Jazz Reviews : Karen Briggs Rises Above the Room

Serendipity can lead the inquisitive musicologist to the most improbable places. Take, for example, Phillip’s Restaurant, a busy and lively room on Devonshire Street in Chatsworth where, every Friday and Saturday, Karen Briggs can be heard playing the violin.

A newcomer to town (she arrived here in April from Virginia, where she had spent three years playing in a symphony orchestra), Briggs seems likely to lose very little time establishing a local and, ultimately, national reputation.

Jazz violinists have always been a rare breed, particularly, in recent years, those who eschew electronic gimmickry. Briggs plays a white violin to which no enhancement devices are attached; she extracts from it a basic, pure sound, weaving her way through standard tunes, blues and jazz numbers with consummate ease.

Her “Summertime” was graced with a long, unaccompanied introduction; after the rhythm section joined her, she moved seamlessly from slight variations on the Gershwin melody to intense forays into double time.

“Some Day My Prince Will Come” offered compelling evidence of how rhythmically effective the 3/4 meter can be.

Despite the somewhat limited sound John Pike was able to draw from his electric keyboard, the accompaniment was generally sympathetic. Manning the bass was no less a presence than Eugene Wright, who not long ago was in Moscow with Dave Brubeck playing at the Summit banquet. Completing the group was Danny Moore.

Phillip’s is the kind of room that calls for a cocktail-music ambiance, yet Briggs manages to rise above the limitations and provide stimulating proof of an as yet unknown but clearly promising talent.