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Jazz at the Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago –There can never be too much of a good thing at a Roy Haynes concert. The 85-yrear old drummer brought his current edition of his drolly named Fountain of Youth Band to Symphony Center Friday night. His set started a bit after 9 p.m. and he was chatting with the crowd at 11 p.m. when I left. He may still be on the Orchestra Hall stage now, captivating listeners with his music and his conversation. After more than 60 years accompanying a who’s who of jazz immortals, nobody could deny Haynes as much time as he wants to stimulate and entertain.

        Haynes organized his first Fountain of Youth Band about 10 years ago, a quartet that features a saxophonist plus rhythm section with the leader presiding over his drum kit. For the Friday night concert the quartet was expanded by the addition of eminent trumpeter Roy Hargrove. But Hargrove was more than the typical guest artist. He was on stage the entire set and meshed perfectly with the other musicians to form a hard driving, precision playing quintet.

        Haynes has developed a unique percussion style during his long career, emphasizing the interaction between the bass drum and snare drums with lots of rim shots rather than relying on the ride cymbal. That produces a distinctive rhythmic sound that is as visually as aurally striking, especially when Haynes uses mallets rather than drumsticks. Yet while his solos are fascinating (though sometimes overlong) exercises in his personal manner, his rhythm section work is strictly supportive and even self effacing, as when he uses wire brushes to produce a delicate, almost inaudible sound.

        The latest edition of the Fountain of Youth Band consists of Jaleel Shaw on alto and soprano saxophone, David Wong on  bass, and Martin Bejerano on piano, as well as Haynes. The star of the evening was Shaw, a master on both the alto sax with his straight-ahead Sonny Stitt hard bop style and soprano sax work that stirs echoes of Sidney Bechet. In a day when most young saxophonists seem clones of John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, Shaw is his own man, with a smooth sound, superb technique, and soul to burn, especially on the alto sax. He provided the most consistent and swinging reed playing I’ve heard in Orchestra Hall in many a concert.

 

        Bejerano has been with Haynes off and on since the early days of the Fountain of Young Band and he demonstrated he’s a fine soloist as well as an attentive listener to the music around him as an accompanist. Add him to the seemly endless list of fine younger pianists that are illuminating the contemporary jazz scene. David Wong delivered strong accompaniment and several melodic, well constructed solos on bass.

        Hargrove may be the finest jazz trumpeter of his generation and he demonstrated his unlimited chops on the instrument, as well as the flugelhorn. He tore through the up tempo numbers with his spiky solos and displayed great feeling on the slower and more intense pieces.

    The program consisted of a range of selections spanning jazz from the be bop days of the 1940’s and 1950’s to today, mercifully sparing us any fusion and free jazz caterwauling. The quintet can play fast but one of the evening highlights was a deeply felt rendition of the ballad standard “These Foolish Things” with lovely contributions by the entire group.

       Haynes was silent during the first 90 minutes of playing time, occasionally breaking out into a soft shoe dance to the audience’s delight. But late in the set he took the microphone and starting chatting with the spectators, some of them directly, reminiscing and storytelling and generally holding forth like the skilled raconteur he is. Haynes is the last star standing from the golden age of jazz in the 1950’s. The man may be 85 but he looks 30 years younger and talks and plays younger than that.

   The concert opened with a concise but entertaining set by Chicago ragtime composer-pianist Reginald Robinson. Ragtime was a piano style that thrived around the turn of the last century but petered out by the end of World War I. The music is fairly limited in style but Robinson’s pieces showed considerable variety in tempo and dynamics. This wasn’t heavyweight music but it was melodic and listenable and Robinson was a marvelous interpreter of his compositions on the keyboard.

        The next Symphony Center Presents concert takes place January 13 when guitarist Russell Malone brings in his quartet to open for vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and her tribute to the music of Billie Holiday. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org .

                       Contact Dan: zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – John Scofield brought his electric guitar and his quartet into Orchestra Hall Friday night, displaying his full bag of styles—straight ahead jazz, fusion, funk, and rock. Unfortunately, the audience was forced to fight through an over-amplified sound system to reach Scofield’s many-sided music.

    Scofield and Gregory Hutchinson, his drummer, are not demure players and do not require electronic embellishment to enhance the volume of their playing. The hyper-miking of the sound produced some teeth rattling moments and offended further by distorting several solos from Scofield’s gifted pianist Michael Eckroth. Too frequently, Hutchinson’s take-no-prisoners accompaniment and solos ascended to a deafening decibel count.  The unbalanced sound system converted some early numbers into a demonstration of ferocious percussionwork that buried leader Scofield’s music.

        Some very good music managed to filter through the overbearing amplification. Scofield played a rousing personal version of the Dizzy Gillespie bebop standard “Woody’n You.” He wore his funky hat at a jaunty angle with an extended version of “Red Top” that he dedicated to the Chicago blues scene. And his eloquent interpretation of the pop classic “My Foolish Heart” was a balm to the ears of spectators after the aural indignities inflicted by the blasting sound system.

        Scofield played electric guitar through his long set, denying the audience the pleasure of hearing him display his mastery of the acoustic guitar. Eckroth was a joy in all his solos, ready to take his place among a corps of today’s bright young jazz pianists like Robert Glaspar and Reginald Robinson (who will be featured in the next Symphony Center concert in December). The rest of the rhythm section was filled out by Hutchinson and bassist Ben Street.

     The concert opened with a set by saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. What a burden and responsibility it must be to carry the name of the most influential saxophonist, for better or worse, of the last half century.

Ravi was only two years old when father John died, but there is a bit of jazz DNA in the son’s style. Ravi may not play the endless 30-plus minute solos that plagued his father’s studio records and live appearances the last 10 years of his life. But the long multi-note runs that made up most of Ravi’s performance demonstrated he is very much John Coltrane’s son.

  The pianoless trio meant that Coltrane carried the melodic load in all his numbers. There was some variety in tempo in his set but essentially he traveled at warp speed up and down his horn (Coltrane is a proficient also saxophonist but we just heard his tenor sax Friday night). Coltrane’s sound is smooth and accessible when he slows down.  His eloquent, deeply felt rendition of the pop standard “Autumn in New York” showed a personal side denied to the audience in his more volcanic solos.

  Coltrane received sturdy assistance from the rhythm section of Robert Hurst on bass and Karriem Riggins on drums. Hurst contributed a rich tone and melodic presence in his solos on top of his solid rhythm accompaniment. Riggins was all over his drum kit, though not with the aggression of Gregory Hutchinson.

Coltrane is one of the major jazz saxophonists of the last 20 years and doubtless has many fans of the free jazz persuasion. The Orchestra Hall audience seemed to approve of his performance, though some may have returned home to the comfort of their Stan Getz and Ben Webster recordings.

 Next up in the jazz series, along with Reginald Robinson, is Roy Haynes and his Fountain of Youth Band on December 9. The 85-year old drummer will lead a quintet featuring the eminent trumpet player Roy Hargrove. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org .

Contact Dan atzeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

     Visit Dan on Facebook.   November 2011

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Symphony Center Presents Jazz

By Dan Zeff

Chicago– It isn’t what he plays but how he plays it that makes Keith Jarrett such a magical jazz pianist. His concert at Orchestra Hall Friday night, which opened the Symphony Center Presents Jazz 2011-2012 series, was a conventional Jarrett program dominated by love songs from the American songbook. But how he interprets familiar numbers like “Golden Earrings,” “Autumn Leaves,” and “When I Fall in Love” puts Jarrett on a pedestal among jazz pianists.

Jarrett plays his selections with obvious affection and respect. The melody is cleanly stated, though perhaps only after several choruses of fascinating prologue. But the man doesn’t only play the notes, he plays the lyrics. Jarrett understands the meaning of the words in such standards as “Some Day My Prince Will Come” and his interpretations are stunning in their illumination of the song’s content. Attentive listeners should grasp what each song says even if they hadn’t heard the number before.

Jarrett’s virtuosity on the piano is legendary but on Friday night there were few pyrotechnics--no “Look how fast I can play” bravado that infects so many modern jazz pianists. Certainly Jarrett played some dazzling runs, but the cascades of notes served the song and not the ego of the pianist. Jarrett concentrated on the middle portion of the keyboard, but that didn’t limit his invention or eloquence. His immersion in each selection was reflected in his famous moaning and grunting, not as obvious or distracting Friday night as they have been in other Jarrett concerts I attended. His body language frequently lifted him off his seat, creating a physical intensity to his playing beyond what emerged from his fingers.

 Jarrett played with the rhythm section that has become the most impressive jazz combo of the last 25 years. Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums have performed regularly with the leader since 1983 and their psyches now merge seamlessly with Jarrett’s style. Peacock in particular is a rock of rhythmic underpinning and his concise, musical solos were a refreshing departure from the overlong exercises that often afflict bass playing. DeJohnette was a self effacing percussionist, laying down background carpets of sound that perfectly responded to Jarrett’s always adventurous dissections of pop standards.

Every selection Friday night was a pleasure to hear, but my favorite was Jarrett’s first encore, a down home version of “God Bless the Child” that flowed into ruminations on the song that could have gone on endlessly. This was the pianist at his most Jarrett-like, and the second encore of “When I Fall in Love” sounded almost tame after the ebb and flow of Jarrett’s deconstruction of “God Bless the Child.”

The trio gave a generous concert that didn’t end until 10:30 p.m. after van 8:10 start. Jarrett plays extended selections, most more than 10 minutes in length. He was not made for the three-minute pre long-playing era in jazz recording. But his solos never sounded padded or inflated. I would love to hear Jarrett play a concert devoted to just one song, played perhaps a dozen times. Every version would be a composition in itself and testify to the man’s nonstop musical ideas and his genius at shifting tempos and rhythms.

As usual, Jarrett did not announce any titles during the concert, just moving from selection to selection. There were a couple of moments of his banter from the stage that I couldn’t hear, though the members of the audience who did understand him thought he was pretty funny. But Jarrett comes to play and not to talk. His interpretations of numbers like “I Thought About You” speak volumes for his insight, musicianship, and passion for his music.

The jazz series continues on November 11 with performances by quartets led by guitarist John Scofield and tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane. For tickets, call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org .

Contact Dan at Zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – Charles Lloyd closed out the 2010-2011 Jazz at Symphony Center series Friday night by leading a large and appreciative audience through the music of two small bands—an East-West trio called Sangam and Lloyd’s current quartet.

The concert opened with the Sangam trio of Lloyd, drummer Eric Harland, and percussionist Zakir Hussain from India. Lloyd dedicated the opening selection to Billy Higgins, his drummer and friend who died in 2001. The number was a fascinating mix-and-match sound feast, with Lloyd and Harland alternating between drums and piano while Hussain presided cross-legged over a battery of delicately tuned small drums. Hussain sometimes sang, perhaps in Sanskrit, as the trio laid down a lush carpet of percussion rhythm with an endless variety of dynamics.

Later in the set Lloyd brought on his long-time pianist Jason Moran and bassist Larry Grenadier, substituting for Reuben Rogers, the quartet’s usual bassist. The group lost nothing by the addition of Grenadier, a veteran of previous Lloyd groups and a star with the Brad Mehldau trio for many years. Grenadier swung hard, taking a marvelously lively solo in an unidentified number that followed a soulful Lloyd presentation of a Thelonious Monk ballad.

Lloyd’s work on the tenor saxophone was post John Coltrane, though with a lighter sound and minus the Coltrane weakness for playing 100 notes where 10 would do. But it was Lloyd’s melodic flute playing that was most stirring. Indeed, the man’s performance on saxophone, flute, drums, and piano must qualify him as the Renaissance musician of modern jazz, and at the age of 73. Lloyd brought a clarinet-like instrument called a tarogato on stage but never played it.

There was remarkable technical skill at every station on the Orchestra Hall stage but for the audience the exotic performance by Hussain likely was the revelation of the evening. His fleet fingering was stunning and the musical quality to his percussion was remarkable. Hussain and Harland combined for percussion work of dazzling density and drive. It all sounded spontaneous but the playing never flagged in intensity or imagination. Audiences who have suffered through interminable drum solos in the past could revel in percussion playing that lifted the emotions while engaging the mind. Hussain and Harland combined to give the audience an unforgettable aural and visual experience.

During one of the encores, Lloyd sat at the piano reciting texts from Hindu wisdom literature, possibly the Bhagavad Gita. Lloyd’s sonorous delivery flowed through the audience, capturing the attention even of those listeners who didn’t catch every word of the lush poetry.

        Lloyd obviously is a spiritual man at peace with himself and his music. He closed the concert with an affecting solo rendition of Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday” from the Duke’s “Black, Brown, and Beige” suite. It was a heartfelt and unfussy conclusion to a concert that escorted audiences to new and rewarding places musically and religiously.

Patrons left Orchestra Hall content that they had been in the presence of five towering musicians in perfect sync with each other artistically and emotionally. Moran in particular ranks among the finest jazz pianists of his generation and Symphony Center happily is bringing him back to close out the 2011-2012 jazz series in an entirely different context, playing the music of Fats Waller. Only in his mid 30’s, Moran obviously is a pianist who can take us anywhere in the jazz world with joyous results.

    Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com. June 2011

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago –Orchestra Hall was converted into the Church of Mahalia Jackson Friday night as the Jazz ay Symphony Center series commemorated the centennial of the great gospel singer’s birth.

The Orchestra Hall stage was filled by the Chicago Jazz Ensemble orchestra complemented by the 51-voice choir of the Christ Universal Temple Ensemble. Former Jazz Ensemble artistic director Jon Faddis served as the laid back master of ceremonies as well as featured soloist on trumpet in an evening devoted primarily to gospel and spiritual music.

Mahalia Jackson was born in New Orleans but moved to Chicago as a teenager and both cities can properly call her their own. She was a religious person who sang with dignity and feeling rather than the tear-it-up stomping style of some gospel performances. Still, the highlights of the evening were provided by a pair of vocalists who belted out the gospel message with a fervor and high decibel count that the great Mahalia surely would have enjoyed.

                     

The vocalists were Terisa Griffin and Queenie Lenox and they both had the audience jumping as they roared through a half dozen numbers. The singers shared the honors with Duke Ellington, who provided the program with three pieces from his later extended works. Griffin won the evening’s musical honors with her personal and deeply expressive rendition of “Come Sunday,” from Ellington’s  “Black, Brown, and Beige” suite, a number Mahalia sang on the original 1958 recording. On the piece, Griffin received sensitive support from pianist Fred Nelson, the musical director of the Christ Universal choir.

The orchestra played a soulful version of “Portrait of Mahalia” from the Duke’s 1970 “New Orleans Suite,” and the concert concluded with a hand-clapping and foot stomping version of “The Lord’s Prayer” from Ellington’s 1965 “Concert of Sacred Music.” Griffin and Lenox shared the stage for the finale, exhorting the audience to share a call and response “amen” that perfectly captured the good times side of gospel music.

Aside from the Ellingtonia, the program relied primarily on traditional religious pieces, though there was a version of the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.” And Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” was melded into a gospel foot tapper with “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” propelled by Griffin’s emotional and high energy vocalizing.

The Christ Universal choir contributed fine backup and provided an impressive physical presence, arranged in three extended rows at the back of the stage. Their power was a little defused by the expanse of Orchestra and the entire concert would have likely taken on a greater exuberance and intensity transferred to a South Side church.

Faddis played several solos, notably a duet with Jazz Ensemble pianist on “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” that was marred by some shaky upper register work. But generally his normally virtuoso playing was concise, even self effacing, in the spirit of Mahalia’s non-theatrical style. Mahalia disliked being called a jazz singer, but she would have approved of the swinging Chicago Jazz Ensemble, with fine solos by Pat Mallinger on tenor sax and driving percussion work by Jazz Ensemble director Dana Hall.

I’ve attended gospel concerts that reached higher peaks of emotion, but Friday night’s event honored the spirit of Mahalia, tamping down the musical dramatics in favor of a respectful and sincere approach to the sacred music she loved. Fair enough.

The Jazz at Symphony Center 2010-2011 series ends on June 3 with a concert by veteran jazz reed man Charles Lloyd, featuring tabla performer Zakir Hussain and pianist Jason Moran. For tickets, call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.

         Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com    May 2011

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Jazz  at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago –Count Basie died in 1984 and about eight years later the Count Basie Orchestra was formed, led over the years by a succession of former Basie sidemen. The current unit, including members of the original ensemble from the early 1990’s, was the attraction Friday night at the Jazz at Symphony Center series in Orchestra Hall.

        The orchestra is led by Dennis Mackrel, the last drummer for Basie before the leader’s death. He presides over a 17-piece band that offers the power and precision that was Basie’s hallmark during the final decades of his career, though for the first set the band mostly played like any talented big band primarily devoted to the Basie book, professional but not distinctive.

The first set featured the familiar Basie repertoire from arrangers like Ernie Wilkins, Neal Hefti, and Frank Foster. During the evening the group played three numbers from Hefti’s “Atomic” album recorded in 1957 that jump started Basie’s reputation and carried the band through to Basie’s death. Indeed, the entire concert relied almost exclusively on a Basie play list from the 1950’s onward, with only a slight nod to the great band of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s in an updated version of ”Lester Leaps In” and a fragment of “One O’Clock Jump” that signed off each set.

          

The opening set was a formulaic hour that touched on the usual suspects from the later Basie, like “Sixteen Men Swinging,” “Kansas City Shout,” “Shiny Stockings,” and “Flight of the Foo Birds.” The numbers were short, with brief solos. The band sounded crisp and disciplined but there were no revelations.

The evening picked up mightily in the second set with the appearance of the great Marcus Roberts taking the piano chair. The band now swung harder. The numbers were longer and allowing for more blowing, especially two Roberts originals, “Ostinado Ritmos” and “Evening Caress.” Roberts’ dazzling right hand on “Ostinado Ritmos” had the band starring at the piano in wonder.

Roberts brought his rhythm section of Rodney Jordan on bass and Jason Marsalis on drums. The trio was augmented by Will Matthews on guitar from the band, who delivered the chomp-chomp chords that made rhythm guitarist Freddie Green such a vital component of the original Basie orchestra. Roberts had his triumphant moments during the second set but felt underused in some numbers. He was clearly in great form and at least one trio number would have been appropriate to allow him to stretch out.

The band was led by a veteran trumpet section of Mike Williams, Scotty Barnhart, Freddie Hendrix, and Derrick Gardner. But the outstanding soloist was tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence who roused the large and appreciative crowd with several virile extended solos in the Frank Foster tradition.

Overall, the concert was unequally divided between the ghost band performance of the first set and the livelier, fresher music of the final set, thanks largely to the contributions of Marcus Roberts. The entire show was emceed by Mackrel, who  supplied the spectators with a flow of anecdotes and information, genially leading the audience through the program, down to the inevitable encore of “April in Paris,” complete with “One more time” shouted from the spectators.

The next series concert comes May 20 when Jon Faddis leads the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in a tribute to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.

The Jazz at Symphony Center schedule has been announced for the 2011-2012 season. The 10-concert lineup is highlighted by the appearance of perhaps the two biggest attractions on the present jazz scene, the Keith Jarrett trio (with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette) opening the series and the always welcome visit from the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis.

The upcoming season will be a delight for connoisseurs of jazz piano. In addition to Keith Jarrett, there will be appearances by Mulgrew Miller, Brad Mehldau, Jason Moran, Reginald Robinson, and in one “Jazz Piano Showcase,” Danilo Perez, Bill Charlap, and Renee Rosnes.

The complete series consists of:

Keith Jarrett – October  21;

John Scofield quartet with Mulgrew Miller – November 11;

Roy Haynes  quintet with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, plus Reginald Robinson, December 9;

Singer Dee Bridgewater and the Russell Malone trio, January 13;

Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Trey McIntyre Project, February 17;

Nicholas Payton  Television Studio Orchestra, March 9;

Brad Mehldau and saxophonist Joshua Redman, April 13;

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, April 27;

Jazz Piano Showcase, May 25;

Jason Moran in a tribute to Fats Waller, June 1.

Subscription packages of five and 10 concerts are now on sale. Tickets for individual concerts go on sale August 12.

For information call 312 294 3000 or 800 223 7114 or visit www.cso.org.                                April 2011

                       Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – Dianne Reeves has been called the best jazz singer alive. Certainly it’s hard to name anyone on the current scene as her equal, especially with the passing of the generation led by Ella Fitzgerald, Carman McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Betty Carter (a notable Reeves influence).

        A large and enthusiastic crowd in Orchestra Hall received a full dose of the Reeves skill set Friday night. There was jazz, blues, pop, and even an unclassifiable wordless song. Whatever her selection, Reeves demonstrated her vocal range and agility, warmth of tone, and storytelling genius.

        A Reeves song is more than a superb display of vocalese. The lady can sell a story with humor, poignancy, and drama. Her rendition of “Stormy Weather” made the number her own, with no disrespect to Lena Horne, who put her personal trademark on the song. The lyrics sounded fresh and penetrating as Reeves virtually reinvented the tune musically and as a narrative hymn of pain and longing.

               

        Then there was her performance of Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain,” a similar deconstruction that melded daring vocal flexibility with love lyrics that cut right to the bone. Reeves is on a cross country tour, some of the concerts called “Sing the Truth,” a commemoration of female singers and composers. The Friday night crowd got a taste of the event with the Horne and Holiday selections. A full concert of such commemorations would be well worth hearing. Reeves did tip her vocal hat to a male song  master by opening the show with a lilting version of the Johnny Mathis standard “The Twelfth of Never.”

        Reeve’s rendition of the Temptations’ classic soul song “Just My Imagination” turned Orchestra Hall into a spontaneous sing-along as patrons joined in on the refrain. She also treated the crowd to a couple of her own compositions, “Social Call” and “Nine.” The latter was a funny, charming, nostalgic tribute to her youth, stuffed with memories of her carefree days as a child when children actually played outdoors.

                                                

        Another concert highlight was a lively number with indecipherable lyrics I thought might have been sung in an African dialect. It turns out that the number was a wordless song with Reeves inventing the syllables as she swung along. It wasn’t exactly scat or nonsense singing. It was a personal non-language that carried the audience along on a surge of hard-driving invention.

        Reeves was supported by an accomplished quartet consisting of Peter Martin (her musical director) on keyboards, Romero Lubambo on guitar, Reginald Veal on electric and acoustic bass, and Terreon Gully on percussion. The band got the evening off to a swinging start with a 12-minute instrumental piece before Reeves made her entrance.

The band’s accompaniment leaned toward a bossa nova beat, possibly because of Lubambo’s Brazilian roots. The guitarist is a master soloist as when as a solid rhythm section component and his features were a highlight of an evening loaded with highlights.

        Reeves has a knack for turning a large room like Orchestra Hall into an intimate setting. She was a gracious hostess between numbers, relaxed and personal. She easily brought the listeners into her musical world with an informality that never clashed with the vocal  pyrotechnics that illuminated some of her selections.

The Orchestra Hall program ran a tight 90 minutes without an intermission, just the right length to leave the audience satisfied, even as some shouted for more at the end. Reeves could go on all night with her musical surprises and eloquence, but the 90 minutes met everyone’s needs.

        The Jazz at Symphony Center series continues next Friday with a concert presenting the Count Basie band and the Marcus Roberts trio.

               Contact Dan @zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.                         April 2011

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – Allen Toussaint made his reputation in rhythm and blues and rock music, but Toussaint is a New Orleans man, so jazz is in his musical DNA. He didn’t record his first jazz album until 2009, after more than 50 years in music, but anyone fortunate enough to attend his concert at Symphony Center Friday night would leave the hall convinced that the man stands among the finest pianists and band leaders in jazz today.

          Toussaint’s concert was built on music from that 2009 CD, “The Bright Mississippi,”  which revisits many of the songs and performers in the New Orleans jazz tradition. Thus there was music associated with Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, and Louis Armstrong, as well as blues and gospel standards. Curiously, the title number in the CD was composed by Thelonious Monk, not normally identified with New Orleans music. But in Toussaint’s fertile musical imagination, Monk is thoroughly at home, the spiky melody easily accommodated within the New Orleans sensibility.

The concert was never a simple archeological investigation of old time New Orleans sounds. Toussaint and his sextet playing many of Toussaint’s own competitions, notably “Southern Nights.” Toussaint played stunning piano, sang with a pleasing voice, and put together a program filled with continuously entertaining, sometimes humorous, occasionally surprising music.

          Toussaint brought in the two horn men from the CD, reed player Don Byron and trumpeter Nicholas Payton, a welcome and familiar performer at Symphony Center.  In various combinations, the musicians reinvented and reinvigorated those New Orleans standards, never violating their spirit.  In an evening crowded with highlights, perhaps the apex was the ensemble rendition of the warhorse “St. James Infirmary,” a lengthy interpretation that was moody, slightly country-ish, and  stirring—applying a new coat of musical paint to a number perhaps second only to “When the Saints Go Marching In” among over familiar New Orleans anthems. “Saints” wasn’t in the Friday night repertoire but the group’s take on the tune would be well worth hearing.

          Among the night of revelations, Toussaint’s extended piano medley was the biggest eye opener, at least among listeners comparatively new to the man’s keyboard genius. Toussaint touched bases from jazz to classical to pop—his swinging two-handed style ricocheting from gut bucket and barrelhouse and boogie woogie to mainstream and those classical references. His tantalizing snippet from Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto stirred the spectator to fantasize how well the man could play the entire work. My money would be on a fascinating rendition.

               

          Byron is best known as a clarinet player and he delivered big on that demanding instrument, his confident technique displayed in a multitude of styles. But Byron also played some terrific tenor sax solos, including one in a bebop vein. His performance certainly liberated Byron from any traditional-style pigeon hole. Payton, of course, never disappoints. His duet with Toussaint on “West End Blues” glowed with intensity and invention. The original recording by Louis Armstrong is one of the perfect records in jazz but Payton, supported by Toussaint, still found fresh and personal things to say.

          Unfortunately, the program didn’t list the musicians in the rhythm section—electric guitar, electric and acoustic bass, and drums—but all three musicians made invaluable contributions to the triumphant concert. The guitar player especially delivered edgy, inventive solo lines, especially in “West End Blues.”

          Throughout the presentation, Toussaint was a gracious, informal, and amusing master of ceremonies, his manner condensing the auditorium to the intimacy of a New Orleans jazz and blues club. The Friday night concert coincided with Toussaint’s 73^rd birth and the audience cheerfully sang “Happy birthday” to the man. But the large and appreciative crowd really were the recipients of a birthday gift, two golden hours of music.

          The Symphony Center jazz series continues on February 4 with the always anticipated appearance of Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. For ticket information call 312 294 3000 or visit cso.org, but hustle. The orchestra’s appearances are invariable sellouts.

                       Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.   January 2011

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Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago– It was ladies night at the Jazz at Symphony Center concert in Orchestra Hall Friday night. Violinist Regina Carter and bassist Esperanza Spalding led their chamber jazz groups in an evening of jazz that, if it wasn’t unorthodox, certainly was different.

          The music emerged from instruments not normally associated with jazz. The audience enthusiastically applauded sounds from the violin, viola, cello, an African stringed instrument called a kora, even the accordion. There wasn’t a horn to be heard in either set but the music was still striking, even at times when the connection to jazz was a little tenuous.

          Carter has been established as the premiere violinist in jazz since the mid 1990’s. She has a rich tone, unlimited technique, and most of all, she swings like mad. Spalding is a recent arrival on the jazz scene, recording her first album in 2006. But her ascent has been meteoric and Oprah Winfrey named her one of “Ten Women on the Rise” in 2010. And Spalding is only 26. Both leaders were promoting their most recent albums, Carter’s “Reverse Thread” and Spalding’s “Chamber Music Society.”

          Carter started off the evening with a hugely satisfying hour-long set. The program opened with explorations of African folk music and then branched out into Spanish music and what sounded like Irish jigs and American funk and hoedowns. The music displayed Carter’s virtuosity but even more impressive was her tight ensemble, a group that makes wonderful music out of a most unconventional instrumentation.  In addition to the traditional bassist (Chris Lightcap) and drummer (Alvester Garnett), the Carter combo featured Will Holshouser on accordion and Mali-born Yacouba Sissoko on the kora, a 21-string instrument played between the knees like a cello and producing a sound that’s a cross between a harp and a balalaika.

          The African music never veered into the exotic. It was accessible to Western ears, melodic and rhythmically enticing. Sissoko was a crowd pleaser with his nimble, multi-note solos that would have made Charlie Christian proud. Holshouser has been Carter’s colleague for years and we missed hearing him during Carter’s last visit to Orchestra Hall when he was weathered in on the east coast. Holshouser is an extraordinary musician, turning maybe the most scoffed-at instrument in jazz into a tour de force fountain of hard-driving solos keyboard-style solos. Forget the accordion as a pleasant purveyor of sweet sounds at weddings. Holshouser can rock and swing with anyone and his solos are filled with invention,  not just licks. He has to be heard to be believed.

          Carter has amalgamated her disparate collection of instruments into a combo that plays seamless ensemble passages between the glittering solos. Carter presided over the set as a gracious mistress of ceremonies, establishing an intimate rapport with the enthusiastic audience. In Carter’s group we were hearing music we don’t normally encounter, and performed at a flawless level of musicianship. She deserves a full evening at a future Jazz at Symphony Center presentation.

          The Spalding performance was a different kettle of musical fish. The set opened with Spalding seating herself in an easy chair on a Persian rug at one corner of the stage. Next to the chair was a small end table with a lamp and a bottle of wine. Spalding seated herself, poured a glass of wine, and watched as the spotlight focused on a string trio playing at the rear of the stage. After a few moments, Spalding joined the trio with her pianist and drummer and a backup vocalist, and began playing her bass. What then followed was an uninterrupted flow of original music, obviously very personal to Spalding and highly listenable, though its jazz content was sometimes a matter of dispute.

          Spalding is a striking presence, a huge mop of hair atop a slender body. She performed barefoot, sometimes sinuously dancing as she sang or listened to her sidemen. She sings in a pleasing and flexible high pitched voice, the music varying between wordless scat and lyrics, very few of which I understood. The string trio was beautifully integrated into the music, with Sara Caswell carrying the major solo load on violin. The trio was a full partner in the music and not just a background gimmick.

          The audience could have used some guidance from the leader about the music but the numbers were performed without interruption. This was a set to be enjoyed on Spalding’s terms or not at all. The presentation was challenging but the music was never less than listenable, though spectators with a familiarity with the “Chamber Music Society” CD had an advantage over the rest of us. I did enjoy Leo Genovese’s few swinging piano solos and Terri Lyne  Carrington kept the set moving with her incisive percussion work. Leala Cyr was the unobtrusive backup singer for Spalding’s vocals.

          The crowd was one of the largest I have ever seen at a Jazz at Symphony Center concert and they were both attentive and responsive, proving that there is a large local audience eager to hear jazz off the beaten track. The Carter set was magnificent and Spalding did what she did extremely well. It may be an acquired taste but her music is a taste easily acquired for people with open ears and minds. Still, a bit of beforehand preparation would enhance the pleasures Spalding dispensed, and I still don’t get the opening bit with the wine and the easy chair.

          The next concert will feature New Orleans pianist/composer Allen Toussaint on January 14. He will bring in star musicians Don Byron on clarinet and Nicholas Payton on trumpet and doubtless will play selections from his acclaimed “The Bright Mississippi’ album from last year. For tickets call 312 294 2999 or visit www.cso.org.

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

                                   Visit him on Facebook.

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Jazz at Symphony Center

(Hugh Masekela)

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – Audiences at Orchestra Hall Friday night got the full exposure to Hugh Masekela—musician, singer, comedian, political activist, even dancer. The evening started out as a jazz concert and about halfway through shifted into a cabaret show. It added up to one of the feel good-upbeat presentations in the recent history of the Symphony Center jazz series.

        Masekela is a black South African who is probably best known for his hit record of “Grazing in the Grass” in 1968 and his marriage to South African singer/political activist Miriam Makeba during the 1960’s. But Masekela has been a significant presence on the international scene for five decades. He performed Friday night on the flugelhorn, the big brother to the trumpet, and his music moved from pure jazz to fusion to lite jazz to South African pop to rhythm and blues. I even caught a whiff of disco, reggae, and bossa nova.

     Masekela performed in front of a five-man rhythm section that laid down a smooth carpet of sound behind his rich and soulful solos (he also joined in as percussionist on some numbers). The chief soloist in the section is Cameron Ward, a guitarist good enough to command his own group.

     Masekela is not a cutting edge musician. His sound is mellow and his selections often veer toward easy listening without ever crossing over into tedium. As a point of musical reference, Masekela’s style recalls the cool sounds of Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Art Farmer. But he can play with real bebop fire.

Masekela is a master of the ballad and medium tempo number. He didn’t identify any of the songs he played, but the musical roots were obviously ethnically South African. He sang in an appeal raspy voice and punctuated his performance with delightful get-down jive dance steps.

About halfway through the intermissionless two-hour set, Masekela segwayed from jazz musician to entertainer. An hour into the concert he embarked on a long monologue that began as comedy and eased into a plea for prayers for the abused and underprivileged people of the world. Using body language and vocal inflection, Masekela made even the non-English verbal portions of the monologue entertaining. The man does know how to build rapport with an audience and the large Orchestra Hall crowd was solidly with him throughout the evening, even dancing in the aisles on one number. Talk about user friendly music!

        The only familiar number in the concert was the finale of the regular program, an extended treatment of “Grazing in the Grass.” The rendition ended with a curious and overlong keyboard solo that had nothing to do with the song at hand.

        Masekela’s rhythm section consisted of  Ward on guitar,  Randal Skippers on keyboards, Fana Zulu on bass, Francis Fuster on percussion, and Lee-Roy Sauls on drums. They are all from South Africa except for Fuster, who is from Sierra Leone. Each musician is steeped in the South African music tradition and they are all in wonderful sync with the leader (Fuster has been with Masekela for 28 years and Zulu for 10 years).

         If there was any downside to the concert, it was Masekela’s lack of commentary on his selections. Each number was unfamiliar to the average listener yet clearly had meaningful narrative or emotional content, so it would have been instructive to hear Masekela’s explanations. The man represents a fascinating musical world so why not provide some insights from the horse’s mouth, especially from a man with such raconteur skills?

     The jazz series takes a break until December 10 when it presents a challenging double bill of jazz and world music. The attractions will be violinist Regina Carter and bass player Esperanza Spalding. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.     

     Contact Dan atzeffdaniel@yahoo.com     October 2010

                           Visit Dan on Facebook

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Jazz

At Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – The 2009-2010 Jazz at Symphony Center subscription series closed Friday night at Orchestra Hall with a septet of young musicians playing a tribute to the late jazz immortal Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy would have been honored by the commemoration, though he may have been a bit perplexed by the presentation of some of the numbers associated with him.

     The concert was labeled “Things to Come: 21^st Century Dizzy.” The band, on a cross country tour, is fronted by Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez. The best known sidemen in the group are Puerto Rican tenor saxophonist David Sanchez and Brooklyn-born bassist John Patitucci. The rest of the combo consists of trumpeter Amir ElSaffar (Iraqi heritage), also saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa (India), Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Boccato, and New York City drummer Adam Cruz.

    Dizzy would have approved of the international composition of the band, being one of the forerunners in spreading the music throughout the world. Dizzy led the United Nations jazz orchestra in 1989 with a very young Danilo Perez as his pianist.

            The septet may take its texts from the bebop era, but the music ventured more into the free jazz realm of a couple of decades later. The rhythm section laid down propulsive walls of sound that often blanketed the front line horns. Sanchez, always a free spirit on the tenor sax, Mahanthappa, and ElSaffar played raucous solos and turbulent ensemble passages in which each horn man seemed to go his own way.

            The program was familiar Gillespie (“Salt Peanuts,” “Manteca,” “Kush,” etc.), though the arrangements, mostly by members of the band, tended to deconstruct each number into turbulent waves of notes. The normally lilting and swinging “Algo Bueno” was almost unrecognizable in the frenzied arrangement. And that wasn’t the only selection during the evening that flirted with controlled chaos.

                        

            There was one lyrical interlude, Perez paying homage to Hank Jones, the eminent jazz pianist who had died a few days before the concert. Perez led a moving trio version of the Thelonious Monk classic “Round Midnight.” Sanchez joined the performance with a disciplined and reflective solo that revealed a new face to his otherwise ferocious style.

     Curiously, the most successful number in the concert was a long rendition of an original work by Adam Cruz. The highlight was a trumpet solo by ElSaffar that was drenched in the melancholy strains of bullfight music. The band moved into a hard bop mode that was pure Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers before reverting to its regular turbulent manner.

            Perez was a distinctive and occasionally eloquent soloist throughout the evening and an engaging master of ceremonies. Patitucci was a major contributor with his large sound and Mahanthappa displayed a fiery Phil Woods-ish attack played at warp speed. Cruz and Boccato were relentless in their rhythmic underpinnings with an emphasis on a Latin beat.

            The audience seemed to warm up to the group as the intermissionless concert moved along, perhaps adjusting to the band’s loud and intense sound. The music may have been born with Dizzy Gillespie in the mid 20^th century, but it was speaking with a new and tumultuous voice. If that’s Dizzy in the 21^st century, then so be it.

            Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.                        May 2010

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Jazz at Symphony Center

(Redman & Cohen)

By Dan Zeff

CHICAGO—Jazz fans concerned about today’s state of the art form should have left the Symphony Center Presents Jazz concert Friday night feeling pretty good about the present and future of the music. They had just heard two excellent sets by two quartets of very talented young instrumentalists.

            The quartets were led by the Israeli clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen and saxophonist Joshua Redman. Redman, who seems like he’s been around forever, recently turned 40 and has been well known on the jazz scene since the early 1990’s. Cohen moved to the United States from Israel in 1996 and just started making her mark as a soloist and leader a couple of years ago. Both should have an artistic shelf life that takes them well into the new millennium. They are both wonderful performers and on the evidence of Friday night’s concert they both can build a superior rhythm section that acts as full partners in the music making and not just as accompanists.

         Cohen appeared in a November concert in the Symphony Center jazz series and blew everyone away with her tenor saxophone and clarinet playing. Friday night Cohen played a short set using only the clarinet. There are certainly no complaints about her clarinet playing but one number on tenor sax would have enriched the set.

            Cohen is bravely trying to reestablish the clarinet as a major voice in contemporary jazz. The instrument fell from popularity with the popularity of bebop in the 1940’s and has never completely recovered. Cohen played three extended selections that demonstrated her total command of the instrument in all registers and at all speeds. She started off with a deconstructed version of Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” and continued with the Cuban romantic ballad “Siboney.” After a brief rendition of a modern Israeli ballad she ended her set with a white-hot interpretation of the swing era classic “After You’ve Gone.”

            Cohen has a sleek sound that doesn’t quite achieve the richness of the big band masters Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw. But she yields to nobody in her dazzling technique, especially in the difficult upper register. But her style isn’t just pyrotechnics. Cohen is smooth in the middle register and warm in the lower register. She took off like a rocket in “After You’ve Gone,” playing avalanches of notes at warp speed.

            Cohen’s rhythm section was led by her longtime colleague Jason Lindner on piano Lindner soloed with a winning impressionist, sometimes introspective style. Israeli bassist Omer Avital and Miami-born drummer Obed Calvaire supported deftly and delivered tasteful and musical solos. This was a very tight trio and the entire combo deserved more than its 40 minutes of stage time.

            The Redman group took the stage after the usual excessive 25 minute intermission and performed nonstop for 80 minutes plus an encore. I say nonstop because the quartet went from one extended number to the next, omitting any introduction or commentary. The audience didn’t hear a word from the normally gregarious Redman until the end of the regular set, when he introduced his associates. All of the numbers likely were originals composed by members of the quartet, but the listeners were none the wiser. The band calls itself James Farm for reasons never disclosed.

            The audience may not have heard verbally from Redman but they heard plenty from his tenor and soprano saxophones and his associates—Aaron Parks on piano, Matt Penman on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. The group played at a magnificently high level on every piece, whether it was funky, straight ahead post bebop, or edgy modern. Redman alternated between long flowing lines and jagged bursts of notes, occasionally ending in squawks that sounded like a cry of pain  supplication. His total commitment to the music led in one number to his dropping to one knee and bowing his head as if in prayer or meditation as his compatriots soloed.

 Parks delivered one fascinating solo after another, sometimes playing with Brad Mehldau-like lyricism and other times with the density of a Keith Jarrett. Penman was all over the bass as a rhythm provider and soloist and Harland offered one groovy solo after another.    

A tenor sax-led quartet runs the brisk of monotony, especially during a long set. And performing nothing but unfamiliar originals can tax an audience’s attention span. But James Farm held the stage from first note to last, no matter what the mood and tempo of the piece and no matter who held the solo spotlight. This was jazz at a very high level, aesthetically and professionally.

            The 2009-2010 jazz series concludes April 21 with the appearance of pianist Danilo Perez leading an international septet in a celebration of the music of Dizzy Gillespie. For tickets, call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.                          April 2010

                                       Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com .

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Symphony Center Presents Jazz (2010-2011)

 

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO--The Symphony Center Presents Jazz bookers have done a handsome job of program building for the Center’s 2010/2011 jazz subscription series. The concerts at Orchestra Hall will have something for most jazz tastes—big band swing, vocal, New Orleans, gospel, and international.

        The series will be especially attractive to lovers of jazz piano and jazz trumpet, bringing in pianists Chick Corea, Marcus Roberts, Allen Toussaint, and Jason Moran, along with trumpeters Hugh Masekela, Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, and Jon Faddis.

        The 10-concert series opens on October 8 with Chick Corea leading an all-star trio with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade. The concert will mark Corea’s first appearance in the series in more than 10 years.

       On October 22, Hugh Masekela brings his trumpet and flugelhorn to Symphony Center in a program melding jazz, pop, and the music of Masekela’s native South Africa.

        On December 10, violinist Regina Carter and singer-bassist Esperanza Spalding join musical forces. Carter is probably the preeminent violin virtuoso on the contemporary jazz scene. Spalding, who appeared at last year’s Chicago Jazz Festival, is a singer and composer as well as an instrumentalist and deals in edgy modern jazz flavored with Spanish and African influences.

        On January 14, Allen Toussaint comes up from New Orleans for his Symphony Center debut, leading a group that includes Nicholas Payton and clarinetist Don Byron. The program will explore both traditional and today’s New Orleans music.

        On February 4, Wynton Marsalis will come to Chicago with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The JLCO appearances have always been among the most popular in jazz series history, so it would be prudent to get tickets early.

        On March 25, another Marsalis comes to the series,  Wynton’s brother Branford Marsalis. Branford and his soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones, will share the program with trumpeter Terence Blanchard, like Branford an arranger and composer as well as a performer.

        On April 15, Dianne Reeves will return for a follow-up visit after her stunning appearance in the current jazz series.

        On April 22, the Count Basie Orchestra will perform along with Chicago favorite Marcus Roberts and his trio. Roberts will play with the third Marsalis of the series, drummer Jason Marsalis.

        On May 20, trumpeter Jon Faddis will lead the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in a tribute to gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.

        On June 3, the series concludes with an appearance by veteran saxophonist Charles Lloyd, for years one of the elder statesmen of the freer line of jazz. For part of the evening Lloyd will perform with Indian tabla star Zakir Hussain. Lloyd will then lead a quartet featuring Jason Moran on piano.

        All concerts will be held on Fridays beginning at 8 p.m. This year’s schedule is especially user-friendly in presenting only three concerts during the winter months, thus sparing audiences additional freezing walks to Symphony Center on the lakefront.

        Three jazz concerts have been scheduled outside the subscription series. Herbie Hancock performs on August 21. Wynton Marsalis accompanies a film homage to Louis Armstrong and Charlie Chaplin on August 25, and pianist Chucho Valdes leads the Afro-Cuban Messengers on October 10.

        Subscriptions can be purchased in five- and 10-concert packages. Prices range from $204 to $746 for the complete series and $115 to $418 for the five-concert package. The subscriptions provide 33% discounts over single ticket prices. For information call 312 294 3000 or 800 223 7114, or visit www.cso.org.                                                   April 2010

                  Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com .

 

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Jazz

At Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago - The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra made one of its treasured visits to Orchestra Hall Friday night as part of the Jazz at Symphony Center series, devoting the evening to a program of original works, all connected to the theme of modern painting.

        The modern art theme was a little tenuous and many of the pieces bore no discernable aural connection to the visual character of the modern art. But that didn’t prevent the orchestra from delivering its usual superior performance, a top notch blend of ensemble musicianship and spot-on solos.

        The centerpiece of the concert was a new suite called “Portrait in Seven Shades,” composed by orchestra reed man Ted Nash. Nash’s work was preceded by a small cluster of works that included celebrations of African American painter Romare Bearden and nineteenth century American realistic artist Winslow Homer.

        The concert was primarily a showcase for the orchestra’s crisp and clean section work from the reed and brass players who collectively have produced the best big band sound in jazz for almost two decades. The solos were distributed evenly through the band, with artistic director Wynton Marsalis himself taking only two extending breaks, a gutsy plunger mute solo on “Winslow Homer” and a virtuoso turn on “Picasso” from Nash’s suite.

        The solos were fine but the ensemble playing carried the evening, tastefully supported by the rhythm section of pianist Dan Nimmer, bassist Carlos Henriquez, and drummer Ali Jackson. In his short solos, Nimmer once again demonstrated his brilliant technique and distinctive style, and once again the listener could reflect that the young man would be well worth hearing in a trio format for an entire set.

        Jackson played tastefully and musically, showing that a percussionist doesn’t require a tedious five-minute solo to make his mark in a concert. The same could be said for Henriquez with his concise solos and rock solid rhythm work.

        Nash introduced each piece in his suite, imparting personal reflections with a disarming informality that never seemed false or affected, even though he’s likely delivered the same verbal material in numerous concerts.

        The orchestra has retained its personnel over the years, the newest member, trombonist Elliot Mason, joining the group in 2007. The musicians obviously feel comfortable with each other and that relaxed feeling communicated itself to the audience, which jammed the stage and the balcony behind the musicians as well as filling the main hall itself. Marsalis’s usual witty commentary further enhanced the intimacy and accessibility of the concert.

        The best pieces of the evening were a matter of taste. I particularly liked the “Chagall” segment from Nash’s suite, with its eastern European flavor punctuated by the klezmer sound of traditional Jewish music. The “Jackson Pollock” segment captured the unpredictable energy of the artist’s abstract style with a sequence of honks and squeals climaxed by a long, pungent solo by trumpeter Ryan Kisor.

        But every musician had at least one glory moment, typified by a lyrical trumpet solo from Sean Jones on the suite’s “Van Gogh.” Unfortunately, that piece was lumbered by a vocal interlude from trombonist Vincent Gardner that was corny to the max. Fortunately, we soon heard an eloquent soprano saxophone solo by Walter Blandings that righted the artistic ship.    

        After completing Nash’s suite, the orchestra left the stage except for the rhythm section and Marsalis, who treated the audience to an encore of numerous choruses of New Orleans trumpet playing, maybe the musical highlight of the evening and a perfect end to a glowing evening.

        The Symphony Center series continues on April 9 with a visit from the eminent tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins and his quintet. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.                                         March 2010

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

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Jazz

At Symphony Center

by Dan Zeff

Chicago– It was Latin night at Friday evening’s Jazz at Symphony Center concert, offering one set of pure Latin jazz and a second set of straight ahead jazz with a Latin flavor. The Latin flavored set was pretty good but the pure jazz opener was scintillating.

        The first set belongs to a quartet led by Brazilian born Eliane Elias, who is not only one of the best pianists in jazz today but also the most glamorous. Elias made an eye popping appearance in an off the shoulder basic black dress that contrasted luminous with her long blonde hair. But once the music started it was her artistry rather than her sex appeal that blew away the audience.

    Elias presided at the pianist, providing informative and relaxed commentary on the music, which concentrated almost entirely on bossa nova compositions. She included a couple of American pop standards with Latin jazz inflections (“They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and “Tangerine”) but the set was largely given over to works by the stars of Brazilian bossa nova—Gilberto Gil, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Joao Gilberto. Yet Elias stayed away from the bossa nova standards—no “Desifindo,” “The Girl from Ipanema,” “Corcavado,” or “Morning of the Carnival.” No matter, because her program waved the bossa nova flag bravely, in both instrumental and vocal renditions.

        Elias is a classically trained pianist and it showed in her virtuosity on the keyboard. But she swings like crazy, not only in Brazilian rhythms but also in bebop and even barrelhouse modes. She is brilliant with both hands, unlike so many jazz pianists who let their right hand do the playing while the left hand adds a few chords along the way.

        Elias is also a persuasive singer. Not many of her listeners understand Portuguese but she was able to communicate the spirit of her Brazilian music even when we couldn’t understand a word she sang. Elias doesn’t have a big voice but bossa nova doesn’t encourage blast furnace vocalizing. Her firm, emotional singing suited the music perfectly. She even slipped her shoes on and moved from the piano to the center of the Orchestra Hall stage to sing a stand-up vocal accompanied by her rhythm section, suggesting Elias would have as secure place in jazz solely as a vocalist.

        Elias’s intimate style could have been diminished in the spacious Orchestra Hall venue, but she was able to shrink the auditorium into an intimate night club atmosphere through her ability to reach out to the audience like we were all a group of friends gathered to hear her play, sing, and chat. Her animated body language at the piano certified a musician who really enjoyed her music and that carried into the appreciative audience.

        Elias led an exceptionally tight quartet consisting of Rubens de La Corte on guitar, Marc Johnson (Elias’s husband) on bass, and Rafael Barata on drums. They all complemented the leader to a turn, though it would have been nice to hear more guitar solos. But the role of the three sidemen was to lay down solid rhythm accompaniment for Elias and that they did. Barata even pulled off that rarest of percussion feats, delivering an exceptionally inventive extended drum solo at the end of the set.

        It was the misfortune of Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side All-Star Band to follow Elias’s exceptionally entertaining set. Herwig leads a septet that plays Latinized versions of music associated with Miles Davis and three of his most illustrious associates, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, and Wayne Shorter. Thus we heard Latin adaptations of such numbers as “So What” and “The Sorcerer.”

   The front line consisted of Herwig on trombone, Mike Rodriguez on trumpet, and Craig Handy on tenor saxophone and flute, with Bill O’Connell on piano. They are all strong soloists with Handy particularly effective on the flute. But with one exception, all the music was performed in an up tempo hard bop style that gave the set a sameness of impact. Much of that sameness can be attributed to the “one size fits all” rhythm section of Ruben Rodriguez (electric bass), Robby Ameen (drums), and Pedro Martinez conga drums. They laid down a dense carpet of Latin rhythm sound that leveled the music’s impact to a single continuous sound. And where is it written that a conga drummer always must be allotted a long, long percussion solo? Martinez is an accomplished performer but the congas are best taken in much smaller doses.

        Herwig has recorded several albums in the last five years dedicated to Latin interpretations of Davis, Hancock, Coltrane, and Shorter. The audience could have profited from Herwig explicating a bit on the concept of the band and its choice of music. Elias explained her music with grace and informality and intelligence.

        Jazz at Symphony Center continues on March 19 with the hottest ticket of the series, the annual appearance of Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. For information call 312 294 3000 or visit  www.cso.org/jazz.                 Feb. 2010

Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com .

       

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

Chicago – The Kings of the Crescent City visited Orchestra Hall Friday night as the latest entry in the Jazz at Symphony Center jazz series, celebrating the four pillars of New Orleans jazz in the 1920’s—King Oliver, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, and Louis Armstrong.

          The Kings consist of eight musicians, a few actually from New Orleans, who began playing about two years ago under the auspices of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Half of the band has its roots in the JLCO, led by reed player Victor Goines, now the director of jazz studies and professor of music at Northwestern University. 

          The Kings performed their program in four mini sets, each dedicated to one of the four jazz greats of New Orleans. The performances were high spirited and entertaining, but there were a few nits to pick with the program selection. Still, the large and enthusiastic audience should have departed from Orchestra Hall with a renewed appreciation of the buoyancy of New Orleans jazz in its prime, as well as its technical brilliance.

          The most successful set was the opening salute to King Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band, a revolutionary ensemble in the early 1920’s that featured the young Louis Armstrong and set a new standard of creativity and musicianship in the pioneering days of jazz. Kings performances of “Chattanooga Stomp,” “Chimes Blues,” and “Snake Rag” recaptured the marvelously balanced ensemble of the Oliver band, its tight sound, and the extraordinary interplay between Oliver and Armstrong.

          The Oliver set featured the trumpet work of Marcus Printup and Freddie Hendrix, along with Goines on clarinet and Wycliffe Gordon on gutbucket trombone, ably supported by the rhythm section of Diehl on piano, Herman Burney on bass, Herlin Riley on drums, and Don Vappie on banjo and guitar. Vappie was a revelation in demonstrating how the banjo could be a viable rhythm and solo instrument in the right jazz context.

          The glitches started with the Jelly Roll Norton set. Morton was the first important jazz composer and his discography is loaded with small masterpieces. The Kings selected a couple of novelty numbers in “Sidewalk Blues” and “Hyena Blues” that had their share of good music but were tarnished by vaudeville-style comic chat and vocalizing, just like the original records. There were other Morton pieces that were more musical, though the audience got a kick out of all the comic mugging. Diehl took an idiosyncratic solo on the jazz standard “The King Porter Stomp” that exhibited the pianist’s chops but didn’t have much to do with Jelly Roll Morton.

       Sidney Bechet was one of the inimitable instrumental stylists in jazz on both the clarinet and soprano saxophone. The Kings played five selections to honor Bechet, including Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag,” an odd choice. Goines soloed on the Bechet signature tune “Petit Fleur,” selecting the clarinet instead of the more passionate-sounding soprano sax. Goines’s solo was filled with dazzling technique but went on too long and occasionally lapsed into a thin reedy sound in the upper register.

     The evening closed with the Louis Armstrong commemoration. Replicating Satchmo’s playing and singing is a daunting assignment for even the most gifted performers. Printup soloed on the classic duet “Weatherbird” with Diehl providing the Earl Hines accompaniment and while the playing was resourceful and accomplished, it suffered in comparison with the Armstrong original recording. The same could be said for Hendrix stepping into Armstrong’s musical shoes for the “West End Blues”—fine playing but for those fans who knew Armstrong’s 1928 recording note for note it didn’t quite measure up.

   The rest of the Armstrong salute concentrated on Satchmo’s later years when he was as much a showman as a jazz musician. Thus there was an extended rendition of “I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead, You Rascal You” with every member of the ensemble contributing a brief comic vocal chorus. The number was a crowd pleaser but the time could have been better devoted to the more musical Armstrong classics.

   These multiple nits do not invalidate an evening that produced much quality playing, performed with obvious affection by the Kings. Paying tribute to exceptional artists is always a dicey business. How much do you copy, and risk being found wanting in comparison with the original, and how often do you take liberties, which may distance the listener from the specifics of the subject’s work? The Kings of the Crescent City clearly struck what they feel is a proper balance, emphasizing the feel-good character of the music. The program may not have been ideal, at least in one person’s opinion, but the Friday night crowd had a great time and in this spirit the evening was a success.

         The Jazz at Orchestra Hall series continues on February 19 with an evening of Latin jazz by Brazilian pianist-singer Eliane Elias and Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side All-Stars. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.                                         January 2010

                         Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

     Chicago – About 200 years of cumulative jazz experience went on display Friday night at the Jazz at Symphony Center concert at Orchestra Hall. The venerable George Wein brought in his latest edition of the Newport All-Stars and the predictable result was a long set of easy swinging pleasures delivered by an ensemble of old pros.

        Wein has been occasionally touring with collections of mainstream jazz stars since the 1950’s. For the Friday night concert, his group was made up of a front line of Randy Sandke on trumpet, Lew Tabackin on tenor saxophone and flute, and the young Israeli-born clarinet born soprano saxophone virtuoso Anat Cohen.

        The basic rhythm section consisted of Wein on piano, Howard Alden on guitar, Jay Leonhart on bass, and Winard Harper on drums. The septet was augmented during the evening by appearances from guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli and pianist  Dick Hyman, both well into their 80’s (Wein is 84) and both playing as good as ever.

        The concert presented a well thought out program of mix-and-match groupings, starting with the basic septet, followed by unaccompanied solos, duets, trios, quartets, and even a couple of novelty vocals from Wein and Jay Leonhart. The concert drew almost exclusively from the Great American Songbook, with special attention to a large helping of Ellingtonia. The concert opened and closed with jam sessions on Duke Ellington’s “Johnny Come Lately” and “Take the ‘A’ Train” along with a Sandke-led rendition of “The Mooche.”

  

        Dick Hyman has been a top-tier jazz pianist of awesome versatility for more than 50 years and he gave the appreciative crowd a scintillating taste of his technique and invention with a wonderful solo on Fats Waller’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” as channeled through Art Tatum. He then played a dazzling fantasia on Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek” with rhythm accompaniment.

        Pizzarelli honored the inimitable style of gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt with a lyrical and swinging exploration of “Manor de mes Reves” (better known as “Django’s Castle”). Howard Alden joined him for a high velocity duet version of “Tangerine.” The big crowd pleaser of the night came from the duo of Alden and Cohen, who showed astonishing chops on the clarinet in a scorching ragtime number.

        Cohen played fine soprano sax throughout the concert, starting with the bossa nova standard “Morning of the Carnival” in partnership with Lew Tabackin on flute. Cohen looks young enough to be the granddaughter of most of the men on the stage, but she yielded to nobody in her musicianship and swing.

        In addition to serving as the master of ceremonies, Wein played some solid mainstream piano, highlighted by a lovely solo on “The Mooche.” Wein is the most important impresario in jazz history but he is also a pianist with a bottomless knowledge of the jazz repertoire. Wein, the two guitarists, Leonhart, and Harper all joined contributed in various combinations to provide faultless rhythm accompaniment. And what a relief to hear drum solos from Harper that were concise and intelligent instead of the prolonged ego trips that too often afflicted previous jazz concerts.

        All in all it was a rewarding evening of music by men and one woman who had nothing to prove, everyone relaxed and comfortable in their musical skins. Every one of the nine performers on stage clearly enjoyed their work and they listened to each other with concentration and appreciation. They may be senior citizens, Ms. Cohen excepted, but in professionalism and jazz expertise they represent the best in the jazz tradition, a generation who will be hard to replace.

        The next Jazz at Symphony Center concert will feature pianist McCoy Tyner and his trio working with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra on December 11. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.  Nov.2009

Contact Dan: zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

by Dan Zeff

         CHICAGO - Friday night’s “Jazz at Symphony Center” concert looked like a fine opportunity to check out three of the major young voices on today’s jazz scene, pianists Vijay Iyer and Jason Moran and saxophonist Chris Potter. The merits of the concert were a matter of taste, but Iyer emerged as the clear winner of a long night of very modern jazz.

          Iyer is only 36 but he’s been recording since 1996, earning considerable praise from critics if not a huge amount of recognition from the jazz public. Iyer is loaded with technique and displayed a jazz imagination that took the listener to all kinds of surprise places. His playing shuttled from dissonant to swinging, funky to lyrical, and gentle to aggressive. Iyer can begin a piece with quiet tenderness and suddenly shift gears to hard driving and explosive. He plays complex music that requires the total attention of the listener. Iyer’s music is accessible but it never coasts on jazz clichés. Like Keith Jarrett, his playing always keeps you on the edge of your seat.

         Friday night Iyer played selections from his latest CD, “Historicity,” as well as numbers that have been embedded in his repertoire for years. He has an eclectic taste in modern music, performing pieces by the hip-hop artist M.I.A. (“Galang”), Stevie Wonder (“Big Brother”), the avant garde saxophonist Julius Hemphill (“Dogon A.D.”), and the cutting edge jazz pianist Andrew Hill (“Smoke Stack”). Iyer played one standard, Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from ”West Side Story” that was a marvelous meditation on the melody, reflective and thoughtful in some choruses, swirling with well placed note in others.

         Bassist Dave Holland completed the concert with his Overtone Quartet. Holland is one of the premiere bassists in jazz as well as an important combo and big band leader. His quartet consisted of Eric Harland on drums as well as Moran and Potter. The group played in the post bop mode, with lots of long, angular solos, especially by Potter on tenor and soprano saxophones. All the selections were original compositions by members of the quartet.

          Potter was the principle soloist, playing extended solos, some stimulating and well thought out and others just frenetic cascades of notes, especially on the soprano. For spectators who prefer saxophonists in the post-Coltrane/Wayne Shorter style, Potter put on a good show. For listeners who like some swing in their solos and appreciate a musician who edits as he goes along and leaves some space for the music to breathe, Potter’s performance was often fatiguing, especially his work on the soprano.

          Unfortunately, Jason Moran didn’t get much solo space, ands what solos he took were divided between the acoustic piano and the electric piano. The electric piano robbed the musician of his distinctive sound, though all the notes were there. Moran has made some terrific records that range from atonal to James P. Johnson. Hopefully, the Jazz at Symphony Center series will bring him back for his own set so audiences can get more exposure that they received Friday night to one of the stars of the under-40 jazz scene.

          Holland soloed eloquently and tastefully, plucking a beautiful soft sound from his bass. Regrettably, drummer Harland banged and crashed through several self indulgent and overlong solos, soaking up solo space that would have been more happily allotted to Moran.

          Lovers of more traditional jazz should be well served by the next series concert on November 13 when jazz patriarch George Wein brings in a group of mainstream performers called the Newport All-Stars. The group will include guitarists Howard Alden and Bucky Pizzarelli, saxophonist Lew Tabackin, and pianist Dick Hyman.

          For tickets, call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org.   Nov. 2009

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Dianne Reeves

At Jazz at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

 

     CHICAGO—The Jazz at Symphony Center series advertised its opening concert of the 2009-2010 season as “Dianne Reeves Strings Attached.”  That evoked an image of the diva backed by a battery of saccharine violins. Instead, the strings consisted of a pair of the most accomplished electric guitar players in jazz. The guitarists and Reeves combined to convert Orchestra Hall into an intimate jazz club and their music Friday night was terrific.

     Reeves touched all the bases during her 100-minute intermissionless set—jazz, rhythm and blues, bossa nova, blues, a touch of gospel, African rhythms, and even a helping of scat singing. Guitarists Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo took turns as accompanists and soloists. They fit with Reeves like a musical glove, and what could have been a one-night “hope for the best” jam session was a beautifully selected program of adroitly arranged numbers—standards mixed with the new and the unfamiliar.

    Reeves has been singing professionally for more than 30 years (she turns 53 this Friday). She’s taken some critical hits in the past for meandering among jazz, pop, and rhythm and blues styles without establishing a clear musical identity. Friday night she demonstrated her mastery of all styles, flourishing her clear, powerful voice and impeccable diction.

     There wasn’t a weak number in the concert, but the peak came with Reeves’ moving yet swinging rendition of Thad Jones’ classic “A Child Is Born,” which flowed into a stirring unaccompanied riff on African music that set the vast Orchestra Hall audience roaring.

     Reeves acknowledges Sarah Vaughan as an inspiration and she celebrated the Devine Sarah with her encore, a lovely interpretation of “Misty” that refreshed the over-familiar standard and ended with Reeves sashaying off the stage in the perfect ending to her superb set.

     Malone and Lubambo stand high in the pecking order of jazz instrumentalists and earned slots on the subscription series on their own merits. Lubambo isn’t as well known as Malone but he has the chops, enriched by his Brazilian heritage, to swing both mightily and sensitively. The two warmed up the crowd with a fine high speed rendition of “I Remember April” before Reeves made her entrance. Lubambo had a bit more of the solo action during the evening but Malone had the instrumental show stopper of the concert with an unconventionally raucous interpretation of “We Shall Overcome” that was both rocking and tasteful.

     Reeves sang almost all her numbers seated with Malone and Lubambo flanking her on either side. Their musical connection with each other was continuous and unfailing, performing the arrangements with an ease that suggested plenty of rehearsal, but the spontaneity of the music was never compromised. This was chamber jazz of at a very level, unforced, deeply felt, and technically flawless.

     Reeves was a gracious hostess, weaving informal chat and anecdotes into the set between numbers and converting the hall into what she called her “living room.” Audiences at the Jazz at Symphony Center series have always been quick with a standing ovation, but the cheers Friday night at the end of the performance were genuine, reflecting the crowd’s appreciation and affection for the singer and her two colleagues.

     The Jazz at Symphony Center series continues at 8 p.m. October 30 with Indian pianist Vijay Iyer and his trio and the David Holland quartet featuring pianist Jason Moran and saxophonist Chris Potter. For tickets call 312 294 3000 or visit www.cso.org/jazz.      October 2009

     Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

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Feature

Jazz at Symphony Center 2009-2010 season

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—There aren’t many elder statesmen left in jazz but the Jazz at SymphonyCenter series has booked several of the most notable jazz patriarchs for its 2009-2010-subscription season.

        The series will highlight tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, arguable the last of the jazz superstars of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Rollins delivered a brilliant set in 2005 and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down as he pushes toward his eightieth birthday.

        Another series favorite who, at age 71, has reached senior citizen status is pianist McCoy Tyner, returning to perform with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. Two of the most durable elders in jazz will appear with the Newport All-Stars.  The group will be led by 83-year old George Wein, better known as a jazz impresario but a pianist who has found his way onto countless quality jazz records. On the same program will be 81-year old pianist Dick Hyman, a musician who defies pigeon holing, except that he has been one of jazz’s most consistent pianists for half a century.

        Youth will also be served during the series. Anat Cohen, an Israeli-born tenor saxophonist and composer in her 30’s, will play in a quartet led by Joshua Redman, who just turned 40 himself. Cohen has become a presence in the New York City jazz scene since arriving from Israel in 1998. Pianist Jason Moran, an established combo leader at the age of 33, will be the pianist in Dave Holland’s quartet, which also will feature 38-year old saxophonist Chris Potter. The Holland quartet will share the concert with the trio of 35-year old pianist Vijay Lyer.

        Several familiar names will appear in the Orchestra Hall series, starting with singer Dianne Reeves, who performs in the opening concert. Wynton Marsalis brings the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to the series for what happily has been an almost annual visit. Several Lincoln Center alumni will play in the Kings the Crescent City band, including reed man Victor Goines, trumpeter Marcus Printup, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and drummer Herlin Riley.

        Plenty of ethnic diversity will be spread throughout the series. In an all-Latin concert, trombonist Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side All-Star Band will play the music of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter with a Latin beat. The band will share the evening with Brazilian singer/pianist Eliane Elias, which means lots of bossa nova. Vijay Lyer will blend American jazz with the music of his native southern India. Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez leads an international group in a concert called “Things to Come: 21^st Century Dizzy,” dedicated to the music of Dizzy Gillespie. The group will also include Puerto Rican tenor saxophonist David Sanchez, Indian alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Iraqi-American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar.

        Series tickets can be ordered on the web from  www.cso.org/jazz or by calling 312 294 3000. Patrons can order the complete 10-concert series or select from one of two five-concert packages. All concerts start at 8 p.m.

        Here is the entire series lineup:

        October 16: Dianne Reeves;

        November 13: Newport All-Stars;

        December 11: MyCoy Tyner and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra;

        January 29:    Kings of the Crescent City;

        February 19:  Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side All-Star Band and Eliane Elias;

        March 19: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis;

        April 9: Sonny Rollins;

       April 23: Joshua Redman quartet with Anat Cohen;

        May 21: Things to Come: 21^st Century Dizzy.

                Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Chicago Jazz Ensemble

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—Duke Ellington’s suites have been a bone of contention among jazz critics for decades. Back when the first suites were performed, critics tended to dismiss them as unfortunate examples of a jazzman overreaching his powers of composition.

        A whiff of racial condescension hovered over the negative reaction to the early Ellington suites but today the best of them rank among the master’s finest compositions and among the finest examples of American music of the twentieth century.

        The Jazz at Symphony Center series concluded its 2008-2009 season with an appearance by the Chicago Jazz Ensemble performing two Ellington’s suites, “Black, Brown & Beige” from 1943 and “The New Orleans Suite” from 1970. The ensemble, led by trumpeter Jon Faddis, played each work as written by Ellington with the only improvisation coming from the ensemble’s stable of capable soloists.

        Any musical group faces a daunting handicap in recreating Ellington’s music. The strength and beauty of the music emerges from the sound of the Ellington orchestra. No other band, even one as skilled as the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, can replicate that sound. So the Friday night audience at Orchestra Hall had to cut Faddis and his musicians some slack. The sound of the Ellington orchestra is inimitable, but the local group certainly gave the compositions a commendable effort.

        The first half of the evening was devoted to the “New Orleans Suite.” The work has no storyline. It’s essentially a series of vignettes that try to capture the landscape and musical traditions of the city, augmented by musical portraits of four jazz performers associated with New Orleans—Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Mahalia Jackson, and early jazz bassist Wellman Braud.

        The ensemble delivered a smooth performance and the soloists were well up to the mark, especially Dan Nicholson on alto saxophone and flute, veteran Chicago trumpet player Art Hoyle, who was outstanding all night, and trombone player Tracy Kirk. The performance likely succeeded more with listeners unfamiliar with the original Ellington recording of the work, but the performance still provided pleasurable listening, especially the rhythmic opening movement, “Blues for New Orleans.”

        “Black, Brown & Beige” is the more substantial of the two suites and maybe Ellington’s crowning achievement in the extended form. Duke called it “a tone parallel to the history of the American Negro,” an indication of the work’s soaring ambition. Ellington wanted to portray the history of black Americans from their African roots through slavery and emancipation and to assimilation, with its triumphs and tragedies.

    In the Friday night performance, Ellington introduced each of the three movements through a low-fi recording of comments he made when the work first came out. It was a nice nostalgic touch but the depth and complexity of “B, B & B” demanded more cogent analysis from the Orchestras Hall stage. For example, there was no explanation that the haunting “Come Sunday” theme represented the slaves in their day of rest and prayer. Bobbi Wilsyn sang the stirring “Blues” and should have sung the “Come Sunday” portion, too, but didn’t.

    These quibbles aside, the Ensemble presentation conveyed much of the work’s majesty and emotion and drama. Tracy Kirk’s eloquent and soulful trombone solo in “Come Sunday” was a highlight of the evening and a magical moment of Ellington.

        Violinist Regina Carter was the concert’s guest star but was underused. The same was true of Faddis, who played just a couple of short solos, including a too brief rendition of the Louis Armstrong portrait in “The New Orleans Suite.”  For more information contact:www.cso.org/jazz.

                        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com             

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

 

        In 1989, 26-year old jazz pianist Marcus Roberts made his debut as a leader in three sessions gathered together and released in 1990 as “Deep in the Shed.” The six Roberts compositions were collectively called a blues suite. The album got mixed reviews but Roberts obviously considered the work significant enough to organize a commemorative tour of the work.

        The jazz at Symphony Center played host to the twentieth anniversary of “Deep in the Shed” on Friday night with Roberts leading a septet in an expanded version of the suite, which ran only 42 minutes in its album release. But even at a doubled length, it was difficult to discern any enduring qualities in “Deep in the Shed.” The suite had its moments, but it scarcely qualifies as a landmark in modern jazz.

        The original recording session brought together shifting personnel of six to eight musicians. At Orchestra Hall the ensemble consist of Roberts’s regular trio, with bassist Roland Guerin and drummer Jason Marsalis, augmented by a four-man horn section of Wess Anderson and Stephen Riley on saxophones, Ron Westray on trombone, and Marcus Printemp on trumpet.

        The concert presented the same six compositions featured on the album release, though in different order. But only “Spiritual Awakening,” inspired by Mahalia Jackson, really engaged the listener for its entirety. The piece was deeply felt and had a churchy New Orleans feeling that was both moving and swinging.

        The number called “E. Dankworth” had some hard-driving swinging interludes and every piece profited from fine solos by Roberts and Printemp, but they were separated by erratic solos from the other horn players. Overall, most of the compositions meandered to no particular musical purpose.

        Tenor saxophonist Riley played with a thin, arid sound and Westray honked and squealed on his trombone. Westray sounded much more musical in the trombone section of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.  Anderson played on five of the six compositions recorded in 1989. Normally a fierce swinging soloist, on Friday night he wandered into avant-garde territory and soloed on a soprano saxophone-like instrument with dismaying abrasive results.

        Other than “Spiritual Awakening,” the two most successful numbers of the evening opened and closed the concert. Roberts began the set with his trio playing Thelonious Monk’s “Ba-lu Bolivar ba-lues-are” that demonstrated the pianist’s superb technique and his distinctive, not to say idiosyncratic style.  The encore was an original composition with a Greek title I didn’t catch. It had an agreeably smooth West Coast ensemble sound to open and close the piece with plenty of free-for-all soloing in between.

        In the interest of fair comment, it should be reported that the audience was highly enthusiastic, though crowds for the Jazz at Symphony Center concerts are invariably a cheering throng. But I left Orchestra Hall wishing the evening had been devoted to the Marcus Roberts trio, leaving the blues suite back in its shed.  Visit www.cso.org/jazz.    

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.    May 2009

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—Brad Mehldau is the preeminent jazz pianist of his generation and his appearances at the Jazz at SymphonyCenter series are concerts to be cherished. So expectations were high Friday evening when Mehldau appeared in a trio setting for the first set and played solo piano after the intermission. The results were mesmerizing.

        Mehldau has limitless technique that never calls attention to itself. A single selection delivers a wondrous display of tempos, harmonics, rhythms, and textures. His extended rumination on “My Favorite Things” was a dazzling exploration of this Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnut, converting the tune into a mini concerto.

        For all his technique, Mehldau concentrates on the middle register. His hands rarely stray from the middle of the keyboard. One hand may create a rolling cascade of notes while the other hand crosses over to insert perfectly placed single notes. Close your eyes and you will be convinced that two pianists are performing. How could a single musician produce so much rich music with only two hands?

        Mehldau starts each selection at full tilt and the music flows on until the pianist simply stops. What would be no more than inspired noodling in a lesser pianist is coherent and melodic, allowing the listeners to lose themselves in the music. Even though most of Mehldau’s selections were unfamiliar, the audience never lost contact with the heart and soul of each piece. The large crowd was vociferous in its approval at the end of each number but silently engrossed during the performance, with nary a cough or a rustling program heard throughout Orchestra Hall.

        The opening set placed Mehldau with his long-time rhythm section of bassist Larry Grenadier and percussionist Jeff Ballard. Except for a single extended solo from each during the set, both were unobtrusive but rock solid accompanists, yet functioning like an organic trio rather than the standard rhythm plus piano. Ballard’s solo in particular was superbly musical and technically accomplished.

        But the solo portion of the concert really reached celestial heights. Mehldau’s pristine touch and remarkable flow of ideas had the stage to itself. And Mehldau was generous with his playing. The second set ended with no less than four encores, surely a record for a Jazz at Symphony Center concert. Each encore was a concise gem, from the two originals to a Cannonball Adderley piece to “Cry Me a River.”

        Mehldau’s repertoire is as extensive as his talent. There is a bit of bebop, some cool, some Bach-tinged jazz/classical selections, a dip into the great American song book of pop standards, some bossa nova, and pieces by Neil Young and Paul McCartney, Yet one had the feeling that he could take a singe song and nourish it into a full two-hour concert of endless variations. If a certain sameness of sound and tempo crept into the solo set, it was sameness of ravishing quality.

        The only quibble in this incandescent evening was Mehldau’s reticence as master of ceremonies. His liner notes for his many CDs mark him as one of jazz’s most articulate writers and the audience would have profited from more than an introduction to his trio and identification of his numbers.

        The series continues Friday night when pianist Marcus Roberts returns to Orchestra Hall to re-create his famous “Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite” composition, leading a septet that is scheduled to include Marcus Printup on trumpet, Ron Westray on trombone, and Stephen Riley and Wess Anderson on saxophones. Visit www.cso.org/jazz.   

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.       May 2009

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Jazz at Symphony Center

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—Branford Marsalis brought his quartet to the Jazz at Symphony Center series Friday night, shrinking the cavernous Orchestra Hall to the intimacy of a small jazz club with his affable presence.

        Marsalis is a jazz musician of many horns and many moods and the large and enthusiastic audience heard them all Friday night. Marsalis played the tenor, alto, and soprano saxophones, running the technical and emotional changes from edgy Coltrane-esque to a fulsome mainstream ballad. And just to demonstrate that this very contemporary jazz star knows his roots, Marsalis delivered a swinging “Honeysuckle Rose” as an encore.

        Throughout the evening, Marsalis cementing the judgment that he may be the finest soprano sax player on today’s jazz scene, Certainly I’ve never heard a performer play this notoriously balky instrument with so much assurance and such a rich fluid sound.

        Marsalis played an uninterrupted 1 hour and 45 minute set, a model of programming that allowed the spectators to leave Orchestra Hall by 10 p.m., filled to the brim with quality music embellished by the leader’s delightful commentary and anecdotes.

        The set began on a skittish note, or multitude of notes, with “Return of the Jitney Man,” a frantic number composed by Jeff “Tain” Watts. It featured a feverish tenor solo by Marsalis and a hyper solo by Joey Calderazzo, Marsalis’s long time pianist and as much a musical partner as an accompanist.

        Calderazzo contributed a pair of compositions to the set, notably a keening number that showed the pianist could operate melodically at less than full throttle. Calderazzo’s Fats Waller-style stride piano solo on “Honeysuckle Rose” proved the man is at home in swinging mainstream tempos.

        While the soprano sax was Marsalis’s star instrument of the concert, he displayed a fat tenor sound as he delved into the great American songbook for a lush rendition of “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” But the highlight of the night before the Waller encore was Calderazzo’s meditative “The Last Goodbye,” with lovely work by the composer and a liquid solo by Marsalis on soprano sax.

        The rhythm section consisted of Eric Revis on bass and Justin Faulkner on percussion. Revis played self-effacing rhythm bass until the last number of the regular set, when the rest of the quartet left the stage and he took a solo on an extended and unidentified number that progressed into a violent attack on his instrument’s strings. Revis displayed an impressive technique but his solo ran about 10 minutes, maybe 7 minutes too long for any bass solo.

        Faulkner shifted between sensitive accompanying and flash. Like Revis, he was allowed one solo showcase, in “Honeysuckle Rose,” which at least demonstrated that he can get around his drum set with maximum velocity.

        Many of the number could have been shortened by a couple of choruses, but it’s no negligible feat to hold an audience for 105 uninterrupted minutes with only a single horn player and rhythm section. The concert didn’t revolutionize jazz in our time but its variety was refreshing, the leader’s soprano sax playing a treat, and his skill as a raconteur a delight.

        On May 3, the great Brad Mehldau comes to Orchestra Hall for an evening of solo and trio piano. Visit www.cso.org/jazz.   

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com         April 2009

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Jazz at Symphony Center

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—If any jazz record label deserves a celebration, it’s Blue Note. For most of its seven-decade history Blue Note’s stable of recording artists has been a Who’s Who of modern jazz, from the funky through bebop to the avant garde.

        So it was entirely fitting and proper that the Jazz at Symphony Center series booked a concert honoring Blue Note’s seventieth anniversary. The music was performed Friday night in Orchestra Hall by the Blue Note 7, a blue ribbon septet led by pianist Bill Charlap. The concert had no particular theme, just selections from the Blue Note catalogue, all freshly arranged, mostly by members of the combo.

        The septet favored the edgier side of the Blue Note repertoire, tending toward the more experimental school of Jackie McLean and Wayne Shorter rather than the swinging, funky jazz represented by such Blue Note stalwarts as Jimmy Smith and Stanley Turrentine. But the program was always accessible and the selections clearly fit the musical personalities of the group.

        The septet presentation reflects the Blue Note leaning toward small group jazz. There is very little big band music ion the BN catalogue. The Friday night program avoided the label’s greatest hits, selecting mostly lesser know but representative pieces that honored such BN regulars as Thelonious Monk, Joe Henderson, Horace Silver, Duke Pearson, Art Blakey, Grant Green, Lee Morgan, and Wayne Shorter.

        The septet has recorded as a unit and is in the midst of a three-month cross-country tour and their work shows the tight ensemble playing that comes with extended collaboration. What could have been just another blowing session was structured into a series of concise solos, with everyone getting a piece of the action, even to taking turns at the microphone introducing the next number.

        The septet front line consists of trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, and alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, who doubled on flue on a lovely render of Bobby Hutcherson’s “Little B’s Poem.” The all-star rhythm section is made up of Charlap, bassist Peter Washington, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and drummer Louis Nash, back in Orchestra Hall for the second time this series after leading the Max Roach “We Insist!” tribute in February.

        Everyone in the group had ample solo space, the star being Charlap with his dazzling technique and a musical imagination that shifts gears melodically and harmonically in a nanosecond. The series could profitably book Charlap as a separate act and allow this supremely gifted keyboard artist an opportunity to really open up. His slashing, intensely personal solo on Monk’s “Criss Cross” was a stunner.

        Nash pleased the crowd with his supersonic slight of hand drumming, though we could have done without his scat singing on the group encore, Lee Morgan’s “Party Time.” Washington displayed a big fat tone on bass and delivered a juicy solo in the encore that still could have been a chorus shorter.

        All eight numbers provided musical highlights. Bernstein played an eloquent solo in commemoration of Grant Green in “Idle Moments.” Coltrane has become identified with the more far out style pioneered by his famous saxophone playing father, but he was in fine form with a smooth tone and well constructed solos, especially on “Mosaic,” Cedar Walton’s composition for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

        Payton has performed frequently in the jazz at Symphony Center series so we have come to expect, and relish, his limitless chops and soaring and swooping solos. The revelation may have been Steve Wilson, probably the least known horn man in the septet. Wilson was the swingingest musician on the stage and it would have been pleasurable to hear him belt out some Lou Donaldson soul, but the audience couldn’t have everything.

        The septet played for one hour and 45 minutes without an intermission, an ideal concert format that should be employed whenever possible at Orchestra Hall. Too often, interminable intermissions drag out the evening to train-missing length. Friday night the large and enthusiastic crowd left Orchestra Hall before 10 p.m., happy with what they heard and comfortable at getting home at a decent hour.    Visit www.cso.org/jazz.            March 2009

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—You can count on two certainties when the Jazz at Symphony Center series books the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The concert will attract a wildly enthusiastic overflow audience and the music will be exceptional. And so it was Friday night at Orchestra Hall.

        Music director Wynton Marsalis brought in the JLCO for an evening devoted to the compositions of Thelonious Monk. The orchestra played big band arrangements of a baker’s dozen of Monk’s works, ranging from standards like “Epistrophy” and “Blue Monk” to lesser-known pieces like “Oska T” and “Bye-ya.” Marsalis provided a running commentary on Monk’s music and life between selections, leavening the informative prepared text with his own droll asides.

        Monk’s compositions don’t translate naturally into the big band format. Throughout his career, Monk worked almost exclusively in small units—primarily solo piano, piano trio, and the classic quartet that featured tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. Monk did record a couple of large ensemble concerts, with mixed results. But generally the challenges of his angular and dissonant music have been best met in the small group format, until Marsalis and his merry band took their shots.

        Orchestra personnel provided arrangements for nearly all the evening’s selections, arrangements that were remarkable for their intricate structure and personal sound. Some of the compositions were virtually reinvented, like the down home bluesy interpretation of the elegiac “Crepuscule with Nellie.”  Listeners who find Monk’s music weird would be comforted by the beautiful rendition of “Ugly Beauty” that displayed some superb unison playing by the reed section.

        The orchestra is a great ensemble and it’s also a great collection of soloists. Marsalis made sure everyone in the band got some solo space and kept in the background for most of the concert. But he contributed a superb gutbucket plunger mute solo on “Oska T” and a dazzling turn on “Four in One.”

        Orchestra chairs were filled mostly with faces familiar from previous appearances at Orchestra Hall. The reed section was all veterans—Joe Temperley, Walter Blanding, Ted Nash, Sherman Irby, and Victor Goines. Temperley starred on a lush rendition of “Blue Monk” and Goines affirmed his status as the best clarinet player in jazz with his sustained solo on “Criss Cross.” Nash was everywhere on saxophones and flutes and also prepared some of the night’s richest arrangements.

        The trombone section had a new face in Chris Crenshaw, a strong arranger who showed superb chops on his plunger mute solo in “Ba-lue bolivar ba-lues-are.” And Crenshaw looks like he is in his early 20’s.

        The rhythm section once again starred pianist Dan Nimmer. A keyboard player has special responsibilities in a Thelonious Monk program and Nimmer reflected the Monk spirit in his solos while still performing with individuality and tremendous technique. If Nimmer ever goes out on his own, he will instantly ascend to the top tier of contemporary jazz pianists.  His work on the fiendishly difficult “Skippy” was a concert highlight, complemented by a marvelous Ted Nash soprano sax solo. The rhythm section of Carlos Enriquez on bass and Ali Jackson on drums was rock solid and soloed with invention and intelligence.

        Hopefully the JLCO will record the Monk program like the group did its programs of music by Charlie Mingus and Duke Ellington. This orchestra’s translation of Monk’s works to the big band format honor both the composer and the ensemble.  Visit www.cso.org/jazz.        March 2009

Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.

 

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Jazz at Symphony Center  Concert

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—In 1960, jazz drummer Max Roach recorded an explosive civil rights album called “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite.” The seven-movement work was an angry and defiant call for racial justice at the outset of the turbulent decade of the 1960’s. The recording has been praised as a social and cultural classic and also has had a major influence on later jazz percussion.

        The Jazz at Symphony Center series presented a reconstruction of the Suite Friday night with the same instrumentation and two members of the 1960 ensemble. A composition so topical cannot be separated from the conditions of its day and “We Insist!” is very much a reflection of its moment. Roach and his collaborators could not have imagined that less than a half century later an African American would be president of he United States. “We Insist!” still looked back to the evils of slavery and protested apartheid in South Africa.

        A revival of “We Insist!” cannot re-create the social resonance of the original recording. It speaks from another era, and for all its emotional intensity it doesn’t rouse the listener the way it must have back in the early 1960’s.

        If the album’s social impact can’t be completely recaptured, the listener can still judge the Suite on its musical merits. At Orchestra Hall Friday night the 55-minute performance was a series of peaks and valleys. The peaks arose from the amazing percussion work by Ray Mantilla, who performed on the original recording, and Neil Clarke. Their drumming summarized the styles of Afro Cuban, African, and African American percussion with an excitement and invention that shame all those endless and self-indulgent drum solos jazz fans have endured in jazz clubs and concerts over the years.

        Singer Abbey Lincoln dominated the 1960 recording. Her duet with Roach on “Triptych” was a vocal cry of anguish and rage that was hair raising in its militant ferocity. Friday night Dee Dee Bridgewater scalded the audience’s ears with her feral cries to the drumming of Louis Nash, the music director for the concert. Bridgewater also soloed on the opening “Driva’ Man,” wryly insinuating the droll, cynical lyrics by the late Oscar Brown, Jr. Bridgewater was also a forceful presence on “Freedom Day” and the concluding “Tears for Johannesburg.”

        The Friday night concert replicated the original horn front line of tenor saxophone, trumpet and trombone. The Bridgewater brothers, Ron and Cecil, took the sax and trumpet parts while Julian Priester, the other original musician from the 1960 session, repeated on trombone. The trio was confined to short scripted solos that allowed for little stretching out. The concert belonged to the singer and the percussionists. The pianoless rhythm section consisted of Nash and bassist Ira Coleman.

        The “We Insist!” revival demonstrates that with some works of art you can’t always go home again. It’s an honorable project and Clarke and Mantilla alone were worth the price of admission. Fortunately this country has progressed far enough in its race relations to reduce the Suite to an interesting artifact from an earlier and more troubled time.

        The concert opened with a set by Maggie Brown honoring the music of her father, Oscar Brown, Jr. The woman has a strong, assertive voice complimented on a couple of numbers by her sister Africa. I remember seeing Brown when he first exploded on the Chicago scene at the old Blue Note. I left the club convinced that I had just been entertained by one of the most talented men in the world. Strangely and sadly, it never quite happened for Brown, who should have reached the iconic status of a Sammy Davis. But his daughter’s tribute was heart felt and well deserved.

        Maggie was accompanied by a quintet of lute, violin, and rhythm section. The group, led by pianist Miguel de la Cerna, was tight, musical and well worth hearing on its own. Too bad it was limited to effective but unobtrusive backup for the entire set.

       Next up in the Jazz at Symphony Center series is the always anticipated visit by Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra on February 27. Visit www.cso.org/jazz.                       February  2009

Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Jazz at Symphony Center

At Orchestra Hall

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—Jazzman Benny Golson is a master of many trades—musician, bandleader, composer, and arranger. He wore all hats with distinction Friday night when he brought a sextet to the Jazz at Symphony Center concert that celebrated his eightieth birthday a few days earlier on January 25.

        Golson, looking closer to 50 than 80, led a band that reflected the instrumentation of the famous Jazztet he co-founded with trumpeter Art Farmer in 1959—tenor saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and rhythm section.

        The current Golson band is a tight group that performs a wide variety of material, all filtered through Golson’s arranging skills. Friday night the sextet played an adaptation of a Chopin piece, a number build on a theme from Verdi’s opera “La Forza del Destino” that had little jazz content but was still interesting, a bouncy piece called “Gypsy Jingle-Jangle” inspired by a theme from the 1932 “Frankenstein” movie, a swinging original called “Uptown Afterburn,” and a personal interpretation of the Thelonius Monk standard “Epistrophy.”

        The sextet consisted of Golson on tenor sax, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, and Steve Davis on trombone, with a rhythm section of Mike LeDonne on piano, Buster Williams on bass, and Carl Allen on drums.

        The Golson set was not a blowing session. The solos were short and concise, embedded in the arrangements. All six musicians had their moments, starting with Golson with his Coleman Hawkins-tinged style. The underappreciated Henderson delivered several well thought out hard bop solos, but for me the most interesting soloist of the set was pianist LeDonne, performing with an assertive swinging style that melded mainstream and bebop. The arrangements limited LeDonne or a chorus or two per selection. It would be have a pleasure to hear him stretch out for a full number.

        Throughout the set, Golson served as an urbane and witty master of ceremonies, drolly bantering about each selection. Curiously, he avoided performing any of his major jazz hits until the sextet stomped off on a rocking version of his classic “Blues March.”

        While the sextet didn’t raise the roof during its 70-minute set, it played with elegance and professionalism, allowing the audience a glimpse into the gifted musical mind of one of the patriarchs of jazz. A most successful birthday party for both the musicians and the large and enthusiastic audience.

        The Mulgrew Miller played an introductory set. Miller was full of rapturous praise for Golson, who requested that his trio open the concert. In appreciation, Miller and colleagues Ivan Taylor on bass and Rodney Green on drums honored the Golson repertoire with renditions of “Whisper Not,” “Stablemates,” and “I Remember Clifford.” Throughout the set Miller played with fluency and authority. He doesn’t have a defining style but within the hard bop tradition he is an A list performer.

        Miller was especially eloquent on the “Clifford” number that celebrated the great trumpeter whose death at the age of 26 was one of the great calamities in modern jazz history. The trio got a chance to show its individual chops on a rip roaring rendition of the Charlie Parker bebop anthem “Relaxing at Camarillo.”

        The Jazz ay Symphony Center series continues on February 13 with a reprise of the famous 1960 Max Roach recording “We Insist! Freedom Now Suite.” The concert will feature vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater backed by a front line of Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), and Billy Harper (saxophone), with drummer Lewis Nash occupying Max Roach’s chair as the anchor of the rhythm section. Singer Maggie Brown will open the concert with a tribute to her father, Oscar Brown, Jr.    Visit www.cso.org/jazz.            January 2009

Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Bossa Nova Anniversary Celebration

Jazz at Symphony Center series

By Dan Zeff

 

        CHICAGO—For those who believe that bossa nova is worth celebrating, Orchestra Hall was a good place to be Friday night. A group of Brazilian musicians and singers presented a 90-minute concert of bossa nova songs under the name of one of the iconic figures of the style, Antonio Carlos Jobim. The occasion was the 50^th anniversary of the Brazilian music style.

        Jobim, who died in 1994, composed two of the great bossa nova anthems, “The Girl from Ipanema” and “Desafinado.” The Jobim trio shared the stage with one of the super stars of bossa nova, Milton Nascimento. Separately and together they entertained the large crowd, which seemed to be having a fine times, especially if they understood and spoke Portuguese.

        The Jobim Trio, actually a quartet, consists of guitarist Paulo Jobim (Antonio’s son), pianist Daniel Jobim (Antonio’s grandson), drummer Paulo Braga, and bassist Rodrigo Villa. Nascimento expanded the group to a quintet with his guitar playing and singing.

        The show was high on musicianship and low on information. There were no announcements, at least in English, identifying the individual numbers. Most of the approximately two dozen selections came from the trio’s latest CD “Novas Bossas.” “The Girl from Ipanema” was among the numbers and possibly “Desafinado,” though it was difficult to tell. The concert opened with the trio/quartet, joined by Nascimento and his occasionally falsetto singing, which is an acquired taste.

        The evening begin with light and breezy bossa nova rhythms, turned funkier when Nascimento joined the program, and ended up in a pop vein. The intimacy of the music made the large Orchestra Hall venue a bit problematical, but a bigger problem, at least for jazz fans, was the lack of jazz content in the concert.

The musicians are stopping in Chicago as part of a national tour and one got the feeling that this was precisely the concert one could have heard on any of the stops on the tour. But the spectators who danced in the aisles and exchanged chatter in Portuguese with the performers on stage clearly were satisfied.

There were some musical highlights, many provided by Paulo Jobim’s tasteful piano solos. The rhythm section was solid and unobtrusive. Nascimento showed a broad vocal range in his expressive voice, sometimes accompanying himself on guitar and sometimes not.

        The concert included some nice production values, with the lighting color coded to match the atmosphere of the music, orange lighting for a beach at sunset and lusher pieces, pale blue for the yearning of ballads (especially the palpable yearning of “Esperanca Perdida”), and traditional stage lighting for the up tempo pieces.

        It came down to that cliche, if this is the sort of thing you like, you’ll like this sort of thing. The minimal jazz content was bothersome, and the sameness of the basic bossa nova rhythm tended to sound the music repetitive after a while.  But if you wanted to enjoy authentic bossa nova, these were the performers to hear.

        The Jazz at Symphony Center takes a long break, returning on January 30 with a concert by the Benny Golson Jazztet.   Visit www.cso.org/jazz.        Oct. 2008

        Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com .

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

     CHICAGO-Saxophonist David Sanchez and pianist Danilo Perez are two of the leading jazz artists who were born in the generation of the 1960’s. Both have played major roles in the advancement of the music into the new millennium. Each has carved out an honorable career as a musician, composer, and bandleader, and expectations were high that they would put on a strong concert Friday night at the Jazz at Symphony Center series in Orchestra Hall.

        Sanchez and his quartet and Perez and his trio delivered a pair of long and proficient sets, Perez’s set sometimes better than proficient. But I left the hall with the feeling of disappointment that comes with hearing jazz stars who for some reason struck few sparks in the mind or emotions.

        Both Sanchez and Perez are engaging personalities, affable in chatting with the large audience and eager to please. Both men played unfamiliar and largely original numbers, which may have contributed to the problem I had in engaging myself with their music. Most of the compositions were decent showcases for the leaders but rarely captured this listener’s imagination. One possible exception was Sanchez’s plaintive tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, “The Forgotten Ones.”

        Sanchez, the opening performer, concentrated on selections from his soon-to-be released CD, “Cultural Survivor.” The music allowed Sanchez to perform in his firm, Sonny Rollins-tinged style, but there wasn’t much swinging. The ensemble may have been negatively affected by the last minute addition of drummer Antonio Sanchez. The percussionist delivered several slam bang solos but possibly the lack of rehearsal time may have inhibited the rhythmic cohesiveness of the quartet.

        Sanchez featured a young Norwegian electric guitarist named Lage Lund who plays with an easy single-finger and chordal style reminiscent of Johnny Smith. But at least early in the set Lund’s sound was muddy and his instrument was never fully integrated into the group. Orlando Le Fleming provided the solid bass underpinnings.

        Perez is one of those exuberant young jazz pianists who often gets carried away by the sheer abundance of his technique. Perez can do anything he wants to on the piano, including rummaging in the instrument’s insides for odd sound effects. His trio was much tighter than the Sanchez combo, doubtless because bassist Ben Street and drummer Adam Cruz have served with Perez for several years.

        Perez’s repertoire was more heavily Latin-flavored than Sanchez’s program. The pianist often lost himself in his music, producing ruminative choruses and shifts in rhythm and harmony that highlighted his virtuoso skills. Perhaps the best number in Perez’s set was a barely recognizable deconstruction of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed.”

        At the end of the evening, Perez brought Sanchez out for the finale. The saxophonist sounded better, even though the piece they played was overlong and never caught a groove. Possibly Sanchez is better off with a piano in his rhythm section.

        This season’s series ends on June 6 with an appearance by jazz patriarch Wayne Shorter celebrating his 75^th birthday. Danilo Perez returns as the pianist in Shorter’s quartet.

For more information visit www.cso.org.  May 2008

Contact Dan: zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Jazz

at Symphony Center

2008-2009 schedule

By Dan Zeff

        CHICAGO—Some familiar faces have been signed for the 2008-2009 Jazz at Symphony Center series, along with several concept concerts. The 10-night series begins on September 26 and runs through June 5.

        The upcoming series deals exclusively with jazz over the past 50 years. There is no traditional music on the schedule and no swing, unless one counts a program of Duke Ellington music, which, of course, defies categorization. Overall, the program is a tribute to the resourcefulness of the Jazz at Symphony Center management in booking so much quality from a shrinking pool of star musicians and singers.

        For connoisseurs of this series, the two names that jump out are Wynton Marsalis and Brad Mehldau. Marsalis brings his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to Symphony Center on February 27. The orchestra’s program has not been announced but the band’s legion of fans in the area doubtless will again make the group’s appearance the toughest ticket of the series.

        Pianist Brad Mehldau has provided some of the most indelible moments in the history of the Symphony Center series. He will perform on May 1 both as a soloist and with his rhythm section of Larry Grenadier on bass and Jeff Ballard on drums.

        The first concept performance comes on October 17 with a program celebrating the 50^th year of bossa nova. The headliner will be Brazilian singer/composer Milton Nascimento accompanied by the Jobim trio, named for one of the godfathers of bossa nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim. The trio consists of Jobin’s son Paulo on guitar and his grandson Daniel on piano with Paulo Braga on drums.

        The next concept show arrives on February 13, a commemoration of the of “We Insist! Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite.” Jazz percussionist Max Roach recorded the civil rights suite in 1960, with his wife, Abbey Lincoln, as vocalist. The re-creation will feature Dee Dee Bridgewater as vocalist, along with saxophonist Billy Harper, trombonist Julian Priester, and trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater. The evening will open with a set by vocalist Maggie Brown in honor of her multi talented father Oscar Brown Jr.

        A program calling itself the Blue Note 70^th Anniversary Concert comes on March 20. A septet will survey seven decades of music recorded by the famous Blue Note record label. The biggest names in the group are trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonist Ravi Coltrane (John’s son), and pianist Bill Charlap.

        On May 8 pianist Marcus Roberts will lead a septet in re-creating his acclaimed album “Deep in the Shed: A Blues Suite” from 1990. The all-star septet will include three veterans of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra—trumpeter Marcus Printemp, trombonist Ron Westray, and saxophonist Wess Anderson, along with another member of the Marsalis musical family, drummer Jason Marsalis.

        The series closes with Jon Faddis leading the Chicago Jazz Ensemble in a performance of two Duke Ellington extended compositions, “Black, Brown, and Beige” and The New Orleans Suite.”

        The series opens with a performance by singer Cassandra Wilson. On January 30, Benny Golson will bring in still another version of his Jazztet, with a front line of Golson on saxophone, Eddie Henderson on trumpet, and Steve Davis on trombone. The group will share the evening with pianist Mulgrew Miller and his trio. On April 17, still another Marsalis will perform, saxophonist Branford Marsalis. His brilliant performance opposite saxophonist Joshua Redman was a highlight of this year’s series.

        All performances will begin at 8 p.m. at Orchestra Hall in Symphony Center, 220 South Michigan Avenue. Subscriptions are now on sale in five-concert and ten-concert packages. Tickets for single concerts go on sale on August 15. Call 1 800 223 7114 or go to the series website at www.cso.org.

Contact Dan: zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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Ahmad Jamal Concert

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

      CHICAGO—Ahmad Jamal received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd at Orchestra Hall Friday night before he even took his seat at the piano. Jamal then justified all that adulation with a scintillating opening set that showcased his distinctive style that goes back more than half a century, still sounding fresh and emotionally and technically engaged.

      Jamal calls Chicago his second home, after his birthplace of Pittsburgh. But for whatever reason the great man had never been booked for the Jazz at Symphony Center series until Friday night. The program consisted of an opening set featuring Jamal’s current trio, followed by a closing set in which he was joined by the Chicago Jazz Orchestra.

      It’s hard to believe that early in his career many jazz critics wrote Jamal off as just a cocktail pianist and entertainer. Then in the mid 1950’s Miles Davis pronounced Jamal a master and Miles’s seal of approval instigated a reevaluation with Jamal receiving his due as one of the most innovative and creative jazz pianists of his day.

      Jamal really took off on the jazz scene with his late 1950’s-early 1960’s recordings that showcased one of the tightest trios in jazz—Jamal, bassist Israel Crosby, and drummer Vernell Fournier. The current trio of Jamal, bassist James Cammack, and drummer Idris Muhammad has been together for 10 years and they all reside comfortably in each other’s musical skins. 

      Jamal’s style today is both instantly recognizable and full of surprises. He still keeps the listener enthralled and off balance with Wagnerian bursts from his left hand while his right hand delivers melodic strains of lacey delicacy, with tempos constantly and unpredictably shifting in jagged phrasing. Jamal remains one of the few two-handed pianists in jazz, a musician who declined to clone the bebop piano style of the mid 1900’s with its heavy reliance on right-handed runs while the left hand tosses in occasional accents. 

      Jamal’s style may be familiar but it has actually deepened and matured. Two measuring sticks came in the opening set when Jamal played “Poinciana” and “But Not for Me” from his famous live recordings at the Pershing Hotel on Chicago’s south side in 1958. Jamal must have played both numbers hundreds of times in the last 50 years but he approached both songs with a wonderful intensity and freshness, as though he were interpreting both tunes for the first time. Even as he approaches his 78^th birthday Jamal refuses to coast.

       Muhammad and Cammack fell in perfectly behind their leader, with Muhammad in particular driving the music with his slam-bang drumming that still managed to be rhythmic and musical without upstaging the piano. Cammack didn’t play as assertively as Crosby in the first classic Jamal combo but he was a rhythmic rock. Jamal often directed his colleagues from the piano, gesturing with one hand like a symphony orchestra conductor while sustaining his solo with the other hand.

      I wasn’t familiar with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra before the concert and I still wasn’t familiar with the group at the end of the evening. 

     The CJO, under Jeff Lindberg’s direction, consisted Friday night of 13 pieces with the Jamal trio sitting in as the rhythm section. Their set consisted primarily of a kind of three-piece suite of Jamal compositions—“The Aftermath,” “Should I?” and “The Devil’s in My Den.” Jamal dominated the performance with the orchestra mostly provided background fills. About half the CJO musicians took solos, with the best coming from a tenor saxophonist and the last trumpeter to step forward. Regrettably, none of the soloists were identified by name from the stage.

     If the concert was booked as a coming out party for the CJO for Symphony Center subscribers, it missed the mark. The listener couldn’t detect the orchestra’s musical personality from its role as Jamal’s accompanist. Maybe in a future series appearance the CJO will be allowed its own spotlight to show local audiences what it’s got. Still, the concert was all about Jamal and he emphatically validated his status as one of the premiere keyboard artists in jazz today.  Visit www.cso.org/jazz.          April 2008

Contact Dan @ zeffdaniel@yahoo.com

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New Orleans Jazz Orchestra

at Symphony Center

By Dan Zeff

          CHICAGO—The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra made a stop at the Jazz at Symphony Center series Friday night as part of its cross-country tour. If the large audience expected an evening of straw hat ands striped blazer Dixieland, with musicians recycling “When the Saints Go Marching In,” they were in for a happy surprise. The NOJO is a full-sized big band ensemble as much at home in Birdland and on 52nmd Street as at Preservation Hall or Bourbon Street.

          The NOJO, led by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, is a 16-piece unit, every musician a virtuoso. The size of the ensemble puts it in the mold of the typical modern jazz band rather than the traditional New Orleans combos that rarely exceeded nine pieces. The sections followed the format of the big band reeds-brass-rhythm breakdown, no old time banjos or tubas, though a couple of times musicians broke out a pair of tambourines.

          The concert opened with a slide show projected on a large screen that depicted the evolution of jazz amid the multi-culturalism of New Orleans. The evening ended with a much more stirring film and slide survey of New Orleans today, highlighting the heartbreaking devastation of Hurricane Katrina. In between, the orchestra stomped and swung. There were some echoes of New Orleans sounds in the music, as when Mayfield quoted “When the Saints…” during the elegiac final number “May Your Soul Rest in Peace.” But essentially this was a concert of big band music that bridged all styles, from New Orleans to the edgiest post bebop sounds.

          The orchestra personnel included only one man familiar to me, trombonist Ron Westray, a staple of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for many seasons. Whether Westray has switched ensembles or is just on loan for the NOJO tour, he is a considerable ornament to the group, dazzling the crowd with his speed-of-light technique.

          Virtually every musician contributed memorable solos. First among equals may be Evan Christopher, a member of the stellar reed section, whose clarinet solos proved that the instrument is not yet dead in jazz. It just requires a risk-taking player with the range and drive and chops of an Evan Christopher.

          Chicagoan Maurice Brown took some spectacular trumpet solos ands participated in a long trumpet chase that would have stirred admiration in the old Woody Herman and Dizzy Gillespie brass sections. Pianist Victor Adkins demonstrated that his comfort zone extended from the stride style of he 1920’s to the latest sounds.

          Mayfield played some sumptuous trumpet, displaying a warm tone, limitless technique, a sense of humor, and plenty of passion, though he could have cut down on some of the squiggles and slurs in his solos. He deferred to his colleagues for much of the evening, but it would be a pleasure to hear Mayfield in a small group where he could play on and on.

          The NOJO was established in 2002 and already has established itself as one of the major large ensembles in jazz. Ironically, its identification with New Orleans may limit its exposure because audiences may pigeonhole the group as a kind of museum caretaker of the vanished New Orleans music tradition of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and Sidney Bechet. And the NOJO might not disagree. The orchestra is clearly committed to New Orleans, past and present, at a very emotional level. The ensemble is a fine ambassador for the city and what it represents in the national psyche, but it’s an equally luminous standard bearer for the vitality of American jazz in the new millennium. Visit www.cso.org/jazz.                                                               April 2008