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| Saxophonist Mike Monford |
Jazz saxophonist Mike Monford’s group Detroit
Effervescence presentation of Max Roach’s We Insist!-Max Roach's Freedom Now Suite
was a rare concert experience where every waking moment was breathtaking. Monford’s
group brought the suite back to life and paid tribute to three Detroit jazz
legends the late Kenn Cox, Donald Walden, and Roy Brooks. Monford, an unsung
master swinger and a selfless leader on the Detroit jazz scene, pulled off the
ambitious undertaking with a goosebump-inducing, all-star group comprised of music
director Vincent Chandler, Marion Hayden, Pam Wise, Dwight Adams, Marcus Elliot,
Tariq Gardner, Akunda Hollis, Mahindi Mausi, and Naima Shambourger. The
90-minutes concert was another installment of the Detroit Institute of Arts
Friday Night Live! Series and was meticulously executed. Before diving
headfirst into the suite, the group opened with Monford’s Ja Ja and Kenn
Cox’s Mandela’s Muse, after which the vocalist Naima Shambourger joined
in and pushed the set into the stratosphere, one of her signature gifts. She
has participated in or led plenty of memorable projects such as Me & Sarah: A Tribute to Sarah Vaughan, the
homage to the acclaimed pianist Geri Allen titled Lifetime: Tribute to Geri Allen with Detroit Young Jazz Giants, and the hippest concert—in my opinion—of
2020 Sister Strings: Roots, Voice, &
Drums. Well, Shambourger was a crowd-favorite again, singing Driva Man,
Freedom Day, and Triptych: Prayer, Protest, Peace with such unadulterated pizzaz
Abbey Lincoln-- the featured vocalist on the Freedom Now Suite, who
had one of the more unique voices in jazz-- would’ve been a bit envious of Shamborguer.
Another standout was Tariq Gardner, who has grown from a young lion to a
complete and in-demand jazz drummer. He was the perfect complement to Shamborguer.
Throughout the concert, his drumming channeled the ghost of Max Roach. And as
expected, Marcus Elliot’s and Dwight Adams’s solos were spotless. Monford deserves
a bearhug for Detroit Effervescence’s skillful handling of Roach’s landmark
work.
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