RAFAEL LEAFAR'S EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC PERPLEXES THE DIRTY DOG JAZZ CAFÉ AUDIENCE

Saxophonist Rafael Leafar

For some time now, the talk around Detroit's jazz scene has been the multi-saxophonist, and the 2020 Kresge Fellow Rafael Leafar has what it takes to be the next James Carter and Kenny Garrett, two globally revered Detroit-born musicians. The talk has merit. Leafar is a hugely gifted musician who's clearly invested considerable time studying Carter's and Garrett's discography, techniques, stage mannerisms, and theatrics. For example, Garrett's swaying back and forth when he's in the throes of a planet-shaking solo and Carter’s crowd-dazzling cadenzas whenever the mood hits him. Those influences were obvious Saturday night at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café during Leafar's closing set of a four-night run. I've experienced Leafar's exceptional playing as a sideman on pianist Glenn Tucker's album "Determination" and drummer Alex White's album "Ubuntu." On those projects, Leafar's blowing stuck to my ribs for days. And Leafar’s soloing during trombonist Vincent Chandler's concert in 2020 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History had tenor saxophone God's jealous. However, Saturday night, I couldn't make sense of the music his group--drummer Alex White, bassist Josef Deas, and guitarist Sasha Kashperko--played. The music appeared to be all made up on the spot. Leafar bounced from the tenor sax to the electric piano, piano back to the tenor sax. The group, I kid you not, played for 90 minutes straight without coming up for air. Maybe, the music would've been easier to digest had Leafar taken a moment to explain his concept. Many people in the capacity audience appeared perplexed, and others flat out disinterested. In all the years I've reviewed, concerts at the Dirty Dog Lafear's was the most experimental and out of place, given historically, the Dirty Dog has only offered straight-ahead acoustic jazz.