The Wise Dan Weis

On March 30, I was lucky enough to attend the Dan Weis trio performance at the Rex over on Queen Street. The concert was everything a young jazz student could hope for! Weis' trio consisted of piano player Jason Sax and bassist Thomas Morgan with Weis on drums and auxilory percussion. The first time I got to see Weis, he was touring with David Binney, another huge New York player. Morgan was playing bass in that group as well. The University of Toronto was fortunate enough to host a clinic in which the quintet performed and spoke in an intimate environment. Weis was particularly enthusiastic to answer questions and offer his advice to the aspiring crowd. Since than I've been consistently interested in seeing what he's up to next. This trio performance helped to feed that curiosity.
The compositions performed were all originals by either Weis, himself, or Sax. Most of the tunes consisted of complex rhythmic syncopation with virtuosic piano fills and accompaniment . Some of the slower tempo songs presented a sophisticated and dense harmonic structure, not often heard from the compositional perspective of a drummer. Morgan provided more than solid support with his full sound, perfect intonation, and rhythmic punctuation . This group of musicians each compliment each others styles in way that organically evolves from piece to piece. There's an intensity that comes with watching them play, with Weis and Sax exchanging facial expressions as they play, most often in the form of a content smile after a successful cue.
Weis has a unique style and expression in his playing. He has the ability to puncture time that has seldom, if ever, been done in the past. Because of his broad range and ability, it's tough to draw out who his influences might be, a little Brian Blade here, some Jim Black there? Among these jazz influences is a hint of Indian flavour. That's because Weis has extensively studied the tabla as well. While in live performance he will often put down his sticks to play the kit with his fingers in a style unique to Indian Classical tabla playing. This, I feel, is the core of his rhythmic approach. Tabla playing emphasizes the smallest of intervals between various pallets of time signatures using long rhythmic cycles. When Weis applies this to his drum kit in an improvisatory setting, a new atmosphere takes shape and the time appears to reinvent itself with each evolving phrase. Suddenly the space between two eight notes appears to have elongated. Of course without a dropping a beat, Weis seamlessly incorporates these elements into his music.
The Dan Weis trio is a group that is sure to be heard in the future. With Weis, himself, commenting on the enjoyable nature that the Rex has to offer, I'm confident I'll be seeing him again.