Ches Smith’s We All Break 9/22/23 Firehouse 12

 A “ visual and musical riot” is the best way to describe drumming juggernaut Smith and his troupe of Haitian voodoo musicians. Anyone who has been to the Firehouse knows the stage and acoustics are intimate, what to do then but put ten people, mics, and their instruments up there. The group was actually two groups. A jazz quartet with Smith on drums, Matt Mitchell on piano, Berlin-based bass wunderkind Nick Dunston on standup,  and multiple Grammy nominee Miguel Zenon on sax were paired with 3 female vocalists and 3 male conga and tanbou players. Zenon had to stand in the hallway for goodness sake. I knew I was in for it when the guy at the door offered up earplugs. The music was a fascinating blend and bounce of the two genres. Traditional Haitian songs and chants were spread over a jazz backdrop. The drummers were nonstop with one guy singing counterpoint to the ladies. Not sure if it was by design, but the range in the singers age was noticeable with a 20ish, 30ish, and a 60ish performer. The Haitian drummers were fascinating to watch, they maintained eye contact with each other so as to seamlessly shift gears and tempos. Zenon was a perfect choice for this endeavor, being of Puerto Rican descent, he has spent decades mining the fertile landscape of Latin and world jazz. Mitchell plays at the Firehouse often, his unkempt appearance matched his feverish runs. When he wasn’t playing, Mitchell stared off into space, like some Buckowskian tortured prodigy, whose artistic brainwaves seemed too much for this world. Dunston is an in demand artist, with forays into electronic composition, he is an accomplished artist in his own right. The website listed Immanuel Wilkins on sax as well but he must have been cut from the lineup (or he would have had to set up on Crown St!). Last, but not least, is Ches Smith. His bio is a dream lineup of boundary pushing appearances with Marc Ribot, Tim Berne, John Zorn, Darius Jones, Vijay Iyer, Nels Cline, Terry Riley, Mr. Bungle, and Xiu Xiu. His lanky frame hitting the kit as if he were a marionette. The groups seemed like an unlikely pairing, as if the jazz nerds were forced to sit at the lunch table with the ethnic kids. The result was something better, something new, a testament to the advantages of diversity.