BASSIST BEN WILLIAMS TERRIFIC CONCERT IS THE PERFECT ENDING TO THE CARR CENTER'S THREE-PART TRIBUTE TO BASSIST RODNEY WHITAKER

 

Bassist Ben Williams

Near the end of bassist Ben Williams's Saturday evening performance at the Carr Center, he performed a brilliant duet with mentor Rodney Whitaker on Oscar Pettiford's "Blues in the Closet." Whitaker jokingly thanked Williams for going easy on him. Then, immediately after the audience's laughter subsided, Whitaker praised his protégé, pointing out Williams was his greatest student. He devoured six years of music in two years, adding that he loved Williams and was proud of the musician and human being he'd become. There are so many reasons to praise Williams. He graduated from Michigan State University in 2007, earned a master’s from Julliard two years later, won the 2009 Thelonious Monk International Bass Competition, and signed with Concord Records. Williams performed a flawless set to honor Whitaker with his band pianist Marc Carey, guitarist Brad Allen Williams, drummer Jharis Yoley, and saxophonist Jaleel Shaw. The 90-minute set closed the Carr Center's three-part tribute to Whitaker billed as "Rodney Whitaker: The Man/The Mentor/ The Music." The other concerts featured Whitaker's former students, bassists Endea Owens and Brandon Rose. Williams opened with a funk-infused arrangement of trumpeter Woody Shaw's "Moontrane" and ended the concert with Bob Dylan's somber "Death of Emmett Till." In between, Williams's group performed his original compositions, several from his 2020 album "I Am A Man." Williams didn't say how long this group has existed. However, it's perfectly seasoned with one giant heartbeat. All the members contributed sturdy solos, notably Jaleel Shaw on "Strength & Beauty" and "Dawn of a New Day," blowing so forcefully that he chipped the paint on the walls. On "If You Hear Me" and "Promise Land," William proved his competency as a singer. The entire concert, I was awed at how Williams walked the bass until his feet were aching and how similar his and Whitaker's leadership philosophies are. Like Whitaker, Williams doesn't believe a jazz bassist's sole function is to linger in the cut, keeping time.

SAXOPHONIST LAKECIA BENJAMIN STEALS THE SHOW AT THE MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL ON TOUR LAST CONCERT

 

Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Christian Sands, Lakecia Benjamin, Clarence Penn

The current iteration of the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour band is pianist Christian Sands, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, drummer Clarence Penn, vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling, and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin. The all-star sextet show Sunday night at Detroit's Orchestra Hall was the last concert of their 20-city tour and the closer for the 2022-2023 Paradise Jazz Series. Thanks mainly to Benjamin, the 90-minute set was the best I've attended in recent years. Recently, Benjamin was the subject of a DownBeat magazine cover story and a lengthy New York Times feature detailing her setbacks, resolve, and hard-earned rise to fame. Last evening, I honestly didn't believe Benjamin intended to steal the show. But that's what she did on her original "Trane," a nod to John Coltrane from Benjamin's well-received fourth album "Phoenix." Before she played the composition, she cautioned the audience to buckle their seatbelts. She was right in issuing that warning because her blowing caused a lot of turbulence. Witnessing her running up and down the changes like her feet were on fire, I wondered if the NEA Jazz Master Kenny Garrett had cast the biggest shadow over her playing. The latitude she swings at is akin to Garrett's during his finest years. I'm not bullshitting when I report the audience had blessed her with two ovations before she stopped soloing. I felt like I was at a religious revival with Benjamin's alto sax doing all the preaching. After the audience regained its composure, Benjamin left the stage. And the rhythm section lowered the temperature with Sands's arrangement of Dave Brubeck's "Strange Meadow Lark, "which was Sands's turn in the spotlight. He delivered the mellowest and loveliest moment of the concert. Overall, the set was high energy, especially when Elling and Bridgewater performed. Two of the best jazz vocalists, singing beautifully and horsing around. The unnecessarily long and loud scatting annoyed the shit out of me, but the rest of the audience lapped it up. I had gotten my money's worth early on, witnessing Benjamin's musicality and showmanship. Elling was right when he proclaimed she's the future of jazz.

CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT WINS OVER THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY'S AUDIENCE WITH AN ECLECTIC SETLIST & HER VOICE

 

Vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant

The three-time Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant embodies a distinctive stage presence that quickly draws you in and captivates you from the start of her performance to the encore. At her University Musical Society concert Friday evening at Hill Auditorium, her presence was powerful, and her voice bedazzling. She could've easily pulled off the 90-minute concert solo. Still, a phenomenal supporting cast, drummer Keita Ogawa, guitarist Marvin Sewell, flutist Alexa Tarantino, bassist Emma Dayhuff, and pianist Sullivan Fortner accompanied her. Salvant offered an eclectic setlist comprised of originals from her current album "Melusine" and favorites from the late German composer Kurt Weill. Although the set wasn't theme-driven, listening to Salvant sing "Thunder Cloud," "Reason to Believe," and the kinetic and sometimes joyful exchange with her bandmates on "Is This How Men Live" and "I Got Life" from the musical "Hair" was an utter joy. It's worth noting Salvant and Fortner have a soulmate type of camaraderie apparent throughout the concert. Their musical psyches are conjoined, and with Fortner steering the band, Salvant seems more playful and freer. At various moments during the set, she sang near the edge of the stage, her voice blanketing the audience like snowflakes. And when she sang a love song, the audience was so quiet and focused you could hear an ant crying. There're many high moments, such as Salvant's duet with Sewell and Dayhuff's only solo, where she moonwalked the bass, but the encore was the most memorable. Salvant sang while holding a bouquet presented to her by an audience member, and each musician offered the audience crisp improvised solos as parting gifts.