Ron English & 9

Ron English & 9

At Formerly Alvins Back Room,June 25

Although the first set opened almost two hours late, a sweat-drenched capacity crowd at Alvin's Back Room loudly welcomed guitarist Ron English as his unveiled his new 10-piece band.

An institution in Michigan music circles, English has put together an outfit primarily composed of younger players he and trumpeter Herbie Williams have taught out at Oakland University . English, who says the new hand is much like his "Head Arrangement" ensemble of a few years ago, is backed by two guitars, a three-piece sax section, a three-piece horn section, and drummer George Davidson.

The first set's opening piece, simply titled "Opener," was a typically happy English composition which was loosely structured to allow each player a bit of room to stretch out, featuring some faintly reminiscent flute shadings by Kenny Longo and some ample bottom lines provided by bassist Tom Gargano.

The group then swung into a Wayne Shorter composition, "Lusitanos," which introduced the crowd to Mike Blanchard's sax as he unrolled an impressive series of variations on Shorter's theme. Later, Blanchard was joined by Longo and saxophonist Arthur Mann and, in the midst of all this, piercing the background with absolutely fantastic colorings, stood trombonist Phil Ranelin, one of the most gifted, and yet looked, musicians in the country. The English band closed the set with two original pieces, "Yet and Still," which gave Herbie Williams and horn accomplice Walt Szymanski some bits to play with, and "Fish Feet," the title track from English's yet-to-be-released Strata Lp. The "Fish Feet" chart, which includes an initially rapid counterpoint statement between English's guitar and the rest of the band, suffered somewhat due to poor amplification, which caused the brass to overwhelm the lighter string segment.

Davidson, who's now handling the majority of the percussion work for Tribe since Bud Spangier moved to San Francisco, was particularly impressive. Although he's been criticized in the past for not always realizing that volume is yet another textural tool in his percussive arsenal, George seems to enjoy a change of scenery; his power flourishes now seem more mature, and a new bit of understatement he's added to his work was pleasingly noticeable.

Noteworthy work was also added all evening long by guitarist Alex Rogowski, a former English student. Although there were indications he's still searching for his basic stylistic nuances, Rogowski's playing is already mature and he has obviously acquired a large degree of his teacher's technical proficiency, as evidenced by his tendency to avoid slurred passages. He can pick, so he does.

Although there's an obvious "newness" that has to be worked out (several times a grinning English led the cats through a passage), the English aggregation is a talented, first-rate group of musicians with just the right amount of experience and inexperience to make for a continuing educational experience as well as providing another thread in the colorful fabric of Detroit's musical history.

Brian Flanigan