The incomparable Louis Cole returned to Portland with a quartet of multitalented friends this past weekend to help close out the 2024 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival.
The producer/drummer/multi-instrumentalist best known as one half of jazztronic funk duo KNOWER has visited Rose City with various lineups over the past few years, from his ambitious big band to the all-star KNOWER live band to his post-pandemic duo production with Genevieve Artadi. This time, he billed himself as Louis Cole Quartet, which turned out to be a bit of a misnomer because the band constantly transformed throughout the night, cycling through solo, duo, trio, and quartet configurations with members swapping instruments in an impressive showcase of multifaceted musicality.
Related: KNOWER FOREVER: Louis Cole To Kill Anyone Who Shares 1st KNOWER Album In 7 Years [Listen]
Following an opening set of vibey experimental jazz by KNOWER’s Brainfeeder label-mate Salami Rose Joe Louis, Genevieve Artadi delivered a set of her own accompanied by Chris Fishman on drums and Chiquita Magic on keys. The band performed along with a video that displayed Artadi’s deep, poetic lyrics in real time as she sang them to a captivated crowd.
Then, with a formal announcement from PDX Jazz that Portland Jazz Festival “doesn’t end, it culminates,” the weeks-long celebration that kicked off with an uplifting performance by Jon Batiste indeed did culminate as Louis Cole took the stage and opened the festival’s final headlining set with vocal loops that went from silly to sublime as the layers built into a grand chorus.
[Photo: Norm Eder for 2024 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival, Presented by PDX Jazz – Louis Cole]
He was soon joined by Nate Wood, Chris Fishman, and his KNOWER partner Genevieve Artadi, who at first manned a camcorder that was rigged up to the large projector screen behind the band, giving the audience an intimate view from the stage as she roamed freely amongst the trio. Chris Fishman, who had just played drums with Genevieve, moved over to the keyboards on the opposite side of the stage. He was not the only multitalented musician in the group. Nate Wood, known as the drummer/bassist of experimental jazz group Kneebody and for his solo project four in which he plays bass, synth, drums, and sings all at the same time, started the set playing bass but switch to drums several times throughout the performance. At one point, he even blew the minds of those unfamiliar with his abilities by playing bass and drums together.
[Photo: Norm Eder for 2024 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival, Presented by PDX Jazz – Genevieve Artadi & Louis Cole]
The band played songs from throughout Cole’s increasingly diverse catalog, with an emphasis on his recent work, which has been some of his most ambitious and best, including his latest album, Quality Over Opinion. Genevieve joined the trio for some songs, even passing her handheld camera to someone in the front of the audience for a tune, and members of the band left the stage at other times to let Cole connect more deeply to the crowd.
Both Wood and Cole shined on drums, each showcasing their own unreproducible style and feel. Despite being two slender individuals, they both generate an impressive amount of power and speed, and both tow the fine line between off-kilter syncopation and deep-pocket groove with effortless mastery. They are two of the world’s top drummers, and yet they demonstrated over the course of the set that such a description severely understates the extent of their musical talents.
[Photo: Norm Eder for 2024 Biamp Portland Jazz Festival, Presented by PDX Jazz – Louis Cole Quartet]
The mind-bending display of musical acumen was not just a fitting way to cap off another fantastic year of Portland Jazz Festival; it was enough to inspire hope for the future of jazz.
Click below to view a gallery of photos from Louis Cole Quartet at Biamp Portland Jazz Festival presented by PDX Jazz courtesy of photographer Norm Eder. Louis Cole has upcoming shows in Boston and Brooklyn. For a full list of tour dates, head here.
