Music Preview: Band brings its expanding but congruous repertoire to the Brand Library

Chick Corea holds that every band has to have a mission, a function that only it can perform. Quarteto Nuevo is a contemporary chamber group that channels the folkloric, symphonic and improvisational all at once. Its instrumentation of soprano sax and flute, acoustic guitar, cello and hand percussion takes eclecticism to far reaches but does so with warmth and lyricism.

In Quarteto Nuevo’s repertoire are Brazilian guitarist Egberto Gismonte’s floating melodies; the Spanish and the Moorish meld in John Bergamo’s “Jacaranda”; and the metric obstacle course of Frank Zappa’s “T’Mershi Duween.”

The band’s original pieces are all burnished with a glow from guitarist Kenton Youngstrom’s nylon-string guitar. Cellist Jacob Szekely’s cool-tempered “Rain Song” exposes the romantic undercurrent that runs through their repertory. Circular lines of saxophonist Damon Zick’s stately “33 (Third)” conjure Andalusia courtyards and a romp in an Umbrian field. That they can make all of their scattered interests sound of a piece is Quarteto Nuevo’s quiet triumph.

Youngstrom points out: “Since each member contributes originals — and arrangements of other composer’s works — the path of the ensemble veers in a slightly different direction with each new tune introduced. One of my tunes, ‘Say What?’ is inspired by Latin jazz; my arrangement of ‘Women’s Dance’ is more like a Bulgarian blues in 5/4. With each new offering, the group subtly redefines itself.”

Quarteto Nuevo brings its musical alchemy to the Brand Library & Art Center’s free summer Plaza Sound series on Friday, Aug. 12. The band has gone through no fewer than six permutations since its inception, by one member’s count; as they say, it’s been a journey.

In 1998, percussionist Chris Garcia inaugurated a weekly space for composers to convene. For two or three hours a month, various writers and instrumentalists brought their pieces in to hear them played and, in turn, play other people’s work. Quarteto Nuevo evolved out of that workshop.

Garcia, who recently left the band, studied with the well-regarded world percussion program at California Institute of the Arts, overseen by the late John Bergamo (1940-2013). His role in infusing SoCal music with the percussion of North and South India can’t be overstated.

“Chris’ playing was anchored by the tabla drums,” Szekely says. “Our new percussionist, Aaron Chavez, also studied at Cal Arts, but his feeling is entirely different. He plays a lot of Middle Eastern and Brazilian percussion.”

Chavez plays the Brazilian rik, and the pandeiro — resonant frame drums that sometimes have metal appendages. Szekely observes: “Aaron has added some new complexities to the band’s music; he brings a multidimensional quality to those instruments and he can make hand percussion sound like a trap drum set.”

Aside from Zappa, Gismonte and Corea, Quarteto Nuevo admires the music of the French avant gardist of the early 20th century, Erik Satie. A conservatory refugee, the maverick composer’s work always sought to say more with less. “We’ll be playing Satie’s ‘Froides,’” Szekely discloses, “at the Norton Simon. That gives Aaron a chance to really shine.”

Told that Quarteto Nuevo’s collective music would seem a natural place for Hungarian composer Bela Bartok’s music, Szekely eagerly agrees. “We don’t have any Bartok arrangements yet,” he says, “but that’s something I’d love to do. My uncle, violinist Zoltan Szekely premiered one of his works in the United States many years ago.”

So how can Quarteto Nuevo’s raison d’être be summed up? “As far as style,” Szekely explains, “we write and choose tunes that allow us to explore challenging material, that allows us to improvise and to discover new sounds. Though I’m not sure it applies to Aaron, we lean toward jazz because we love it, but we’re all steeped in classical music.”

--

What: Quarteto Nuevo

Where: Brand Library & Art Center, 1601 W. Mountain St., Glendale.

When: Friday, Aug. 12, 7 p.m.

Contact: (818) 548-2051, www.brandlibrary.org

--

KIRK SILSBEE writes about jazz and culture for Marquee.