Accomplished pianist, Jonathan Alford, and Grammy winning musicians, cellist Lewis Patzner, and violinist Evan Price will release their sophomore album, Chameleon, on November 15th as the Proteus Trio. Rooted in eclectic, jazz, and classical music, the LP features three classically inspired originals and imaginative reworkings of standard and popular songs including Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” and The Beatles’ “I am The Walrus.” The players lean into their love of both composed and improvisational music with many of the songs following the composition as written and veering into thoughtful musical exploration. Chameleon also features Duke Ellington’s “Caravan,” Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz,” Miles Davis’ “Nardis,” Astor Piazzola’s Zeta, and Cole Porter’s “You’d be so Nice to Come Home to.”
Chameleon was recorded at 25th Street Studio, Oakland, CA and was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jeff Kolhede.
“Proteus Trio recorded this collection of songs because they are songs we love,” says Alford. “Either old standards, pop songs or our own compositions. All of them in their own way show the fusion of our varied musical styles. Some have complained that it is a mish mash. A little this and a little that... but as a band we make that unpredictability a virtue and hope that others enjoy the journey as much as we do.”
“Evan and I met when we were asked to do a house concert performing the Archduke Trio of Beethoven. For the second set we played a couple of standards and an original of mine,” explains Alford on the origins of the trio. “After the show, Evan and I realized that that we shared the same classical and jazz orientation and felt intrigued and excited by the possibilities. Evan brought Lewis into the group as they were frequent musical partners and felt Lewis would be a perfect fit. Lewis, of course, had a thrash metal and classical background. The symbiosis was unexpectedly perfect! Chameleon was a project that grew out of our first CD. We had written a couple of things that didn’t make that initial recording, and we decided it was time to record them independently and add some new things to round out the album.”
Chameleon opens with “Mosswood Fantasy,” an original written by cellist Lewis Patzner and Jonathan Alford. The song embraces the Proteus approach as it combines composed sections, including a haunting slow movement, with improvisation and ends with a bluesy duo between Evan on violin and Lewis that captures pure Americana.
Arranged by Evan Price, Nardis was written by Miles Davis and its soundscape is nothing short of cinematic. It has a gentle minimalist feeling with simple contrapuntal lines setting up the piano statement of the melody. As song evolves, it opens into a walking bass line over which the violin and piano each take solos. Alford describes their interpretation as, “Terry Riley meets Debussy.”
“You’d be so Nice to Come Home to” is a standard that Alford reimagines in the context of his trio. The melody is never stated until the very end, but keyboardist Alford uses the changes from the tune to construct two very different grooves: a baroque violin figure opens the tune while the second reworking has a catchy rhythmic vamp. Eventually, it settles into a swing groove over which Price takes two blistering choruses. Alford notes that this one is reminiscent of, “Bach meets Grapelli.”
Evan Price wanted to rework an old standby, so he brought the Ellington chestnut, “Caravan” to the band. The song allows the trio to celebrate their jazz influence and features the strings and piano trading the melody over Evan’s funky groove. Everyone takes a turn soloing and Alford displays his love for Latin keyboard stylings which act as the foundation the song is built upon.
“Trois Reves” is a quasi-fantasy in 7 with strong solos from Alford and Price. Dreamy and meandering, “Trois Reves” ends on a Latin montuno with a funky pizz solo from Patzner on cello. Alford exclaims, “Trois Reves’ is Piazzola meets Saint Saens meets Bill Evans!
Composed by Lewis, Subtextually Yours features a folk like quality despite being classical in conception. Led by Evan’s violin, short solos from each of the trio members punctuate the nostalgic mood and cinematic soundscape.
Zeta is Proteus Trio paying homage to Argentine composer, Astor Piazzola, in this straight-forward reading of a classic. The musicians embrace the composer’s tango infused, danceable melody.
“Jitterbug Waltz” is an Alford arrangement of the Fats Waller classic. The tune opens with an impressionist flourish before settling into its light and nimble groove. Each of the performers takes a solo and the song showcases the strings on a shout chorus as the song climaxes into a serene and dream-like ending.
“A Case of You” showcases Alexa Morales on vocals, a long time Bay Area stalwart. The Joni Mitchell classic has a gentle string intro and a heartfelt rendering from Alexa. The folky quality morphs into a gospel groove at the end with Alford and Price trading solos to the end and Alexa getting into it!
On “I am the Walrus,” Lewis’ arrangement stays true to the Beatles’ original, buoyed by the song’s unmistakable melody. The track builds to a ferocious climax with the trio leaning into the intensity of their individual instruments. Evan’s performance gives the illusion of an entire string section with his octaves and rock potency.
Pizzicato strings and a bouncy quirky piano line keeps things moving in the album’s penultimate, Widget – a Lewis Patzner original. This highly syncopated composition has a open section where Proteus can free improvise using some of the material as a springboard. Another tune where Proteus has fun combining classical and improvised elements.
For the LP’s final song, a classical oriented piece with two sections opened for solos, Extracts is an Alford original. The slow section has a beautiful melody with a tango feel. The ending vamp combines cello and violin solos over changes that are reminiscent of Ravel, but with a Latin inspired 6/8 groove. “Nico Muhly meets Piazzola,” is how Alford describes his inspiration.
About Proteus Trio
Jonathan Alford has played piano since the age of five. Taught by a musical after Alford played classical piano until he began exploring the world of jazz and Latin music in his late 20’s. Largely self-taught Alford has become a mainstay of the Bay Area music scene. He co-led Azesu with legendary Cuban timbalero Orestes Vilato of whom the Healdsburg Tribune said ‘Azesu lays down a new marker for Latin Jazz.’ Alford has also played with John Santos and Machete Ensemble, Chocolate Armenteros, and many other Latin greats.
Alford has performed at many festivals including the SF and San Jose Jazz Festivals and many venues worldwide. He is concentrating on composing and is currently releasing a new cd of original work with cellist Lewis Patzner.
Evan Price is steadily gaining recognition as one of the world’s most confident voices in extra-classical string playing. A native of Detroit, his musical background includes some earnest dues-paying in a variety of genres. From square dance bands to string quartets, from jamming with blues bands to busking in Greektown, Evan’s youthful pursuits all informed his violin-playing and left him with a deep love of chamber music in all forms. As a young competitive fiddler, he won his share of awards, having been named the U.S. Scottish Fiddling Champion, the Kentucky State Fiddle Champion, Canadian Junior Fiddle Champion, and Canadian Novelty Fiddling Champion. He also performed with some of the masters of fiddle lore—Stephane Grappelli, Johnny Frigo, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Johnny Gimble, Buddy Spicher, and Vassar Clements—as well as a diverse array of pop icons from Stevie Wonder and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page and Robert Plant to comedian, Steven Wright.
Evan is a ten-year veteran of the world-renowned, paradigm-shifting jazz ensemble, the Turtle Island Quartet. During his tenure in Turtle Island, Evan gave over five hundred performances in concert venues from Latvia to Australia and had the opportunity to collaborate with many musical luminaries, such as Cuban clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, The Ying Quartet, pianists Dr. Billy Taylor and Kenny Barron, and classical guitarists, Sergio and Odair Assad. He recorded five CD’s with Turtle Island, two of which, Four + 4 and A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane—received GRAMMY® awards in 2006 and 2008 in the Classical Crossover category.
Since 1998, Evan has been proud to call himself a member of The Hot Club of San Francisco, perhaps the most venerable gypsy jazz band in the US. During his tenure, the group has thrilled audiences from Iceland to Mexico and across the United States and has released seven CDs featuring Evan on violin.
An accomplished composer, Evan has contributed compositions and arrangements to the repertoires of HCSF, Turtle Island Quartet, Quartet San Francisco, San Francisco Girls’ Chorus, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, Chanticleer, The Delphi Trio, and the International Space Orchestra, for which he also serves as musical director. In 2016, he premiered his Concerto for Jazz Violin and Orchestra with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra and released his debut solo album, “Dialogues,” in 2017 on Azica Records. He lives in Mill Valley, CA, with his wife and daughter.
Lewis Patzner is a professional cellist and composer from Oakland, CA. After earning a bachelor’s degree in cello performance from the Peabody Institute in 2007, Lewis took an uncommon path and toured both as a side musician for rock bands, and in his own experimental instrumental metal band, Judgement Day. He now lives in Oakland and works as a freelance musician. A dedicated chamber musician of all styles, Lewis plays standard string quartet repertoire with the Town Quartet, jazz, world music, and originals with the Musical Art Quintet, and modern punk with the artsy Oakland band, La Dee Da. Lewis has appeared on over 100 recordings, with artists including Slash, Pete Yorn, Pinback, and Demi Lovato. He is also the organizer of the Classical Revolution Oakland chapter, which presents one performance a month at Awaken Cafe in Oakland. Lewis is currently in the process of recording an album of original music for solo cello, produced by the former cellist of the Kronos Quartet, Joan Jeanrenaud.
Chameleon
“Mosswood Fantasy”
“Nardis”
“You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To
“Caravan”
“Trois Reves”
“Subtextually Yours”
“Zeta”
“Jitterbug Waltz”
“A Case of You”
“I Am The Walrus”
“Widget”
“Extracts”
Proteus Trio Will Perform Select Dates Throughout 2024 – 2025
