Live Review: Rob Schneiderman Quartet

Rob Schneiderman, piano
Bryan Lynch, trumpet
Todd Coolman, bass
Justin Brown, drums

SMOKE
NOVEMBER 8, 2007


Rob Scheiderman’s day gig is more esoteric than jazz could ever be. He’s a mathematician. It’s not just about jiggering numbers (or so he tells me). His specialty is topology, the study of spaces, and his work inhabits as many as nine spatial dimensions. To Schneiderman, who hails from the Bronx by way of San Diego, the attraction lies in the creativity you need to venture into uncharted territories in this exotic realm, and beauty of discovering and bringing back what’s “out there.”

This spirit of discovery is natural for someone who is also a musician. It holds out an enormous temptation, in fact, to try grappling with the cosmic question of possible affinities between music and mathematics. I’ll leave that to the expert—Schneiderman taught a course on music and mathematics this fall at Lehman College, where he is an assistant professor of mathematics.

Schneiderman’s other passion does speak volumes about what you will hear when you go to hear him. He has the daring to take us where no man has gone before and the sanity to bring us back in one piece. Schneiderman’s adventurous, can-do spirit means he’s not dependent on any single style (though Bud Powell clearly provides him with a center). He approaches very swinging material in an advanced way and makes “difficult” things sound natural. He segues comfortably between bop and bitonality. He moves through different material or songs without losing the groove. The result is that Schneiderman gets over with audiences and is also a very distinctive musician--fitting for someone who worked with Chet Baker and Eddie Harris.

When it comes to leading his own group, Schneiderman clearly feels that four dimensions is enough to generate interest. His quartet struck a nice balance among different parts. It pitted three more seasoned musicians, Lynch, Coolman, Schneiderman against newcomer Justin Brown. The older musicians were rooted in bebop, whereas Brown, who wore dreadlocks, had a beat that tipped into a suggestion of funkiness. Coolman, the highly sought-after New York bassist, has great notes, a great beat, and a take care of business attitude. Lynch, who is now one of the most accomplished trumpet players in jazz, is always lyrical and well put together.

Schneiderman’s original compositions blended well with those of jazz masters or standards. In the second set of the night, his own “Reunion” and “Juvenescence” were balanced against Bud Powell’s “Glass Enclosure” and “Buster Rides Again.” I believe it is unusual to blow on “Glass” (Powell performed it as a set piece), so it sounded very fresh and challenging in this performance. Schneiderman’s tribute to Eddie Harris, “Have You Heard Eddie Harris (Play the Saxophone) added funk to the mix. The standard “What is This Thing Called Love” served as a show-stopper ending the set.

I sat in during the third set. It was like sharing the cockpit of a well-conditioned Lear Jet. This was especially reassuring since my navigation was off (that is, my sightreading of untransposed, intricate bop heads after two glasses of wine, and an hour or two of hanging with Schneiderman’s piano peers in the audience, was limited). We played his “City Limits” and “Gravitation”, and Lynch’s “Tribute to Blue” (Mitchell). The standards “Beautiful Love” and “Cherokee” felt very much like they belonged in that company.