When most people think of summer camp, visions of tree-lined trails leading to sparkling lakes, bonfires and pup tents come to mind. But for young, serious-minded, passionate musicians such as 16-year-old drummer Jason Marsalis and 15-year-old trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, summer camp means diving not into a mountain lake but a sea of music.
Jason, the youngest Marsalis brother, will be heading to Greensboro, North Carolina to spend six weeks at the Eastern Music Festival. Interestingly, while at the camp, Marsalis will be concentrating on classical music and fundamentals rather than on jazz.
“Hey, I’ve played jazz for ten years. I’m not too familiar with classical music,” explains Marsalis, whose experience includes leading his own group, playing in the rhythm section with father Ellis as well as recording with his trombonist brother, Delfeayo. At Eastern, Marsalis looks forward to playing a lot of classical music and setting the trap aside to practice other percussion instruments such as tympani, marimba and keyboards.
In the fall, Marsalis will enter the eleventh grade at McMain High School, plus return to the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) and, of course, the jazz scene. He says he’ll also keep practicing and studying classical composers, especially the “Big Four”—Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Hayden.
It’s westward-ho for trumpeter (and sometimes piano player) Irvin Mayfield, who will spend four weeks at the Aspen Colorado Music Festival. (Neither he nor I know why these “camps” are called “festivals.”)While there, Mayfield will take some “overall music classes” as well as study improvisation, theory and technique.
Mayfield is a NOCCA and John F. Kennedy High School student who has been playing trumpet for seven years and piano for three. He has been heard professionally with the Jason Marsalis Quintet and recently founded the Black Jack Jazz Band, which we hope to hear soon.
“It’s good for every student to get out and explore new environments”, says Mayfield of his decision to go away to music camp. “Everything is not New Orleans.” He is looking forward to an extension of the atmosphere which he found enriching at NOCCA. “At NOCCA, students push each other—that’s why it’s so good. I want to meet up with the competition, get my feet wet a little.”
On the Record…Odd that guitarist and Baton Rouge resident Mark Whitfield’s third release on Warner Brothers should be self-titled; that is usually used for debuts. But then, this is a rather odd album. Styles range from the guitarist/composer with his very compatible trio (plus some killer piano from Marc Carey on one cut) swinging with brilliance and imagination, to an acoustic Whitfield, and then urban contemporary—with programming, to boot. Hey, I have nothing against making money, but it’s disconcerting to hear the commercial, radio-ready “Sweet, Sweet Love,” written and sung by Chris Walker, who is also on keyboards and (more) programming, in the middle of some excellent Whitfield jazz compositions such as “The Joy of Love & Peace” and “Salvation of MRT.” Whose album is this, anyway? Two separate discs might have been the ticket.
Anyone greedy for some full-on blowing from Branford Marsalis can appease his or her appetite with the saxophonist’s latest delicious offering, Bloomington. It’s a trio date (without Pianist Kenny Kirkland, a Quartet regular) recorded live in concert at Indiana University in Bloomington. And it burns.
The smaller format gives Branford’s horns (tenor and soprano) room for creative explorations that lead him into territory we haven’t heard him investigate so thoroughly before, even on his brilliant The Beautyful
Saxophonist/UNO professor Victor Goines returns to his Sunday spot on Snug Harbor’s music schedule. Goines was out of town, traveling with the Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Vocalist Sharon Martin, most often heard with guitarist Carl LeBlanc (who’s out with Fats Domino this month) is acting as coordinator and hostess of Sunday evening’s “You Drop in Jam” at Charlie B’s, 7 to 11 p.m. Martin will be introducing and interviewing featured artists, who will then perform; later, the set will be open to those interested in sitting in with the group. On July 4, the “You Drop in Jam” brings in vocalist/tuba player Big Al Carson & Rare Connexion. Martin herself will headline on July 11, backed by the New Orleans Knights, which includes Thaddeus Richard, Charles Moore, Julius Handy and Tony Dillon.
“Happiness always goes somewhere, happiness is contagious, happiness is a foundation, hold onto the impression of happiness,” said avant-garde pianist/bandleader/composer/arranger Sun Ra during a 1989 interview, when the Prime Minister of Saturn visited New Orleans. Sun Ra (born Herman Blount) “left the planet” May 30, 1993 at an age believed to be 80. Before doing so, he spread the joy that he spoke of to a world of beloved fans.
The 1989 appearance of Sun Ra at Jazz Fest was his last performance in New Orleans. At the time, he also held a workshop with his Intergalactic Arkestra at the Marie C. Couvent Elementary School. An admirer of animator Walt Disney—”Innovators have a hard time, it’s a miracle what he did”—Sun Ra and Arkestra, which included New Orleanian guitarist Carl LeBlanc and now-local resident trumpeter Michael Ray, delighted the wide-eyed youngsters with their own special versions of Disney classics “Whistle While You Work” and “Zippidee Do Dah.” At the Fair Grounds in ’89, Sun Ra, one of the masters of electronic keyboards, played mostly acoustic and, with flowing robes blowing in the breeze, went to center mic to sing a wonderful “I Dream Too Much Alone.”
Another not-to-be-forgotten Sun Ra performance was an earlier Jazz Fest show onboard the Riverboat President. At concert’s end, the crowd, encouraged by Sun Ra and the band, snaked off the boat singing “We travel the spaceways, from planet to planet…”
The Arkestra—many of its members performed at this year’s Jazz Festival with “Michael Ray’s Tribute to Sun Ra”—will continue to perform the master’s work and carry on his spirit as “The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of John Gilmore featuring Michael Ray.”
Thus, the power of Sun Ra’s cosmic leadership will prevail and the “contagious” happiness within his compositions and many recordings will remain available to all that seek it.
