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No Limits-The Jesse Palter Quartet
No Limits-The Jesse Palter Quartet
Date Posted: November 06 2010
Written By: Randy Freedman
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There are many reasons to admire the courage and confidence of any young twenty-something female jazz vocalist beginning her career in present day Chicago amidst so many venues either closing or making drastic cuts to their music budgets. While male jazz vocalists are certainly feeling the pinch as well, they remain in comparatively short supply. The competition between female jazz vocalists for a decreasing number of performance opportunities can be fierce.
Into the mix add Michigan-born twenty-five-year-old Jesse Palter, who for the past few years has been gracing Detroit and some national stages, along with local appearances at Katerina’s Supper Club, Pop’s For Champagne and the Jazz Showcase, to name a few. I had wanted to see Jesse perform for some time and on Friday night in September I was able to attend the appearance of her quartet at Katerina’s on Chicago’s North Side.
Palter started singing publicly as a precocious five-year-old, and at age six was playing piano as well. Palter’s musical studies continued at Abbott Middle School, West Bloomfield High School and at the University of Michigan, where she pioneered as a vocalist in music programs previously devoted to instrumentalists. In 2006 Palter released her jazz album, Beginning To See The Light. Palter was named “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist” at the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Detroit Music Awards (Source: www.myspace.com/jessepalter).
Accompanying Palter that evening at Katerina’s were her longtime musical collaborator, pianist Mike Jellick (who appeared on and arranged or co-arranged with Palter the songs on her Beginning To See The Light album), upright bassist John Tate and drummer Jon Deitemyer.
I had never heard Palter sing, not even on recordings, and I tried not to have any specific musical expectations. From the start it was clear that anyone in the audience who expected only the usual well-worn arrangements of American Songbook classics was in for a surprise. Drawing material from a number of different sources––including some originals––and by incorporating a variety of moods, textures, and arrangements the Jesse Palter Quartet quietly (and not so quietly) challenged its audience to rethink some old musical preconceptions. Like all innovation, sometimes it worked better than others, but the overall effect made for an entertaining, well-paced evening of music.
Musical highlights included Palter’s methodic and moody interpretation of “Blue Skies” complemented by a somber yet dazzling piano interlude from Jellick. Palter and Jellick’s musical symmetry was also in evidence on the faster paced “Mean To Me.” Tate and Deitemyer made the most of being featured on “S’Wonderful.” And the funky original “I Want To Keep You Forever,” which Palter sang in a modern bluesy almost Amy Winehouse-like way, shared some of the loudest audience applause along with a sit-in on “The Nearness Of You” which had Palter joined on stage by the always charming and sultry vocalist Nicole Kestler.
Much like a talented young baseball prospect must learn with experience when to “swing for the fences” or when to try to advance a base runner with a bunt, so too multi-talented vocalists and musicians learn what tempos, phrasing, volume levels, et cetera maximize their effectiveness with an audience in a particular performance. Experience can only be accumulated over time, and even then only by those willing to learn. Palter certainly possesses all the raw tools, verve, confidence, musical talent, ambition and looks she needs for a long and successful musical career.
The ultimate challenge for Palter (and her contemporaries, like vocalists Keri Johnsrud and Rebecca Sullivan) is to bring jazz back as a relevant mass market musical category with their own twenty-something age group, retain the interest of older listeners, move the music forward while honing their own musical skills to as keen an edge as possible. Oh, and earn a living in the process. That is one ambitious “To Do” list, but even partial success would be welcomed greatly by jazz fans everywhere.
For more information contact: myspace.com/jessepalter or katerinas.com.
Chicago freelance writer Randy Freedman is a jazz connoisseur, photographer, food critic, humorist, and devoted music fan. He is a regular contributor to Chicago Jazz Magazine.
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