JAZZ REVIEW : BLUEGRASS AND BEBOP: ALL IN MONTREUX’S MIX

A fusion between bluegrass and post-bebop jazz? Is that what Montreux plays? Mandolinist/guitarist Michael Marshall seemed to think so Friday night at the Palace Jazz Court, when he good-naturedly tried to explain the Windham Hill group’s music to a small but enthusiastic audience.

The bluegrass qualities, however, seemed to disappear whenever Marshall wasn’t playing arpeggiated figures on his mandolin, and the post-bebop jazz connection was attached with a slender thread, indeed.

The truth is that Montreux’s quirky, interactive chamber music defies labeling. On violinist Darol Anger’s “Piachenza,” for example, what started out as a lovely reminder of a favorite Italian town evolved into a swirling, double-time duo improvisation between Anger and Marshall.

There’s no doubt that the addition of bassist Michael Manring has brought a new sense of identity to the former Montreux trio of Anger, Barbara Higbie and Marshall.

Manring’s original piece, “Welcoming,” for example, featured a moving bass line that was a dramatic departure from the root position harmonies of Montreux’s earlier work.

Montreux is not about to send either Bill Monroe or Cecil Taylor to the showers. But it’s doing a good job of finding a little inspiration from both, and shaping it into a music which--regardless of label--stands on its own.