This week I went to to see Jure Pukl Group play at Smalls, my favorite jazz club in New York. Jure has recorded and performed with renowned jazz musicians and his latest album “Abstract Society,” featuring Vijay Iyer on piano, Joe Sanders on bass, and Damion Reid on drums, is a real treat. Jure’s music is influenced by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Stan Getz, and Wayne Shorter; more broadly, he is inspired by musicians who have a sense of freedom and who are willing to take risks. Jure just came back from an intense European tour, where he played 26 gigs in 27 days, performing in Germany, Austria, Italy, and his native Slovenia. This week he played his debut gig at Smalls and it was an awesome show.
Jure Pukl Group
Jure was joined by stellar musicians at Smalls: Joe Sanders on double bass, Leo Genovese on piano and Justin Brown on drums. The three of them – Jure, Joe and Leo – have known each other for a long time and played and recorded together before. But it was the first time they played with Justin Brown. In fact, they only rehearsed for half an hour before the show. And that was without Leo on piano. Essentially, the quartet never really played together before hitting at Smalls. But they sounded really tight together and the band had a very good energy. It was a very enjoyable night of jazz at Smalls, followed by late night jam session.
Leo Genovese, piano
Joe Sanders, bass
All of the material played that evening was original compositions written by Jure with the exception of “Little Melonae” by Jackie McLean. They opened the set with a tune called “Flying into the Horizon”, which has 3 different parts, each one with a different mood. It starts out very free and open. The second part is more traditional jazz, it conveys a certain feeling of flying, moving steady through space. And the third part is very epic, has an anthem mood to it. One of my favorite ones was “Straight Story,” which is a new tune and has not been recorded yet.
Justin Brown, drums
After the show I chatted with Jure about his career as a jazz musician, his musical influences and the plans for the future. I also asked Jure about his first jam session (because jam session is so unique for jazz) and he had a lot of good stories but this one was my favorite: “I have to tell you about the very first one in Slovenia. Back then I didn’t know the drummer and the bass player, but now we are really good friends. So I was playing and I was moving so much that they told me later that they were thinking “Is he a dancer or is he a player?” … Because they couldn’t really hear me but they could see me moving around. So at the beginning I was a better dancer than a saxophone player!”
Jure Pukl, saxophone
Jure is not only a great musician, but he is also a very nice guy with a sarcastic sense of humor. “In my country they used to kill for that [playing jazz]’, he joked during the set. Jazz is about freedom, improvisation and a collective effort to create new and exciting music: dangerous ideas in a dictatorship.
You can catch these guys next year at the Jazz Gallery, a very nice jazz venue in Manhattan. They will be playing two sets on January 18th. Come by and enjoy. And here is the video for the new album:
Text/photos by Anna Yatkevich
If you want your upcoming show covered on Flowers In A Gun email martkawaii@gmail.com
