Three of the recently formed Spring Quartet's members – drummer Jack DeJohnette, saxophonist Joe Lovano and bassist Esperanza Spalding – are stars (the first two as long-time jazz heroes, Spalding as a Grammy-winning new talent with both a pop and a jazz following), and fourth member Leo Genovese, a fiery young world-jazz piano virtuoso, is close on their heels. But at the Barbican, they played like a group of gifted unknowns with nothing to lose, eschewing famous covers and standards, tersely punching out the themes as if impatient to get down to solo and collective improv. Their loose methods and wide references connect them with forebears including Miles Davis's 1960s quintet and DeJohnette's genre-crossing Special Edition groups of the 80s.
The show wasn't flawless (the amplification of the piano and Spalding's vocals was harsh, and they could have thinned out the jostling collectivity of their sound), but the overall effect was passionate, skilful and very musical. Lovano's Spring Day combined graceful repose and an infectiously staccato hook, and DeJohnette's somewhat Wayne Shorteresque Herbie's Hand Cocked was serenely launched by Spalding in a bass intro of flowing melodies, humming slurred sounds and telling pauses, before an inventively zigzagging Lovano tenor break. Le Petit Opportun included a striking fusion of end-to-end free-jazz and perky stride-piano bounce from Genovese, and Spalding's wordless vocal on her own Hystaspes Shrugged showed her scatting to be as agile and warmly logical as her bass-playing. A Lovano ballad deployed his exquisite mix of old-school breathiness and John Coltrane's edge, but DeJohnette's closing Ahmad the Terrible was the standout, a strutting tattoo-like piece with a folksy, jigging release that drew blistering solos from all four. There was no encore, but plenty of fresh music had filled the Spring Quartet's 90 crowded minutes on the stage.
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