“We’re going to create ice cream castles in the summer and watch them melt,” J.D. Allen told a transfixed audience of about 50 at the opening of the second set at the Blue Room on Thursday, November 1. While apt, the saxophonist’s analogy diminished the monumental scale of the act of creation and destruction he undertook with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Nasheet Wait.
The eminent trio seemed to construct colossal pyramids before toppling them in competitive games of Jenga. Their ability to instantaneously switch styles elicited roguish smiles from the musicians and gasps of disbelief from their admirers. When they turned their attention from post-bop, electronic drones and tender swing to Kansas City-style blues, the trio so dramatically reengineered the form that the present seemed unnervingly altered when they’d concluded.
A knowledgeable friend suggested the trio intentionally channeled Sonny Rollins’ 1960s edgy collaborations with Don Cherry and Billy Higgins. A corresponding commitment to the subversion of corny standards suggests he’s right. In spite of the auspicious precedent, the undeniable genius and stunning creativity of Allen, Revis and Waits were the equal of any practitioners of improvised music on Thursday, living or dead.