Alejandro Salazar Trio @Dorian’s, Or, You Just Quoted The Kid LAROI In Your Solo And Now The Whole Damn Bar Wants To Hear The Song

By Dominic Guanzon

Wednesday 4/19/23

On the eve of every jazz musician’s most wonderful time of the year (if college memory serves correctly), I stopped by one of the city’s newer jazz-hosting clubs for the first time. Opened in 2018, Dorian’s white-walled exterior sits next to Wicker Park’s three-road intersection dis-affectionately nicknamed “The Crotch”, apparently.

I don’t know if anyone actually calls it that, but the area is a solid vibe. I’ve been to Subterranean a number times for their Emo Nites, grilled cheese from Cheesie’s is great at midnight, and somehow during the writing of this article I stumbled across the 2004 movie “Wicker Park” starring Matthew Lillard from “Scream” and “Scooby-Doo”, and it was a trip. It was some kind of romantic-mystery-thriller where no one is happy for about 95 percent of the damn thing, and it feels like there’s going to be an attempted murder every 20 minutes.

Thankfully, this night sat much more comfortably for everyone involved, and it turned out to be a great example of what happens when the right musicians find the right stage, and create the best hangs.

Entering through the record shop, I walked in on the first set just wrapping up. To my immediate left was the band stand, which was a good four feet off the ground and behind the bar. The room is a cozy spot where everyone knows if you’re coming and going, if they’re not already paying attention to the players.

The rest of the bar is about as big as the Green Mill, so not big at all. Dorian’s does, however, have a much better layout. As much as I love the Mill, anyone can tell you about the traffic jams that can have you trying to watch Marquis Hill from what feels like the other end of a middle school hallway. I can’t knock them for wanting to keep the original design, but the long stretch at Dorian’s is flipped 90 degrees. That means even on a crowded night most of the club has a more equal distance from the stage.

As the final notes rang out, the house music switched on, spinning everything from Hiatus Kaiyote to Little Dragon to AMNESTY. Later on they threw in some Usher for good measure, and it worked. Dorian’s doesn’t offer coffee, but they did have some house wines, so I ordered a drink of O Tinto Perfeito O Clarete. I don’t drink, but reds are healthy. Glancing over the crowd, I was probably the oldest one there at 29, save for a couple that brought their parents. From what I could gather, the band were likely in their early-to-mid 20s.

This ain’t Andy’s or the Showcase, and it’s not my scene, but I would very much like it to be.

After the musicians came back from their set break outside, likely enjoying the perfect 4/19 evening weather while discussing the intricate plot twists in the 2004 film “Wicker Park”, Salazar walked across the room and quietly exclaimed “Let’s do this shit!” as he clapped his hands in the air. He walked right by my table when he said it, and it caught me so off guard, all I could do was nod my head in agreement.

The trio started their first song of the set so casually it almost seemed like an accident. The way they all calmly entered one after another in quick succession let the audience know that was just how in tune they were. Things escalated quickly with syncopated heavy hits on the melody of a song I missed the title on. The band spoke forth anyway, recoiling between the chaotic and the melodic.

Will Mallard is a multi-instrumentalist who can double on trumpet. Though I didn’t get a chance to see his horn, he was playing a pair of Nord keyboards, my personal favorite. He spat out sextuplets like it was his business alone, and was unafraid to get into the occasional a-rhythmic meter while Salazar and bassist Micah Collier held firm.

For his part, Salazar’s devilish, manic grin matched the intensity in his eyes and the very active drumming on his kit. He also wasn’t afraid to yell and shout when playing or hearing another one of his bandmate’s solos. I’ve always been a fan of players who do this, and I have yet to see one over-do it. Something about the party angle, without the fear of thinking it’s someone heckling, does it for me. You don’t see it in more formal jazz outings, but at Dorian’s, it’s right at home. Doubly so for this drummer.

Coming out of the modern jazz and electronic stylings of the previous song was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. It flowed out of the trio without introduction, and as the keys began to play the iconic melody, it got a palpable response from the club. Guest players Spencer Schillerstrom on tenor sax and Brendan Whalen on trombone joined the music, and began to layer improvisations on top of the melody as they walked onto the bandstand.

Bassist Miccah Collier’s groove was noticeably relaxed throughout the night. During his solo, he continuously dropped his left hand from the neck of his guitar between phrases. Collier is another in a string of jazz bassists I’ve observed hesitating mid-solo upon hearing something they like, or not, and adjusting accordingly. All good jazz musicians listen, but something about a bassist who exemplifies the phrase is simply divine. 

Underpinning all this was a sound and light person walking around the room and making adjustments on a tablet. It’s somewhat rare to see active sound engineers at jazz clubs, or at least the ones I’ve been to. Usually it’s the house manager setting faders at a safe level and forgetting it, and it’s no surprise why. I’ve observed live sound engineering by professionals, and I’ve even had to do it by necessity. Watching for feedback is a thankless job, let alone adjusting the levels to suit the situation.

The changes in the stage’s light color every song was an interesting twist as well. This is similar to how the introduction of the character Alex, played by Rose Byrne, in the 2004 film “Wicker Park” completely upended the status quo of the story and launched the movie into a fascinating second act.

Salazar declared the next tune was officially called “Make It Up As We Go, Hope You Enjoy”. Without an album or EP to his name, I can neither confirm nor deny, in all my journalistic integrity, if that was the case.

Mallard opened by toying and tinkering on bright keyboard sounds that could have had me guessing if he had a hi-fi SEGA Genesis hooked up to the rack. As the intro built itself up into a groundswell, the rest of the band joined at first in a groove. However, it quickly disintegrated into atonal, arrhythmic noise making in a concerted effort to break down. This included preset effects from the keys, overly-aggressive trills from Whalen’s trombone, and more. Eventually, Salazar came right back up with a rhythm as the band continued to solo. I kept my mouth shut after potentially hearing Mallard sneak in the main phrase from Snarky Puppy’s “Flood”, but once I heard him definitely end the tune with a quote from “Stay” by The Kid LAROI, I was certain.

That quote proved to get an even bigger pop than “What’s Going On”, and when a surprised Mallard turned to the trio to ask “oh you wanna play it?” Half the room erupted in a collective “yeah!”

With no other choice, the madlads actually took choruses around “Stay,” using the chorus to separate the solos. While we didn’t get any of the verses, we did get sick lines over the memery taking place.

I was nearly finished with my first glass of red by the time the second set ended (I’m a slow teetotaler). Waiting to catch Salazar in between his many friend groups that were there to support him, I was struck by how many people in the audience he actually knew. I’m aware gigs can have a couple of supporters going into them, but knowing he’s been making waves in the jazz scene, I assumed most of the room were passerby or interested parties like me.

That’s when I remembered I was a 29-year-old sitting by himself with a Nikon camera and a notepad, slowly drinking the house red at Dorian’s. I felt like a character in a certain film I’m forgetting the name of, but the point is, I need more friends in the city. (I did have one stop by later, and she may have even copyedited this article. If you like it, then she did.)

An old jazz educator I had once told me he could usually predict how someone was going to talk by the way they played. On top of his playing, I could also guess how Salazar was going to talk from his excited body language despite being across the room. Though with him being a drummer, it’s one in the same.

I asked if he was working on new material for a debut album, and he said he was, with the current big task being funding. He also mentioned rumblings of travel, though he couldn’t provide details yet. It was obvious he was continuing that high off of…the gig, and even after talking to all those people, the energy was still infectious.

A few things have changed since I’ve observed the jazz scene in Chicago. The venues upping their game in the web and social media department, in particular. Yet most of those changes are new tunes and upcoming players. Thanks to Dorian’s debut as a club five years ago, I got to see five of those emerging artists first-hand. More importantly, the neighborhood itself has changed since the landmark 2004 film “Wicker Park”, starring Josh Hartnett and Diane Kruger, was released worldwide.

The newspaper racks that used to be everywhere are now gone, as is the hot dog stand from the iconic meeting place where the passionate, forlorn lovers punctuated their relationship. Or was that a fake park for when they filmed in Montreal? I don’t know. I was raised in the suburb of Downers Grove, which also has a movie named after it, and it’s significantly worse than the other piece of cinema I’ve been mentioning.

The jokes I hear about how great of an art mecca Wicker Park the neighborhood used to be are like the ones I keep reading about “Wicker Park” the movie: begrudgingly supportive.

Actually walking the streets of the neighborhood itself – now knowing Dorian’s is a fantastic spot for friends and musicians alike – assured me it could get me to do more than that.

I could love it.

The Alejandro Salazar Trio is:

Alejandro Salazar (d)

Will Mallard (k)

Micah Collier (b)

With guests:

Spencer Schillerstrom (ts)

Brendan Whalen (tr)

You can find Salazar on instagram here.