David Bixler: Call It a Good Deal

You would think my introduction to classy saxophonist David Bixler’s music would have come in some smoky joint in New York City (or Minneapolis — before they banned smoking in bars — at the very least). Instead, I first heard him play in a converted barn in rural Wisconsin.

For a number of years, I covered arts and entertainment in the Green Bay and Door County area of Wisconsin, located on the “thumb” of the state (look at a map, you’ll see) that juts into Lake Michigan. One of the attractions there is the Birch Creek Music Performance Center, a summer music academy for talented youngsters who study a variety of disciplines (symphony, world percussion, and big band jazz) in different sessions through the summer. I won’t extol all of the virtues of Birch Creek here (between leaving the Door County paper and moving to the Twin Cities, I worked for Birch Creek for two years as their PR coordinator, so, yeah, I can blather on quite a bit about it), but it provides a great atmosphere for the students and instructors to create music. One of seasoned performers at the Center was David Bixler. Bixler always stood out, either performing with the Academy Big Band during a regular concert, or giving a special performance with a small jazz combo. The big band shows always drew the biggest audiences, but it was those smaller combo shows that left a lasting impression. It is that spirit that lives on in Call It a Good Deal, Bixler’s solid new collection.

Bixler teams up with a quartet of talented players for the collection, but it is his compositions and the exploratory tone of his playing that set the mark. The seven pieces here feel like they could spiral off in a million different directions at any moment, yet stay cohesive. Too often, jazz players get lost within their own virtuiosity, but Bixler and the band — Scott Wendholt on trumpet, John Hart on guitar, Ugonnna Ugekwo on bass, and Andy Watson on drums — craft their playing with the song in mind, which lets the listener in on the musical party.

The collection opens with the standout “Aiding and Abetting”. Set against a funky, crooked beat, the group starts with an off-kilter riff that slowly expands as Wendholt and Bixler first trade their solos, and then add the rest of the group into the mix. It’s a driving, memorable performance by the entire group.

The seven compositions take a number of different cues for their starting places — “Good Deal?” has the heart of a small group playing swing; “Gemenlie” opens likes a ballad; “Unraveled” lives with its somber, downbeat mood. Yet whatever the origins, Bixler and the group take the compositions in fresh directions, making every note that they play matter, and every tone they explore finding fresh emotion. In an age with too many sound-alike jazz albums and experimentations that travel beyond the realm of patience, it is good to hear someone who isn’t afraid to explore, but also isn’t afraid to leave us with a song.