The Observer, February 16, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 17
Lev Polyakin delivers classy jazz at Nighttown
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Who the heck is Lev Polyakin? And what's Russian Blue? Is that like Stolichnaya?
To find the answers to these vexing questions, you had to be at Nighttown on Cedar Avenue last Friday, a locale renowned as one of the few remaining jazz scenes in Cleveland, along with a tasty menu and relaxed, upscale dining.
However, if you want to see Lev Polyakin in action, you'll have better luck, going to Severance Hall for an orchestra concert, where Lev fills the spot of Assistant Concertmaster, instead of haunting the calendar page of Nighttown. For those of you with absolutely no culture, this means that while the conductor doesn't shake Lev's hand every concert, he sits next to the man whose hand is shaken. That's right, Lev is second chair violin in one of the most prestigious orchestras in the greater United States (well, all of the United States, to tell the truth).
So what's Lev doing at Nighttown? I'll tell you. In the tradition of Stephane Grappelli, Lev loosens up in his spare time jamming with, you guessed it, the Russian Blue, an amalgamation of local jazzers, comprised of Joe Hunter, Bob Fraser, Marty Block, and Roy King. When you rise to the top, one of those side effects attending a music conservatory, especially in Moscow, you start to look for new things to try, and when you are a primed classical violinist, if you start to develop a taste for all things Gershwin and Copland, that's the beginning of a long slide down into the dank halls of jazz.
Actually, if I were Lev, I'd worry about my pure classical tone getting polluted by jazz emphases. On the other hand, as I sat in the main dining room (20 foot ceilings, nice!) with the lights turned down and the buzz of conversation swirling around waitresses attending the tables sipping on my glass of viognier, I didn't think Lev had quite got a handle on the sweet sounds of a jazz violin.
To tell the truth, you still sound like a classical violin player, Lev. Of course, when you play an instrument worth more than my four (five?) years of tuition, I wouldn't say that's a bad thing. And to put credit where credit's due, the Nighttown sound system was acting up during this second set for the violin mic; it seemed some kind of noise was messing with their signals. Since everyone had wireless mics, it's a problem when the soloist mic keeps cutting out for no reason. That was a real mood killer, though some bad puns by the bassist kept a good humor in the atmosphere – this group had obviously been through worse sound situations than this, where the entire audience is within 30 feet.
The real problem for Lev, the soloist, was the rest of the quintet were dyed-in-the-wool jazz musicians, and sounded like it. Each one of them was a master of his instrument and in his element as a dinner music quintet following the routine to the T, with each of the standards supporting a four- to eight- measure intro, followed by the melody, then breaking into solos, starting with the violin, and then piano and guitar, with perhaps some time for bass or drums, and then back to the top to finish. Every song sounded rehearsed, and although there were music stands, they seemed to be for the set list, not lead sheets. But for me, if you don't need sheet music, don't have stands – they're just a place to hide behind, limiting the interaction between the players.
There was a brief glimpse of light, not surprisingly during the ballad of the evening, "As Time Goes By", that the violin sang sweetly, and all caught a breath to let it out with a sigh and applause. And there was the Bach-ish interlude during "All of Me" and the Paganini caprice quotation in "Ain't Misbehavin", but for a cover of $20, and a jazz violin with a name of repute, I had hoped for more than the well-oiled routine of the jazz standards. But, if you love those sounds of the golden era of jazz, and the sound of a modern jazz-tet, Lev Polyakin and the Russian Blue will deliver it on a polished silver platter.
