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.