REINVENTING TRANE

Mr. Coltrane, excuse me for bothering you. Will you grant me a few minutes of your time? I want to discuss “India & Africa a Tribute to John Coltrane”, the latest recording by Anthony Brown’s Asian American Orchestra. Are you familiar with Brown? If not, I’ll share with you bits of his bio. Brown is a jazz drummer. He’s a Californian, and he has a PhD in ethnomusicology from UC Berkeley. He’s collaborated with greats such as Max Roach, Cecil Taylor and Julius Hemphill. The drummer formed the Asian American Orchestra in the late 90’s and the AAO has performed the works of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk. As you can see, Brown is a smart fellow and a serious jazz musician.

This new project is the AAO’s twist on some of the music you made after you put your hard bop roots in storage and began exploring multi-cultural music. Brown recorded “India & Africa a Tribute to John Coltrane” live at Yoshis, a popular jazz club in the Bay Area. Water Baby Records released the project last month. The drummer divided the album into two suites “India Diaspora” and “Suite: Africa. The former is straight ahead jazz, and the latter is avant-garde. My only disclaimer is you have to be patient with this album because it starts slow.

Steve Oda plays the North Indian lute, and Dana Pandey wails on the North Indian drums on “Tabla-Sarod Duet”. Midway through the composition, they trade measures, and it’s really a crowd pleaser. On “Exaltation” Kenneth Nash chants while playing African percussions. Nash tries to channel your spirit. He chants your name, and breaks into a chorus of the spiritual “Amazing Grace”. Frankly, it’s a little weird. “Africa” gets my vote for the best cut on the album. Tenor saxophonist Masaru Koga plays the kind of fat licks you invented. Koga blowing seems effortless. Mr. Coltrane, “India & Africa a Tribute to John Coltrane” is a solid album. It works largely because the AAO feeds off a live appreciative audience.

SWING APPEAL

Composer and Pianist Michel Camilo

Michel, if you had denied the  audience an encore last night at Orchestra Hall in Detroit,  a riot would have erupted. Your big band had the audience that  hyped. Never in my years as a jazz journalist have I witnessed such a spectacle. You proved it is possible for a big band to swing over an hour without coming up for air.  A man seated next to me commented an audience has  to be in  shape to endure a Michel Camilo  concert.  The performance last night exceeded expectation. It would have been impossible to fail with natural born swingers such as Antonio Hart, Gary Smulyan and Conrad Herwig participation. Surely, the crowd appreciated you prefacing each composition with what inspired it.  On “Dream Light” and “On the Other Hand”, the band had a Count Basie-esque swing ethic. The  second set,  I figured you would coast by playing a few ballads, but you increased the swing, starting  with a funky Calypso composition, and then playing “Just Kidding”, blending elements of classical, ragtime, and Caribbean music. Michel, you  have the stamina of a tri-athlete. I heard the Maria Schneider Orchestra a month ago at the Detroit jazz fest. The orchestra was superb , and I wondered if any working jazz big band could rival that orchestra’s intensity. Your big band came really close.

FAMILY GATHERING

Outside my house, Cory the barber honks his car horn. A few hours ago, Snethkamp Chrysler-Jeep and Dodge delivered his new 2010 Jeep Cherokee. Cory is taking me for a spin. The passenger side window is down. The new Clayton Brothers’ album “The New Song and Dance” booms from the car stereo.
“Man, this is nice”.
“No more catching the bus for me,” Cory says pulling away from the curb as I strap on the passenger seatbelt.
“That’s a big upgrade. Cutting heads must pay well”.
“It’s been a good year,” Cory says turning onto Beaconsfield.
“The new Clayton Brother’s album is nice”.
“Yeah,” Cory says adjusting the volume.
“One of my Facebook friends raved about it.”
“You haven’t bought the album yet”?
“Not yet”.
“I’ll take the Clayton Brothers over the Marsalis’s any day,” Cory says slowing the Cherokee to a crawl. A Harper Woods’ police patrol car sneaks up, and then zooms around us.
“Is that Terell Stafford on the trumpet”?
“Yep, I believe Jeff and John made him an honorary Clayton. Check out this solo on “Battle Circle,” Cory says. He rewinds to track three. Stafford wolfs down the changes like chocolates.
“Is that John’s son, Gerald, on the keys”?
“Yep, he’s on the brink of greatness, and he’s not even 30-year-old,” Cory says.
Cory and I saw Gerald perform with Roy Hargrove’s band at the Detroit Jazz fest three years ago. Gerald shocked us. We liked his style immediately. He babies the piano and takes short solos. He’s unlike most contemporary jazz piano players, who tend to manhandle the piano.
“On this album Gerald changes styles with ease.
“On the Clayton Brother’s last album ‘Brother to Brother’, Gerald sounds like Gene Harris and Brad Melhdau, but Gerald found his voice on ‘The New Song and Dance’. He sounds more self-assured. His dad and his uncle push him. On ‘Soul Tango’ and ‘Chicago Bop Steppin’ they’re riding him like a superintendent. Gerald handles the pressure.
“Gerald and Terell are good together. Terell is a strong trumpeter”.
“He could blow the sun out of the sky”.
“John’s solo on ‘They Won’t Go When I Go’, is outrageous as though Ray Brown’s spirit guides him”.
“John is classy like Ray Brown was.”
“So do you like my new ride”?
“I was so wrapped up in ‘The New Song and Dance’ I wasn’t paying attention to how the car rides. Let me keep the Cherokee for a few days. Then I’ll be able to give you a better review. Deal”?
“I would loan you one of my kidneys before I’d loan you my new car,” Cory says.
“How about loaning me ‘The New Song and Dance” album instead?
“I’d give away the other Kidney before I’d let go of this album.”

JOURNEY ON

Big George, the new barber at 100% Barber Shop, tapes a sign on the wall behind his workstation that reads: Free Haircuts Tomorrow. I chuckled, and sit next to a customer reading Michael Rosenberg’s sports column in the Detroit Free Press. Dexter adjusts the blade on his clippers. Dane and Marcus play dominoes on the end table near the big framed window that offers a clear view of Plymouth Road. Cory the barber listens to his iPod sweeping up hair. I am twenty minutes or so early for my bi-weekly appointment. Dane says, KB. my barber went to Lee’s Beauty Supply. When Cory notices me, he props the broom and dustpan against his barber’s chair. Then he removes the white earphones, and asks if I’ve heard the new Cyrus Chestnut album “Journeys”. He gives me the cd case.
“I listened to it last night.” I return the cd case.
Cory shuts off the iPod, wraps the white earphone wire around it, and stuffs it in the breast pocket of his smock.
“It’s the best album Cyrus has put out in a while. Lately, his recordings have been hit or miss, Cory says.
“I’ve been a big fan of his music since hearing Linda Yohn of WEMU play ‘Revelation’ on her program Morning Jazz.”
“Cyrus made one great record after another, but when Atlantic Records closed their jazz division, he kind of regressed.
“He made a few great albums after the company downsized him. ‘Soul Food’ was one of his best,” Cory reminds me.
“I wore out two copies of that record. A lot of my favorite players were on that album James Carter, Christian McBride, Marcus Printup, and Gary Bartz made a cameo appearance.”
“To me, Cyrus’ best work is his trio recordings ‘Revelation’ and ‘Dark Before the Dawn’. ‘Journeys’ is in the same league.
“He’s at the stage now where he’s a storyteller. This album sounds very personal.
Cory mentions Cyrus composed all ten tunes.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for his amazing compositions”.
“When he soloed on ‘Little Jon’, I thought he had three extra fingers per hand the way he ran those notes together.”
“Cyrus played in Betty Carter’s band. She encouraged her band-mates to write,” Cory notes.
He recounts an incident Cyrus had with Carter when the pianist joined her band. One night, the band performed Miles Davis’ arrangement of “If I Were a Bell”. Cyrus played the arrangement note for note. After the concert, Carter summoned Cyrus to her dressing room and lit into him, reminding him that she didn’t bring him on board to play standards the same way they were played 40 years ago.
“Be bop Betty was tough. She raised a lot of great musicians.”
“Cyrus is a democratic bandleader. Dezron and Neal had an equally stake in the album,” Cory says. “It’s rare to find a trio album where the sidemen aren’t subservient”.
“I don’t have a favorite track on this album. He carefully designed each track. So many albums are unfocused, and you really can’t get into a groove. I didn’t have that problem with ‘Journeys’. I never wanted to turn it off.”
“Cyrus is a craftsman,” Cory says.
Cory glances at his watch. He realizes it’s time to pick up his daughter, Be bop, from school. My barber, KB, walks into the shop carrying to bags filled with supplies. Cory slips off his smock. He puts on a denim jacket. He fishes his car keys from his pants pocket, and rushes out the shop.

WINDY CITY COOL

I invited you to my blog because I want to introduce you to my readers. Milton, make yourself comfortable. There’s plenty to eat and drink so help yourself. Most of my reader’s arrived early, and I played them “’Round Midnight”, and “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, two songs on your forthcoming album "Things to Come". Everybody loved your take of those songs, and was anxious to hear the other tracks. Before I play the entire recording, I want to delve into your background if that’s okay with you.Milton Suggs is 27-year-old, and a native of Chicago. He's a baritone in the tradition of Joe Williams. Suggs’ dad was a popular musician around Chicago. Suggs started out on the drums. Then he switched to piano, studying with pianist Willie Pickens. Suggs attended DePaul University. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis encouraged Suggs to take his singing career seriously after hearing Suggs perform. In 2008, while a graduate student at DePaul, Suggs won Down Beat magazine’s Outstanding Vocal Performance Award. On Suggs’ first recording, “Just Like Me”, he tackled some Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn oldies. Now that my readers are up to speed, I want to comment on “Things to Come, which hit the streets Tuesday.The album is perfect. Thelonious Monk would've enjoyed your version of 'Round Midnight'. You turned the spirituals "We Shall Overcome" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing"  into the blues. Your phrasing on "JL's Blues (Every Night and Every Day)" is akin to the great Kevin Mahogany. "'Cuz I'm in Love with You" is the best song on the album. It has the sincerity and raw emotion that fuels great love songs. I have a prediction: “Things to Come” will catapult your career.

SWING MADE EASY

Tenor Saxophonist Ernie KrivdaI’m in hot water again. Ernie, I promised my wife money to have her hair styled this weekend. I’m a little short, and you're partly the blame. I caught part one of your album release party at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café’ Wednesday night. Some of the money I promised my wife I spent on your new recording “Ernie Krivda and the Detroit Jazz Connection Live at the Dirty Dog”. Last year,I heard the tail end of your set at the Detroit International Jazz Festival. I wanted to experience your Detroit Connection band at a smaller venue, so the Dirty Dog was perfect.

The turnout for a weeknight surprised me. I set at the bar next to a jerk. He was tipsy and he yapped the entire time the band played “The End of a Love Affair”. He obviously ignored the sign posted at the bar, asking customers to keep quiet during the performance. The jerk finally shut up when pianist Claude Black soloed. Black has been around forever. He’s still sharp, and has the longest fingers I’ve never seen. Smoke issued from the piano keys after his soloing on “Blues by Any Other Name” and Sonny Rollins’ ditty “St. Thomas”.

Drummer Renell Gonsalves and bassist Dan Kolton are reliable role-players. Both put in some overtime setting up your cadenzas on “All the Things Your Are” and “You Stepped Out of a Dream”. The crowd was lively, especially the little girl who hung out with her parents. Did you see her? She held a small stuffed animal, and danced off key but enthusiastically. Her folks were there for the chow. It’s a shame they left before the set concluded because obviously she wanted to hear the entire performance. .

To borrow Dale Turner’s expression--the troubled character saxophonist Dexter Gordon portrayed in the movie “’Round Midnight”-- you played sweetly. Your manner was engaging. You looked animated. For instance, when you soloed on a medium tempo number, you leaned forward and poured the music out your horn. On up-tempo tunes, you wrestled with the sax as if it wanted to jump out your hands. When your sidemen had their moments, you closed your eyes. You, swayed back and forth as though you felt every note they culled from their instruments. Like the great tenor saxophonists Ike Quebec, Jimmy Forrest, and Arnett Cobb, you know how to work ballads. Overall, your band made swinging look easy. Ernie, maybe my wife will read my comments and forgive me for spending a portion of the cash I promised her.

CELEBRATING BBQ

Tenor saxophonist Ernie Krivda performs four nights at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café. I called Cory the barber to ask if he wants to catch the 8:30 set Saturday night. Be bop, Cory’s 11-year-old daughter, answers his cellular phone. Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson’s, new album “The Gates BBQ Suite” plays in the background. Be bop tells me that her dad is showering. I tell her to give him the message about the Krivda performance.
“Uncle Chuck, you don’t want to talk to me,” Be Bop asks. Her real name is Inez. A famous jazz drummer, who she met recently nicknamed her Be bop, and she demands everybody calls her that. Inez loved the nickname so much she asked her parents if she could legally change it to Be bop.
“Don’t you have homework, and where is that horrible noise coming from.” Be Bop says her dad sings while showering.
“He sounds like a wounded animal,” Be bop jokes.
“Have the neighbors complained”?
“Uncle Chuck. Dad is a pretty good songwriter, but he has a really bad voice. I would rather listen to my English teacher drag or fingernails down her blackboard than listen to my dad sing,” Be bop says.
Be bop has an open relationship with Cory. She makes fun of him constantly. The ribbing never bothers him. Be bop inherited her mom’s sense of humor. I always enjoy talking to Be bop. For an 11-year-old, she is mature and a good conversationalists. We talk mostly about jazz. She knows the music like a mechanic knows a transmission.
“Is that Bobby Watson’s knew album playing”?
“Yeah, dad bought it a few days ago.”
“Do you like it”?
“Not really. It’s supposed to be a suite dedicated to his favorite hometown Barbeque joint. I'm surprised dad bought it. Dad is a vegetarian. I think it’s odd he would pay good money for a record about Barbeque,”
“Uncle Chuck, the album doesn’t have any soul. You would think music about a soul-food staple would have a lot of soul,” Be bop points out.”
“That’s a good point. Do you have any other albums by Watson?
“Dad have jams Bobby Watson performed on with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messenger’s and most of Watson’s Horizon albums.”
I listened to ‘The Gates BBQ Suite’ a few times, and I was unimpressed, so I understand Be bop feelings about the album.
“It’s really hard now to get into a big band record after listening to the Maria Schneider Orchestra at the Detroit jazz fest,” Be bop admits.
“Maria’s orchestra was amazing. I was reminiscing about that performance yesterday. Maybe, in fairness to Watson, you should take another stab at ‘The Gates BBQ Suite a few months from now after the residue from Maria’s orchestra has worn off.
“I don’t think that will change my opinion,” Be bop says.
“Give it a shot anyway.”
“How do you feel about the record”?
“I’ve heard high school big bands that sound more polished.
“Uncle Chuck that’s mean.”
“The album, in part, was a showcase for the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance Concert Jazz Orchestra. The album didn’t sound like a suite at all.
Be bops asks me to hold on. I hear Be Bop talking to her dad. She informs me her dad is free Saturday evening, and he finds it hard to believe I dislike Bobby Watson’s new record.