THE DETROIT JAZZ PRESERVATION CONCERT SERIES PRESENTS A TERRIFIC LONG OVERDUE TRIBUTE TO THE LATE SAXOPHONIST DONALD WALDEN

 

Saxophonist Donald Walden

Finally, after two postponements, one because of inclement weather and the other due to the Superbowl, the Detroit Jazz Preservation Concert Series tribute to the late Arts Midwest Jazz Master saxophonist Donald Walden took place Sunday evening at Schaver Music Recital Hall on the campus of Wayne State University. The hour-plus tribute organized by professor and jazz trombonist Vincent Chandler was befitting a jazz musician of Walden's achievements. Walden was a saxophonist whose musical acumen and blowing were on par with greats like Wardell Gray, Dexter Gordon, and Tina Brooks. Walden had a pristine national reputation and a big tone on tenor immediately recognizable after blowing a series of notes, but a modest discography of three tremendous recordings: "A Portrait of You, " A Monk and a Mingus Among Us," and "Focus." Chandler was the right musician to present this long overdue tribute to Walden, given Chandler was Walden's musical son of sorts. The concert opened with Walden's niece sharing with the audience how fashionable Walden was and, out of the public's eye, how kindhearted and giving he could be. The bandmates that Chandler assembled, saxophonist Jeffrey Trent, bassist Josef Deas, drummer Alex White, and pianist Roger L. Jones II, talked about Walden as a taskmaster and his musical perfectionism and how, as a mentor, he did not mince words. Deas talked about cutting classes to attend Walden's seminars while teaching at the University of Michigan. Chandler’s band never disappointed, performing seven of Walden's well-lauded compositions flawlessly. Opening the tribute concert with "Mr. Styx" from Walden's unappreciated album "A Monk and a Mingus Among Us, "moving effortlessly into "Signed: Dizzy, With Love," and then tearing the wood off the stage floor with "Soweto/Detroit," from Walden's debut album "A Portrait of You." What is worth pointing out about the band was their cohesion and ability to sound as if they had been running the streets together for years, adept at navigating each other's musical psyches. Roger L. Jones II's soloing on "Middle Passage" and "City Sister" were rendered so dreamingly; chances are you awoke thinking about them in the middle of the night. And the rising tenor saxophonist Jeffery Trent unknowingly channeled Walden's ghost while soloing on "Graciella" and "This Goodbye Could Last a Long Time." For a youngster still searching for his voice and place within the music, Trent has a creamy rich texture to his blowing, and it is apparent that he has spent considerable time listening to his tenor sax ancestors. If there was anything remotely disappointing about the tribute it was Chandler not including Walden's version of Thelonious Monk's "Ruby My Dear,” which was always an example of Walden at the apex of his crafmanship, and my favorite Walden composition, "A Portrait of You." Aside from those omissions, and the two postponements, Chandler put forth an outstanding tribute to a cultural giant who represented Detroit jazz with panache.