Birds Of Flame prove jazz-fusion still has appeal; prog sound fills room at the Greenfield Grille

Electric piano notes soon picked up speed before leading four other players into the tune. Electric violinist Chris Devine came gliding in with a mellifluous melody, its notes elegant and smooth. Lead guitarist Chris Dixon came sliding in with his eloquent melodic phrase. The tempo suddenly changed to a rapid beat with drummer Gary Rzab playing faster textures than anything ordinarily seen in local club bands. The melody didn’t come in single notes but in a rush of beautiful, majestic swells.

Birds Of Flame had much more equipment on stage than what is usual locally. Near the end of the night they blew a fuse, briefly killing all the electricity in the restaurant. Throughout the evening it was hard to know which of the five players to watch as they were all highly impressive and each was contributing much to the tremendous sound.

Birds Of Flame slammed hard into the second tune, “Open Country Joy,” with drummer Rzab reinventing the phrase “rolling thunder.” Rzab served up lightning strikes of fills and rolls. Cummings tapped out impressive, acidy element of jazz piano on his banks of keyboards.

“Minor chords and an eerie vibe marked the tune “Miles Beyond.” Guitarist Dixon rocked out with a complex phrase inside the band’s complex rhythm. His rhythmic patterns spoke volumes of his talent and that he could play so well with four others doing equally impressive things spoke volumes of his self-discipline. Although this was a guitar-focused tune, Dixon never stepped on anyone else’s toe. Cummings tapped out some funk/jazz synth notes and Devine’s electric violin found a place to shine among this mountain range of skillful, tight playing.

“Meeting Of The Spirits” found Cummings switching from funky jazz on one keyboard to elegant piano tinkling on another before an avalanche of guitar phrasing came pouring over the tundra. “Hope” moving into “Dance Of Maya” allowed drummer Rzab to play inside his own zone of sound with the rest of the band filling things in behind him. Bass player Randy Tougas slowed down enough to let you appreciate how he’s been adding colors and support to the sound all along. Tougas used his Zon fretless five-string to anchor the wide sound of Bird Of Flame, keeping them from tipping over too much in one direction. Devine on his electric violin and Dixon on electric guitar took turns punching eerie phrases into the knobby rhythm beneath them. Dixon finger tapped a mean lead guitar solo here.

The Tony Williams tune “Fred” allowed Birds Of Flame to showcase their tight ensemble work. To hear the electric violin’s breezy notes juxtaposed with powerhouse, precise drumming, driving and fluid bass, and aggressive keyboards was astounding. Audience members, quite a few for such a niche band, were in rapt attention by each section of the piece unfolding before their very eyes.

Weather Report’s “Teen Town” gave bass player Tougas a chance to go to town on his fretless Zon five-string. His knobby low end notes played like “lead-bass” and moved forward with twists and turns that he navigated well. Tougas made it look easy to play this kind of music.

The Edgar Winter Group classic rock instrumental “Frankenstein” got quite the workout from Birds Of Flame. Devine’s electric violin transposed the saxophone notes from Winter’s original with clever invention. Cummings made his synthesizer sound like an electric guitar phrase, a technique he would return to through out the evening.

Cummings strapped on a portable keyboard. He carried this thing like a guitar onto the dance floor in front of the stage during an old Miles Davis jazz tune “Freedom Jazz Dance.” Then, Cummings made his portable keyboard hum the melody with something that sounded like human coos of “do-do-do-dap” before he got that fiery lead guitar phrase out of it with bionic fingers that moved so fast you could only see a blur.

Birds Of Flame rocked right out on a Dixie Dregs tune “Take It Off The Top,” complete with cowbell, bouncy low end, and sprightly guitar. Ensemble portions and solo spots were played with a sense of largeness and aplomb.

“Hymn Of The 7^th Galaxy” featured Dixon playing his compact 16^th note guitar phrases with speed and coordination. “New Country” gave the boys a chance to show off their progressive version of a country music stomp. Devine’s electric violin made for some fiddle fun, faintly Americana inside a complex progressive rhythmic pattern. Talk about modern sounds in country and western. The keyboards sounded like a counterpoint fiddle while “Dixieland” was briefly incorporated.

“Cruise Control” was highlighted by a spot when the band started playing Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir,” guitar, electric violin, and synthesizer all tackling that large exotic sound. The violin eventually got into some frisky, funky stuff while the keyboard dropped bopping chords in the background. Cummings had fastened his key-tar on top of his banks of keyboards by this time and made those synthesizer notes squeal with excitement.

Birds Of Flame played a tune with the same name as their band. Notes began oozing in from all five until they rocked out with the aggression of 1970s classic rock. Cummings, here, made his keyboard scream like a fiery lead guitar solo.

The boys closed out the evening with renditions of Jeff Beck compositions “Led Boots,” “Resolution,” and “Scatterbrain.” The last tune worked well as a slow boil, Dixon’s guitar leads mellowing out the groove with finesse.

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