By Marilyn Lester***From a career path point of view, there are two Tedd Firths—the one that spends the major portion of his career arranging and playing piano for A-list vocalists such as Marilyn Maye, Michael Feinstein and Melissa Errico, to name a few, and that with great satisfaction and happiness—and the one who is a pure jazz cat. This latter Firth led his trio in tearing up the room recently in the Birdland Theater. From the first 
explosive tune, “Sunday,” a 1926 gem with music by Chester Conn, it was apparent that the Ted Firth Trio was in high gear and ready to swing. The two rhythm players with Firth, bassist David Finck and drummer Mark McLean were decidedly in the pocket.
The virtuosity of the trio was further demonstrated in a transition into the second part of Stevie Wonder’s “Superwoman:” “Where Were You When I Needed You,” building a rising arc of intensity (a solid Firth arranging technique). Within the standard jazz format that bookends the melody, all three revealed the capacity for complex improvisation in the midsection of the tune—Finck, with his preference to play the mid-range of his instrument, often with a double-pizzicato style, and McClean who lets no centimeter of his kit go unused and unexplored. On a slow-dance version of Harry Warren’
s “This Is Always,” Finck’s bowing emulated the sound of a cello, so much so that without a visual it would be hard to know the sound was coming from an upright bass.
One of the joys of this stellar evening of jazz, was that the atmosphere was like a very cool house party. Firth is a relaxed host, natural and jocular, whose “regular guy” energy spreads plenty of jazzy joy. It also turns out that this particular house was filled with friends and fans, including Rex Reed, who called out for a ballad, and it just so happened that Marilyn Maye was in the room and delighted to be called upon. Maye took the stage and delivered “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger, Johnny Mercer) and “That Old Black Magic” (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) in prime jazz style and with her usual, dependable excellence. The appearance was so polished it would be easy to think the entire event was planned, but it wasn’t; it was completely impromptu.
Firth referenced his inspiration in jazz as the great, late pianist Oscar Peterson (who also famously played in a trio format). That influence is discernible in Firth’s playing, on display in his quick-fingered technique (with a subtle use of arpeggios and glissandos), with both hands equally handling melodic and harmonic lines and full of 
creative ideas. And, like Peterson, Firth handles genres equally well, from blues-based numbers to bebop and beyond. He played a Peterson arrangement of “Swinging on a Star” (Jimmy Van Heusen), a challenge he and the trio easily aced.
Among the many riches of song during the evening were superb renditions of “Stop Time,” from the Broadway musical Big (music by David Shire) and another Shire number, from the revue of the same name, “Starting Here, Starting Now.” The closer, Harry Woods’ “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” was a fast-tempo interpretation of a tune that’s almost always performed as a vocal (Billie Holiday made it famous in 1935 with Teddy Wilson at the piano). Like the proverbial freight train barreling down a track, this Basie-esque rendition put a button on an evening of great jazz played by three of the finest and most versatile musicians in the business.
Photos by Kevin Alvey
