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| 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 5th 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.