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| Branford Marsalis and Kurt Elling |
Surely, for many at the sold out
Branford Marsalis Quartet’s concert featuring jazz vocalist Kurt Elling it was
the first time witnessing an encore morph into a jam session. That’s what happened
Friday evening at the fifth concert of the Paradise Jazz Series at Detroit’s
Orchestra Hall. The band put on inarguably the best show of this season. Hell,
I’d argue the best in the past five years. And the encore was damn near as good
as the concert. Marsalis and his band pianist Joey Calderazzo,
drummer Justin Faulkner and bassist Eric Revis and Elling performed music from
the acclaimed 2016 album “Upward Spiral.” The two-hour swing fest opened with “Teo”
from the quartet’s date “Four MFs Playing Tunes,” after which Marsalis introduced
Elling. Elling was of excellent voice. It
didn’t take long for Elling to go from zero to sixty. Although Elling was the draw, Calderazzo’s and Faulkner’s performance
were the most memorable. Faulkner played as if the ghosts
of the late jazz drummers Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, and Art Blakey were
having a jam session in Faulkner’s body. During his tenure with the quartet, he
has become the standout in the band.
Calderazzo was right there with him, and it was magical watching the two trade.
Honestly, when I learned of Elling joining the quartet for the “Upward Spiral”
project, I had reservations if a jazz vocalist with such a distinctly beautiful
voice would be a disruptive force with the best band in jazz. Elling, however, fits comfortably. After the band showed
out on selections such as “There A Boat Dat’s Leavin’
Soon For New York,” “Blue Gardenias,” “From One Island To Another,” “Mama Said,”
and “Blue Velvet,” the band exited the stage to a well-earned ovation. When the
audience settled down, Marsalis and Elling returned to the stage and performed
a duet. If that wasn’t enough, Revis came out after them and performed a bass
solo that would’ve made Charles Mingus envious. There’s more. The band then
played a hot version of “St James Infirmary” This is where the encore morphed
into a jam session with trumpeter Terence
Blanchard, and saxophonist Diego Rivera
joining in. At this point, people were dancing in the aisles.
