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New York's The Flail is a rarity in today's world in that they are an actual jazz band. While most ensembles are collections of musicians under the direction of a leader, or a group given a name solely for marketing purposes, the five members of this group have been a tight unit since their days as students at the Big Apple's New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music. This leads to another rarity in today's jazz world, a truly identifiable group sound, which will be on display tomorrow night at Blues Alley.
"Since we’ve been playing together for so long," trumpeter Dan Blankinship told DCist, "even when one of the band members will come in with a composition that's fully formed, everything is going to be infused with the spirit of the individual players."
The group is also noteworthy because even though it has always been based in New York, initial success came in Europe, where French saxophonist Stephan Moutot had the contacts to set up The Flail's early albums and tours. While 2002's Live in France showed the potential of the group, it is 2007's Never Fear, also recorded in France, that marks a turning point for the quintet. That album received critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. Rather than rest on its laurels, The Flail decided to put out yet another recording, titled The Flail, which was released this month.
The goal of any jazz recording is to capture the energy and spontaneity of live performance on tape, and it is with this purpose that the band decided another live recording would be best. The Flail was culled from two nights of performances at Small's, New York's cutting edge jazz room.
"The way our band plays is very much about the live performance and live energy," Blankinship explained, "so we set up a weekend at Small's for the recording. It's a good sounding room and we like playing there."
Tomorrow's performance will include material from The Flail, as well as older material and new compositions. The band's live energy comes from a high level of interaction and from the band's ethos, which embraces emotion and a sense of play.
"We feel that a lot of modern jazz these days is somewhat cold and intellectual," said Blankinship. "No matter how complicated, it needs to retain a sense of storytelling and drama. We try to do that and be natural on stage."
The Flail will perform 8 and 10 p.m. sets tomorrow at Blues Alley. Tickets are $20 + $12.50 minimum/surcharge.
Photo courtesy of The Flail
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