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A Place, A Sound, An Appreciation

A Place,  A Sound, An Appreciation
Thursday, returning home from Khyber Pass Cafe and three pieces performed by Trever Hagen (trumpet),
Miguel Hurtado (drums), Brandon Wozniak (tenor sax) and James Buckley (bass), I sought to extend the
vibe.  
I succeeded; it is amazing how contemporary A Love Supreme by John Coltrane remains 54 years on.  
The Khyber Pass in St. Paul is a jazz club once a week; owner Emel Sherzad leaves the door open and
lights on after closing time most Thursdays and invites a series of experimental jazz performers and fans
in for something nearly as intimate as performances in a living room.  The place lacks a stage and
commercial taint --- it is filled with a presence of invention.


Hagen sat cross-legged on the floor, adding quiet touches to the rocking aggressive and complicated
pace set by Hurtado.  The lead was passed to Wozniak for a soulful solo. Hagen played his trumpet
without a mouthpiece the whole evening. In this setting, he could make statements just blowing into the
horn and punch out bold melodies using his embouchure directly on the mouthpiece receiver.  The first
20 or 30 minute piece echoes in parts, for me, the rock-influenced moves Miles Davis made in Bitches
Brew, Jack Johnson, Kind of Blue. A bowed bass solo by Buckley was plaintive and determined and it
inspired insistent drumming that developed into a brisk set of changes by the full band.   In the second
composition interludes included a trumpet part in a classical vein - was that a horn’s call across an Alp?
The bass and drums responded with interrogations of their own to which the saxophone essayed its
answers then lead to an all-hands storm of fast improvisations blasting through the room.  A change to
restful circumspection was followed by a conclusion that was quietly emphatic in tone. The third
performance, was “a short one for you guys” (three regulars plus staff remaining after the quartet’s break).
Hurtado’s drumming once again supplied great energy as the band made several rounds through the
increasing tension, release, increasing tension, release, tension, release, tension, release pattern
common to great music of all kinds.


There is a carpet on the floor in front of the bar in the small cafe.  A bank of lights on the ceiling shows
the band and the bar itself reflects sounds out to the audience.  Large abstract paintings speak to the
world at large (most by Emel, the proprietor) while hanging rugs, photos of Afghanistan, instruments of
Himalayan origin and pieces of national dress, hung as if dancing, anchor Khyber Pass in Sherzad’s
history and make for a setting that complements the excellent traditional foods and modern local beers
served there.

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