Dan Tepfer Trio Live

Dan Tepfer, Henry Cole and the dapper Joe Sanders performed Friday night October 12 at Firehouse 12 in New Haven. Billed as the Dan Tepfer Trio, the gig was the first for the pianist with drummer Cole yet, during the first set, there were moments when it seemed like the 3 musicians had been a unit for years.  Pianist Tepfer has played numerous duos with Lee Konitz and is first-call with drummer Rog Garcia's Quartet;  what was noticeable on the first few original pieces is that the pianist has a penchant for rhythmic melodic figures as well as playing hypnotic figures with his left hand.  The Trio got into a ferocious groove on another Tepfer original "The Roadrunner" and I would not have been surprised if the room exploded.  The second set featured several re-imagined standard such as "Body & Soul" and "I'll Remember April" (both tunes associated with Mr. Konitz) as well as a soulful reading of Leadbelly's "In the Pines" (a piece that, to my ears, would not be out of place on the new Dave Douglas CD, "Be Still.")

Bassist Sanders played intelligently and melodically while Cole experimented with rhythms and sounds on every song. Much of the material is being ready for Tepfer's next recording.  A special treat in the first set was an appearance by saxophonist Ben Wendel - he and Tepfer had spent the day in the Firehouse studio recording a duo CD for release in March 2013.  All told, the music sparkled, warming the audience in ways that touched hearts, made heads sway and feet beat the floor.