions.
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