THE MULTI-FACETED JAZZ PIANIST MIKE MALIS PREMIERS THREE AMBITIOUS PROJECTS AT THE DIA FRIDAY CONCERT SERIES

Pianist Mike Malis

The Detroit jazz community has so many uniquely gifted musicians. So, I have to think long and hard when asked who's my favorite drummer, bassist, or horn player. However, I proclaim Mike Malis, my number one pianist, without pause when asked to pick my fave pianist. Malis is an alumnus of the University of Michigan. There he studied with the late Geri Allen. After hearing him perform with the vocalist Milton Suggs many years ago, I became fond of Malis's playing. Over the years, my fondness for him has grown. I witnessed him co-lead the duo Balance with saxophonist Marcus Elliot (recently featured in Jazz Times magazine) and tackle challenging works by greats such as Andrew Hill and Ornette Coleman. At the Detroit Institute of Arts Friday evening, Malis premiered his most ambitious project yet with the chamber ensemble Virago violinist Meg Rohrer, cellist Wesley Hornpetrie, saxophonist BethAnne Kunert, and vibraphonist Sofia Carbonara. All possess fierce improvisational skills. Malis packed a lot of arresting music into the 90-minute concert, starting with four movements from his suite Imperfect Intervals. Then performing Hold Tightly Your Vision of How Things Could Be and ending with music from his new recording, From Darkness We Awaken. During this leg of the concert, the Virago members were in stride with each other like a championship relay team. Malis treated the audience to three different concerts, each equally moving. For weeks to come, I'll think about Malis giving his all on Hold Tightly Your Vision of How Things Could Be. Honestly, I've never been a friend of solo piano because it's like watching a pianist practice. However, I was taken by Malis's range, depth, and beauty. Midway through the solo, I wondered if he'd invested time dissecting late pianist Jaki Byard's gift. Like Byard, Malis can play many styles simultaneously. So much music in a single concert could've overwhelmed an audience unwinding after a taxing work week. However, Malis is a self-assured leader, and he made such an ambitious undertaking look effortless.

 

JAZZ BASSIST MARION HAYDEN'S ETERNAL SPIRIT: THE MUSIC OF ALICE COLTRANE EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS AT THE 30th ANNUAL CONCERT OF COLORS

 

Bassist Marion Hayden

I'm not a jazz musician, but if I were one and had the money to assemble a fantasy jazz ensemble, my first hire would be jazz bassist Marion Hayden. Hayden has been a force in Detroit since her teen years, schooled by Detroit jazz greats Kenn Cox, Wendell Harrison, and Marcus Belgrave. These days, Hayden is Detroit's reigning jazz Goddess and one of the best and busiest jazz bassists working. Some of her more memorable outings have been the special projects she's produced over the years, her all-bass ensemble "Bassment," her Detroit Legacy Ensemble, dedicated to keeping alive the music of late Detroit jazz masters such as Roy Brooks, Donald Walden, and Teddy Harris Jr. If Hayden is at the helm of a project, you can bank on the project being extraordinary. Her excellence as a bassist and bandleader were again available for public consumption Saturday evening during a presentation of Alice Coltrane's compositions at the 30^th Annual Concert of Colors. The hour-plus performance was at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Hayden's ensemble—Tariq Gardner, Vincent Bowen, Dave Sharp, Michael Malis, and Mahindi Masai—plunged headfirst into Coltrane's EI Cobayo, El Daoud, Turiya Ramakrishna, and the Blue Nile. Hayden's ensemble also performed harpist Brandee Younger's In Love and Struggle. Younger was a special guest, and Coltrane's spirit appeared to be guiding Younger's hands during her solos. The concert exceeded the lofty expectations I bet many attendees had. Coltrane was a complete jazz pianist and harpist, and her music was more esoteric and spiritually oriented than swing driven. So, Hayden's ensemble taking on Coltrane's work had to be daunting. Still, their handling of it was pleasing and uplifting, rich with captivating moments. Hayden is a leader who likes to share the ball. Younger was the marquee player, but drummer Tariq Gardner—Hayden's son—solos were scene-stealers. Gardner's playing was exuberant and tasteful, and he possessed a command of the drums akin to jazz drummers Djallo DJakate and the late Roy Brooks. As expected, Hayden played brilliantly throughout the concert, engaging in a lovely exchange of virtuosity with pianist Michael Malis near the concert's end. The near-capacity audience was enthusiastic the entire set and damn near pleaded for an encore after the last selection. Had Hayden's ensemble not obliged, I'm sure a riot would've erupted. The performance was that moving.

VIOLINIST LESLIE DESHAZOR ENTHRALLS THE AUDIENCE AT HER DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ DEBUT

Leslie DeShazor

It's a crying shame that violinist Leslie DeShazor doesn't have a permanent residency at a popular jazz club in Detroit. She's an extraordinary performer with diverse musical chops, able to play classical, jazz, smooth jazz, and R&B with equal aplomb. And she's been a Godsend to the many groups she's performed with over the years. If you've heard her with vocalist Naima Shamborguer's project Sister Strings and on the frontline with the group Musique Noire, you know my praise has merit. As we speak, DeShazor is building a name as a bandleader. Thursday evening at Detroit's Dirty Dog Jazz Café—her debut there as a bandleader—she performed choice gems from her impeccable debut recording Journey With Me. In her band were keyboardist Demetrius Nabors, drummer Nate Winn, and guitarists Damon Warmack and Sasha Kashperko. DeShazor's music was a departure from the straight-ahead acoustic jazz you'd usually get at the Dirty Dog, but the near-capacity audience was enthralled with her music. A key part of her appeal was her leadership style. She was comfortable explaining the impetus behind each original composition the band played, and she never micro-managed the band. She gave Winn, Warmack, Kashperko, and Nabors equal portions of the spotlight. That bothered me some. DeShazor is such a complete and dynamic musician. I wanted her to solo more. But when she soloed, she had the audience transfixed. The Dirty Dog's bartender, Carl—who has a critic's passion and understanding of jazz—cheered during every solo she took. She performed Acceptance and Journey with Me with such warmth that I was convinced the violin would melt in her hands. Of her bandmates, she had the most chemistry with Winn and Nabors. On Simply Complicated, Nabors had the piano floating, and Winn's rimshots ricocheted off the walls on Kashperko's composition Anxiety Society. Halfway through the set, I wondered if the show would've been more enjoyable had she opted to play with a trio. The inclusion of the guitarists was overkill. Given the enthusiastic outpouring from the audience, DeShazor can bank on having a frequent residency at the Dirty Dog.

HARPIST BRANDEE YOUNGER STEALS THE SHOW AT THE CARR CENTER'S GREAT JAZZ WOMEN FROM DETROIT TRIBUTE CONCERT

Harpist Brandee Younger

I've been reviewing live jazz concerts for 20-plus years. I must confess that Saturday evening at the Carr Center was my first time experiencing a jazz harpist. New York-based Brandee Younger is the harpist. She's a Grammy nominee, has six albums available, and cites Detroit harpist Dorothy Ashby as an influence. After experiencing Younger, I also must admit my ears will never be the same. She was a featured guest at the Great Jazz Women of Detroit concert, a celebration of trailblazers, pianists Alice Coltrane and Geri Allen, vocalists Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan, and harpist Dorothy Ashby. The 90-minute performance was part of the Carr Center's 30th anniversary, and the band pianist Marc Cary, bassist Rahsaan Carter, and saxophonist JD Allen was assembled by the Carr Center's artistic director, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. The band opened with Swamini, a composition the late pianist Geri Allen wrote for Alice Coltrane. The band stirred up the audience's senses with that number. Then Carrington introduced Younger. Younger and the band stretched out on Coltrane's the Blue Nile, Turiya and Ramakrishna, and Ashby's Games. Younger's soloing was imbued with such pure grace it appeared as if Ashby's spirit set next to Younger, instructing her on what notes to play. There were many praiseworthy moments, like when the band left Younger and vocalist Jazzmeia Horn alone on stage to have fun with Stevie Wonder's If It's Magic. Horn's voice melted all over Younger's harp. Younger received the most applause. Horn is an eclectic vocalist. She's been likened to Betty Carter. Horn was erratic throughout the concert. She did more scatting, humming, and yelling than singing. The Carr Center likes to put on tribute concerts, and a few of them, like the one for Stevie Wonder, have some overkill. Thanks to Younger, the Great Jazz Women of Detroit program was sufficiently satisfying.

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA'S PARADISE JAZZ SERIES CONCERT WAS HEAVY OF ORIGINAL MUSIC

 

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra

If you're a devotee of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, you know they relish the work of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Dave Burbeck, Charles Mingus, and Thelonius Monk. The times I've caught a JLCO show, they performed those trailblazer's music. The JLCO's Paradise Jazz Series performance Friday evening at Detroit's Orchestra Hall was a deviation from their norm. Save for a Stevie Wonder song and saxophonist Sonny Rollins's Freedom Suite, the JLCO performed music by longstanding members Sherman Irby, Victor Goines, Walter Blanding, and the orchestra's leader Wynton Marsalis, who played splendidly, made political statements, and teased his orchestra-mates. The concert started with a Marsalis original. Right away, the orchestra's linchpin, bassist Carlos Henriquez seized the audience's souls and didn't let go. From that moment on, the concert was a mix of highlights and staggering solos. One such solo was delivered courtesy of saxophonist Diego Rivera on Stevie Wonder's Smile Please. It was Rivera's first time playing with the orchestra and the one time I have witnessed him on alto saxophone. Rivera's passionate blowing came off like he had unlimited access to alto sax great Johnny Hodge's spirit. Saxophonist Victor Goines was another mentionable standout, cutting up on A Dance at the Mardi Gras Ball and the 5^th movement of the Freedom Suite. Toward the end of his solo, he removed the mouthpiece from his tenor sax and played a chunk of the melody with just the mouthpiece. Goines is a respectful and meticulous saxophonist. It was surprising to see him take a moment to showboat. I ate it up, and so did the rest of the audience. Trumpeter Marcus Printup dazzled the audience on Marsalis's original (You Gotta) Watch the Holy Ghost, and trombonist Chris Crenshaw let his alter-ego loose, singing wonderfully on Yes Sir, That's My Baby. Experiencing the JLCO deliver a concert heavy on original music--not the music of swing era pioneers--was a welcome change.

THE CARR CENTER TRIBUTE TO STEVIE WONDER HAD SOME OVERKILL BUT WAS WORTH THE TWO-YEAR WAIT

Stevie Wonder

In 2017, the top brass at the Carr Center made a smart move hiring the accomplished Grammy-winning drummer Terri Lyne Carrington as its artistic director. Since taking the job, Carrington has delivered world-class jazz programming to Detroit, which has included overdue tributes to some legendary Detroit musicians. One memorable tribute was for James Jamerson, Ron Carter, and Paul Chambers. Saturday night, Carrington was back at it again, treating a near-capacity audience at the Ford Theater inside the Detroit School of Arts to a superb homage to Motown icon Stevie Wonder. The two-hour concert was billed To Stevie, with Love…. Carrington's band—Dwight Adams, Nate Winn, Michael Mayo, Kevin Harris, Keyanna Hutchinson, Frank McComb, and Gregoire Maret—reworked some of Wonder's global classics such as "Superwoman," "Creepin'," "Superstition," and "I Just Called to Say I Love You." According to Oliver Ragsdale Jr, the Carr Center president, the concert was supposed to happen in 2020 but was postponed because of the Covid-19 lockdown. The performance came off as if Carrington's band were holed up together for two years doing nothing but rehearsing and thinking of inventive ways to perform Wonder's classics. The band opened with "They Won't Go When I Go." Soloing on that song, trumpeter Dwight Adams, a longtime member of Wonder's touring band, blew people out of their mezzanine seats. Adams embodies all that's great about Detroit jazz, so it wasn't surprising that he was brilliant the entire concert. The centerpiece was Gregoire Maret, the Grammy-winning harmonicist, who performed with an array of jazz, pop, and R&B luminaries like Herbie Hancock, Sting, and Prince. Surely, attendees will still be getting chill bumps days after the concert, thinking about the power and physicality Maret displayed soloing on "Isn't She Lovely" and "Superwoman." Although the concert was worth the two-year wait, there was some overkill, like the artist stationed at the corner of the stage painting a portrait of Wonder and reciting poetry between songs and the dancers who performed near the concert's end. Keyboardist Thomas McComb's over-the-top solo version of "A Ribbon in the Sky" and "Superstition" felt misplaced. The concert wouldn't have been any less terrific had Carrington opted to leave out the painting, dancing, and poetry.

JAZZ PIANIST ELLEN ROWE'S OCTET HONORS WOMEN TRAILBLAZERS AT THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

Pianist Ellen Rowe

Before the jazz pianist Ellen Rowe's all-female octet hit the stage at the Friday Night Live concert series at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the bassist Marion Hayden assured me I'd like the octet. Hayden, a jazz Goddess was right. The octet is comprised of Ingrid Jensen, Melissa Gardiner, Sharel Cassity, Virginia Mayhew, Kalkeigh Wilder, Allison Miller, and Hayden. They performed music from Rowe's terrific date, Momentum Portrait of Women in Motion. Listening to Rowe's octet execute her originals, I wondered if the jazz world will ever gift her with accolades befitting her genius as a jazz educator, composer, and bandleader. I never met Rowe personally, but I'm acquainted with her chops. As a pianist, she is as complete as they come with a stark command and genuine respect for the piano equal to the greats Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan. Rowe's hour-plus concert honored trailblazing women from entertainment, politics, sports, and social activism. The octet set the street on fire with the concert opener The Soul Keepers dedicated to the late pianists Marylou Williams and Geri Allen. Then the octet moved into the thirst-quenchers RFP (Relentless Forward Progress) Ain't I A Woman and Game, Set and Match. Unlike too many bandleaders, Rowe explained the impetus for each selection the octet played. Rowe undoubtedly designed the to be a tribute to badass women and glorify the octet members. The octet is devoid of imperfections. There was a surplus of arresting moments and noteworthy solos. Trombonist Melissa Gardiner blew the upholstery off the auditorium seats during her solos. Allison Miller drumming on lol and For the Girls in the Band stirred up the congregation. Near the end of the concert, Rowe finally turned the zoom lens on herself, giving the band members a coffee break as she played Song of the Meadowlark alone. Rowe played that number with such red-blooded emotion I had to fight back the desire to rush the stage and kiss her hands. Hayden's assuring me I'd like the octet was an understatement. They caused a euphoria I hadn't experienced at a jazz concert in a long time. Sadly, the octet doesn't have a residency at an area club where jazz lovers could experience them regularly.