For most young men, turning 23 is a relatively low key affair, but not for trumpeter Irvin Mayfield. He’s masterminded a massive event at House of Blues on December 22nd that lives up to the title “The Irvin Mayfield Birthday Extravaganza.”
The event, a charity benefit for the Ronald McDonald House and the International House of Blues Foundation, will utilize all three performance rooms at the French Quarter venue, sprawling over ten hours. It starts, as any New Orleans party should, with a second line parade at 4 p.m. (tentatively planned to start at Virgin Megastore), led by the Rebirth Brass Band. The sponsor party kicks off at 6:30 p.m. in the House of Blues Foundation Room with a dinner cooked by a celebrity chef (rumored to be Emeril) and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra String Quartet performing music composed by Mayfield. There will also be an opportunity to bid on jazz photography by Herman Leonard and artwork by Frenchy.
Then the heavy jazz cats weigh in, with trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s group performing at 8:45 p.m. in the Parish Room, followed by the Irvin Mayfield Sextet featuring Delfeayo Marsalis and Donald Harrison. Down in the Big Room (the main performance hall), trumpeter Nicholas Payton leads his funk-fusion band Time Machine at 10:30 p.m., followed an hour later by Los Hombres Calientes (featuring Mayfield, Bill Summers and their new drummer Horacio “el Negro” Hernandez). Of course, such a conglomeration of all-star jazz talent creates the potential for interesting “sit-ins” between the four trumpet-led bands, and anyone who experienced Harrison’s inspired guest appearance with Los Hombres earlier this year relishes this possibility.
But it doesn’t end there. At 1 a.m., an hour into Mayfield’s actual birthday, he hosts a Latin dance party in the Big Room dubbed “La Noche Latina,” which celebrates the release of several Los Hombres Calientes dance remixes; meanwhile, Rebirth plays a late night after-party in the Parish Room. There’s even a celebrity MC, actor Malik Yoba from “New York Undercover,” plus a chance to bid on a 2001 Harley Davidson Roadster and the promise of live TV coverage via the local Fox station.
Obviously, this is no modest affair, and Mayfield hopes it will challenge preconceived notions about the scope and style of jazz. “Why can’t jazz be glamorous?” he queries. “It’s okay for (rap label) Cash Money to be blinging all around, but jazz musicians, we’re supposed to have humble, meek lifestyles?”
Mayfield doesn’t think so. He’s intent on expanding the boundaries of jazz and its audience, as his work in Los Hombres and other contexts attests. He also has a penchant for fine clothes, limousines, gourmet cuisine and other luxuries (“bling”); and he often displays a humorously irreverent and even cocky attitude. Of course, if this was rock or rap, such strutting behavior would be expected and even admired, but not so in jazz, and Mayfield has drawn considerable criticism.
“I strike people a lot of times the wrong way, because I’m a pretty extravagant person, and a lot of people can’t deal with that,” he says. “But that’s my vibe, that’s how I roll. And that has nothing to do with the music.
“People seem to think that, culturally, if I’m not living in the Treme and hanging out doing what Kermit (Ruffins) is doing, then I’m not as soulful and down-to-earth as Kermit. And that just isn’t the reality of it. I mean, Miles Davis was extremely extravagant, but that doesn’t mean his music doesn’t reflect the heartache and trials and tribulations of black Americans… Just because I’m living in a penthouse apartment, it doesn’t mean I can’t play the blues.”
He refutes claims that he cares less about his art than money and celebrity status, but adds that he sees such claims as largely irrelevant, since the end result–the music itself–is paramount over personal motivations. “Even if somebody was doing it for (commercial) purposes, that doesn’t mean it’s not great and that it only serves that purpose. If Miles Davis put out Kind of Blue because he wanted to make some money, that doesn’t make a difference. It’s still great music. The most important thing about music is music, not the reasons around it. That’s the irony of what people are saying, ‘Oh, look, he’s big-headed.’ What do you care, as long as you come to the show and I sound good? It hasn’t changed how I sound. That’s the only thing that should really matter.”
Regardless of his motivations, Mayfield has been busy of late composing music for the third Los Hombres recording, which will be culled from sessions in New Orleans and various countries: the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Jamaica and Cuba; with musicians from each locale sitting in as guests. Several of those sessions have already taken place, so it’s reasonable to expect a release in the spring.
This Month
On December 1st, Panamanian pianist extraordinaire Danilo Perez performs at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in the second edition of “Jazz America,” a series of four concerts curated by Terence Blanchard and coordinated by the CAC and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Perez is touring in support of his recent Verve release, Motherland, an ambitious, sweeping work incorporating unusual vocal textures and African, Caribbean and Spanish influences.
On the heels of their successful concert at Rosy’s in September honoring John Coltrane’s birthday (featuring Kidd Jordan and Sam Rivers), Spyboy Productions announced plans to promote cutting edge jazz in New Orleans on a more regular basis. To that end, they will present The Naked Orchestra on December 2nd at Le Chat Noir, a venue where they hope to produce numerous future concerts.
Drummer/bandleader/WWOZ personality Bob French is organizing a benefit for Tricia “Sista Teedy” Boutté on December 14th at Tipitina’s Uptown. Boutté–the great jazz, soul and reggae singer–has undergone several recent surgeries in her continuing battle with cancer, and her hospital bills have skyrocketed while she recuperates and cannot work. Artists already on tap for the benefit include Kermit Ruffins, John Boutté, Cyril Neville, Davell Crawford and possibly Allen Toussaint.
The fast emerging quintet Quintology continues to make waves by earning a Friday night gig at Snug Harbor on December 8th. A weekend slot at Snug Harbor is difficult to come by, especially for a young local band, so this is a strong indicator of their increasing stature on the local scene.
Brian Seeger, Quintology’s outstanding guitarist, also landed a choice Snug date on December 19th. He’ll be joined by saxophonist Ed Petersen, drummer Jason Marsalis and the impressive young guitarist Jesse Lewis for what he describes as an “ECM-ish” set, referring to the independent label known for adventurous jazz artists, most notably Keith Jarrett. “It’s the musical landscape I mostly live in, but I rarely get to perform in that mode,” says Seeger.
Seeger is also part of the Debassed reunion show at Zeitgeist on December 14th, featuring saxophonist Brent Rose, drummer Mark DiFlorio and trombonist Rick Trolsen, who curates the Thursday night concert series at Zeitgeist this month.
