Dennis Frehse Quartet
No Room For Squares
January 11, 2026
Dennis Frehse - drums
Kengo Nakamura - 中村健吾bass
David Bryant - piano
Akane Ezawa 江澤茜 – alto sax
The Dennis Frehse Quartet delivered two appealing sets of straight-ahead jazz, full of inspired playing, tight ensemble work, and a fresh, uncluttered approach to live jazz. Moving between standards from Thelonius Monk and originals from everyone in the band, the evening was a delightful set of original jazz.
Working within a tight bandstand (actually, “band part-of-the-floor”) and with an audience that filled the club, they launched into a Thelonius Monk number that found everyone not only on the same musical page, but on the same energy level set to high. The rhythm set by Frehse anchored the other three but gave them more than enough room to play like themselves. Bryant’s original “Hayes Highway,” a number he wrote when playing with famed drummer, Louis Hayes, took off. Ezawa’s sax solo lit up the room with inventive phrasing and an understated energy that showed that less is more in improvisation.
Frehse’s “That’s Weird” had an off-kilter Monk-like rhythm and melody line that set out tension that was more than fully resolved by the end of the tune, with great solos from Ezawa (again) and Bryant, who’s a pianist with plenty of Monk in his playing. With everyone’s solo, I kept thinking the following notes would land “here,” but they kept landing “there.” That sense of surprise was refreshing and kept the crowd leaning into the music.
The second set kicked off with an original from Nakamura, “Mingus Figures.” It was a bouncing number with solos that sounded like they should be the last ones of the evening, when everyone plays as hard as they can. But there was more to come from this locked-in quarter. “The Sun Will Shine Again” featured a melody that used all minor chords until the resolution in major, which created just the right balance of melancholy and comfort, allowing the band’s playing to extend to more profound, more complex sentiments.
Whether digging into a soulful Randy Weston tune with a bright bounce or an original from Ezawa, the quartet stayed focused on digging out one great solo after the next. The encore of “Giant Steps” played in bossa nova style was the perfect closer to bring the quartet’s show to an end, though the audience was still leaning in to catch every note. The quartet showed just how much experience counts. These four are among the best jazz musicians in Tokyo. But they also show how much a thoughtful, informed approach to the music keeps the creative flame turned high.
