By Lyn Bronson
Well, it was pretty much a family affair last night at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel Valley. “Janice Griffin Productions” and “Greene Griffin Music” presented an evening concert featuring bassist Rebekah Griffin Greene and her trombonist husband Terry L. Greene (both of whom are also composers). To add to the mix, Rebekah’s talented mother, Janice, was on hand to sing a moving version of Puccini’s O Mio Babbino Caro, and there was an array of other musicians on hand to fill out various ensembles – Hart Smith on horn, A. J. Wecker and Bryan Hodkins on trumpet, Steve Mortenson on bass trombone and Carol Kuzdenyi on piano.
The concert kicked off with some solo performances by Rebekah Griffin Greene on bass. The double bass is a large ungainly instrument, and to play anything on it that is remotely dazzling is sometimes a bit like pushing an elephant up a very steep hill. Well in her case, it was more like a discreet nudge, for despite the impressive music she created, she never seemed to be working very hard. Of course this is what artistry is often about – doing something significant and making it look easy. Her opening selection “Eclore” by Nicholas Walker was a good example, for it was a rhapsodic and romantic work that exploited some of the richest sounds possible on a bass, yet she made it all sound as natural as breathing.
Her second selection, she informed the audience, was a bit of performance art “Written upon Hearing of the Death of a Classmate” where in addition to playing the bass, she sang and declaimed a heartfelt poem she wrote about how we confront the specter of our own mortality, which is always brought home to us when someone close to us dies. This piece was a virtuosic tour de force displaying a wide variety of sung, spoken and instrumental sounds.
Introducing pianist Carol Kuzdenyi, Griffin Greene next performed the second movement, entitled “Romantically,” from the “Small Suite for Bass & Piano” by Alec Wilder. This piece combined jazz and classical elements in a lovely romantic, song-like dirge in the higher range of the cello (it almost sounded like a cello at times) accompanied by plodding mysterious chords on the piano.
The first half of the concert ended with the “Prelude and Aragonese” from the Carmen Suite by Frank Proto. After the “Prelude” on bass with piano tacit, the Aragonese began with a bang and gradually developed into a frenzy of variations and a cadenza on themes from Carmen. It was impressive!
After intermission, we were introduced to trombonist Terry L. Greene in two selections for trombone, joined by Rebekah on bass and Carol Kuzdenyi piano. The first piece, “Little Sunflower,” was a wild adventure in improvisation with many kinds of experimental sounds, such as glissandi, explosive accents, droning sounds, slides, slapping the strings of the bass, etc. Mr. Greene produced some silky smooth sounds and also sounds that could curl your hair and shatter your glasses with just about every sound imaginable (and sometimes unimaginable) coming from these two instruments. After the improvisation, we heard more structured playing with some fabulous trombone playing from Terry over a nice pizzicato accompaniment produced by Rebekah.
The windup of the evening was a wind ensemble work by Terry Greene called “Fantasy Waltz, Theme & Variations” and scored for trombones, trumpet and horn. Terry told the audience that the seminal melody was from his 12th grade theory exam, but that he had been working away on it over the years and finally ended up with the work we heard on this occasion. Offering many styles – jazz, blues, contemporary dissonance and a smidgeon of minimalism – this piece has something to say and says it effectively.
A reception in the community room followed which allowed the various musicians in the Griffin-Greene clan to schmooze with friends and admirers.
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