In the Pocket
March 28, 2024
Excitement abounds as a new band pops up and onto the streets–in this case, guitarist David Dvorin‘s Pocket Quartet. (Our 2nd gig ever is coming right up, Friday, April 12, at the Wild Eye Pub.) At the same time, it is a bittersweet occasion to play with this particular band, as it is the reincarnation of David’s previous group Flounder. As many of you know, in 2023 we lost Clifford Childers, who with his powerful trombone playing and idiosyncratic harmonic stylings (harmonica, right?!) was in many ways the voice of that band. But after much soul-searching, David, drummer Tim Bulkley and myself decided to stay together as a group, in honor of Cliff, and to continue this outlet for David’s composition that he had developed over the last 6 years of writing for us. But we didn’t want to go on as a trio, we needed another strong and unique player to energize and strengthen the sound.
We didn’t have to look far–saxophonist Matt Langley moved to Nevada County four years ago, and during that time he has become a vital part of the music scene here. Every time he performs, his playing on tenor and soprano sax has a creative edge that lifts every band higher. In the NC scene he has taken the reins of the Sierra Jazz Society, performs with everyone from Tommy Coster to Lorraine Gervais, and his new band the Habanera Bandits has begun a Second Tuesday residency at the Fern Bar in Nevada City.
As is his way, David has composed a whole new suite of music that we recently premiered at Chico State, where he teaches composition: Hard-Boiled Music, inspired by the language and look of a certain strain of detective fiction and film noir from the late 1940s to the present. The tunes are really fun to play, with titles such as “Benny the Fink,” “Flim-Flam Man,” and “The Jade Earring (Chinoiserie),” this last suggested by an infamous scene in Raymond Chandler’s classic “The Big Sleep.”
Wish us well–I hope some of you can make it out for the Big Gig at Wild Eye, hopefully the first of many more to come. But as we’re all learning as we get older, who can say what’s to come. Let’s enjoy the here and now while we honor those no longer with us but made this present possible.