A mere few months after I’ve enjoyed The Final Four at the Birdland in Manhattan, yesterday I’ve had the opportunity to listen again to one of the most important jazz players and composers worldwide, this time at the Jazz Club (A.K.A. Il torrione) in Ferrara. Steve Kuhn played in a trio, together with Billy Drummond (drum) and David Finck (bass).

Kuhn, 68, is considered one the living giants of piano jazz. In his career he made several recordings and worked with Kenny Dorham, Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Art Farmer and John Coltrane. Finck worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Aretha Franklin, Sinead O’Connor, Natalie Cole, Rod Stewart, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau and George Michael. Drummond worked with Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny and many others. All in all, this can be well considered a world class trio.

Their energetic and yet personal interpretation of some jazz standards together with the amazing setting of a medieval bastion made an outstanding concert. At the beginning they didn’t find the right way to blend together, but then the more they played the more they felt as one, building a balanced dialog among instruments and a yielding more fun at every song.  Kuhn caressed the keyboard with elegant touch and logical digressions, Drummond beat the drums like an unstoppable syncope machine while Finck glued everything together using different timbers and techniques (pizzicato, bow).

I love concerts at torrione: it’s an awesome place for this kind of music. I mean, it’s not as famous as the Birdland, but the room is inside an original bastion, part of the historic city walls, and has a wonderful acoustics and a fuzzy warm feeling. The guys who run that place are great and brought to Ferrara a number of high caliber international stars. In the last few years, among many many others they got Steve Grossman, Lou Donaldson, Ray Mantilla, Irio De Paula, George Cables, Jim Snidero, Red Holloway and Al Foster.

Local public is very warm but not always makes the concert sold-out as the greatness of the names who are on schedule would deserve. For example at the Birdland I had to go through a 40 minutes line before getting in despite the Final Four being on schedule twice per night for a full week, but yesterday night there were several free seats at torrione. Oh well, they don’t realize what they lost.

A great weekend in NYC. On Saturday I walked across the Brooklyn bridge and then spent the night at the famous Birdland. Yes, that one, the one that takes the name from Charlie “the bird” Parker, where John Coltrane recorded Live at Birdland and several other kings of jazz played.

On stage there were “The final four”: Javon Jackson (sax), Steve Kuhn (piano) Buster Williams (bass) Al Foster (drums).  Eighty bucks well spent (with dinner and one bottle of great Bordeax).