I am still reeling at the incredible amount of excellent jazz I’ve heard in the last several weeks. This bombardment derives from numerous fronts. First, New Orleans boasts an incredibly solid core of local musicians that includes veterans, the present generation of jazzers and up-and-comers. They make up the backbone of the scene, mixing it up with each other as well as providing support for visiting artists. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the community of modern jazz musicians in this city is at its strongest.
The impact of Alvin Batiste’s jazz program at Southern University of Baton Rouge has long been crucial in luring a host of talent to the state and keeping some our talent at home. These students, who regularly make the drive down, pump up gigs all over town. Concert series presented by the Contemporary Arts Center—“JazzAmerica”—and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation—“Jazz Journey”—bring in national and international artists that insure us against living in musical isolation.
While jazz audiences have grown from the dismal showings of the past (I remember some 20 years ago when saxophone great, the late Eddie Harris blew to an audience of about 10), our plethora of riches continues to deserve even greater support. While home entertainment abounds, there is nothing like live music to brighten a day.
Talk about enlivening one’s spirit, trumpeter Maurice Brown and saxophonist Quamon Fowler (an example of those Baton Rouge students) astounded and brought smiles of pleasure to those at Snug Harbor in mid-December. The hungry twosome, both of whom hover near the 20-year-old mark, just renamed their fiery quintet the M.Q. 20/20 so be on the lookout for the name.
Brown, who recently moved to Louisiana from Chicago, brings some of the Windy City’s edginess to his blowing as well as an appreciated looseness in style that results in a step away from the norm. The trumpeter went on the attack during an unexpected inclusion to the set, the dusty chestnut, “Sunny Side of the Street.” At the start of his solo, Brown’s striking fanfare ignited the normally swaying piece. His often-humorous interjections of quotes from standards demonstrated that this young man already possesses a substantial jazz vocabulary. The always in motion Brown, who jumps and bounces whether blowing or not, teams well with the more physically, but not musically, sedate Fowler. The saxophonist’s calm figure as he stretched out on Brown’s strong composition, “Rapture,” belied the authority he brought to his multi-layered designs. These two talents dance through ensemble work, weaving between and punctuating each other’s outpourings and have a good time doing it.
We liked that Brown and Fowler bow to New Orleans’ artists in choosing to perform and thus perpetuate material written by Batiste and Branford Marsalis. Somewhere in the middle of Batiste’s rocketing “Spy Boy,” a burner in the tradition of “Cherokee,” a smiling Brown turned to Fowler and said, “That’s fast, man.” Keeping on top of the roller coaster ride was bassist Roland Guerin who picked up his electric for the excursion, drummer Troy Davis and pianist Fred Sanders.
“They’re fuckin’ holy and we’re fuckin’ blessed,” said Snug Harbor’s George Brumet of Brown and Fowler in the midst of the daredevil sets.
AFRICAN JOURNEYS
Guerin and Davis took part in another adventurous trek, performing with South African multi-instrumentalist Zim Ngqawana and pianist Hotep Idris Gafeta at a free concert presented at the University of New Orleans by the Jazz & Heritage Foundation. “People just call me Zim,” said the visitor, explaining by way of demonstration that his last name is pronounced with a loud clicking noise. The closest one might come to describing Zim, who played tenor and soprano saxophone, flute, whistle, bicycle horn, and percussion plus vocals, is to think of Rahsaan Roland Kirk. However, instead of playing many instruments at once à la Kirk, Zim took them on one at a time in a musical medley of the spirit. Bedecked in a kente cloth dashiki, Zim walked on the stage and headed to the piano to create a beckoning by blowing his soprano sax directly into its open lid. Throughout the set, Zim put his entire being into a remarkable blend of cultural styles and tones that spoke of the universality of music and the golden thread that ties worlds and people together. The proof was in jazzmen Guerin’s and Davis’ ability to share and add to Zim’s unique and, for the most part, unfamiliar musical offerings. Gafeta, a tremendous pianist who’s a member of Zim’s band the Jazzanians, demonstrated the hypnotic beauty of the repeated phrase in an ensemble where, for a time, everyone became a percussionist.
On February 22, the Jazz Journey series continues with the arrival of vocal great Abbey Lincoln at Dillard University.
TRIO TRIUMPH
Pianist Cedar Walton wouldn’t be considered a power player in the same vein as, say, Cecil Taylor. Yet, as heard with his trio at the Contemporary Arts Center, Walton’s strength emanated from the muscular dynamics he generated that were in turn augmented by the inventive bass of long-time Walton cohort David Williams and the enthusiastic drumming of Winard Harper. At once, Walton embraced a sense of ease with some wicked intricacies on tunes like his own “N.P.S.” and the now standard, “Bolivia,” which, he explained he wrote “a few seasons [more like decades] ago.” Williams, who borrowed James Singleton’s bass for the night, mesmerized listeners with his jauntiness and complexity as he made a partner of his instrument in his tremendous rhythmic dance. His fingers moved with such speed as he strummed the bass guitar-style that visually they became a mere blur. Harper made his debut with the trio for this show and took a bit of ribbing from Walton before its onset. “We deliberately didn’t tell him nothin’,” said Walton as he jokingly challenged Harper. The drummer was definitely up to task from note one, displaying a knack for knowing just where Walton and Williams were headed and being right there with them. Harper’s also impressed with his skillful brushwork and organic tonal quality. When confronted with greatness, it is easy to recognize and those attending this show were in its presence.
BACK STREET BOYS
The Back Street Cultural Museum’s first fundraiser was a blast and financially successful too—an unbeatable combination. A crowd of all ages and from all walks of life jumped to the Tremé Brass Band at the St. Augustine Church hall, a venue that we delighted in discovering offered fine acoustics. The neighborhood was well-represented with Kermit Ruffins (who lives just down the street) and the Barbecue Swingers strutting their stuff and providing back-up for guest artists like pianist Davell Crawford and vocalist John Boutté and more. Highlighting Ruffins’ set was some mighty blowin’ by saxophonist Elliot “Stackman” Callier—the sax really spiced up the Swingers’ sauce. The night in the Sixth Ward ended appropriately with the chants and tambourines of Big Chief Charles Taylor of the White Cloud Hunters and the Fi-Yi-Yi Mardi Gras Indians.
