A few days ago, Facebook sent me a memory post, one of those "On this day, X years ago," where I suggested that anyone reading the post should go down to the Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival and check out the trio of Geri Allen, David Murray & Terri Lynn Carrington. I read it and thought, "Why the hell didn't I go to that show?!" The answer was probably related to my retail job of that time, where Saturday was one of the busiest days of the week and getting off was not done without the residual guilt and suspicion. These days, being underemployed has its advantages.
I was pretty stoked about this year's JazzLive Fest (which ran last weekend, Friday-Sunday) because in addition to ticketed shows by David Sanborn and Angelique Kidjo, there were plenty of free shows. Plus, the schedule included both straightahead acts like vocalist Jazzmeia Horn and bold groups like Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir, as well as tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman and bassist Linda May Han Oh.
A brief preview of the event ran in CP, where I interviewed Linda May Han Oh and wrote a little about Odean Pope. I would have liked to interview David Sanborn, and ask about his wide-ranging work (he's worked with Tim Berne, grew up with the Black Artists Group and covered the Velvet Underground, in addition to the more accessible stuff for which he's known). But my night began at the closing party for the Non Punk Pittsburgh show at SPACE Gallery, just down the street from where Sanborn was playing. Steve Sciulli of Carsickness just released a solo CD, so he was playing, along with a few other acts on the Get Hip label.
After that, it was up to La Lyonnais, a restaurant down and around the corner where a jam session was in progress, hosted by drummer Roger Humphries. Events like this can be a crapshoot - sometimes it's a bunch of musicians blowing the roof off the place, sometimes there are up-and-comers playing the tried-and-true blowing session classics who sound.... promising.
There were a couple of young bucks onstage (i.e. in the corner where the band could fit) when I arrived. And by young, I mean these fellows looked like they still had a few years of high school left. I should have been ambitious and got the name of the young tenor player who only played on one tune while I was there. But he tore things up - good ideas, good execution. Dr. Nelson Harrison got out his trombetto and - as the picture below shows, Sean Jones also joined in, with saxophonist Lou Stellute and keyboardist Howie Alexander. Things were still going strong past 1:00, but I decided I'd reached my limit by that point.
For the rest of the weekend, the majority of the performances took place outdoors, on two stages set up at either end of Penn Avenue (The UPMC stage and the Spirit Airlines stage) with the 9th Street Stage in between them. For the most part the weather behaved itself. There was some rain, but not when I was there.
Saturday afternoon, Odean Pope's Saxophone Choir sounded amazing - a mix of Ellingtonian lyricism and World Saxophone Quartet aggression. Or maybe that thrust could be attributed to Philadelphia, his stomping ground for most of his life. There was a moment during the ballad "Cis," a tune dedicated to Pope's late wife, where the voices of all six saxophones were all easily distinguishable, each bringing a personal tone to the music. Later, Pope warned the audience, "This one is on the edge," before launching into a tune where he pushed to the upper register of his horn, the rest of the group occasionally riffing behind him.
The rest of the saxophonists got plenty of solo space too. Julian Pressley (the alto player with the great hair below) had a tart tone that contrasted with the rest of the players, while fellow alto man Louis Taylor was also on fire.
Jazzmeia Horn won the 2015 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition, and as she was performing on Saturday, her album A Social Call was #1 on the Billboard jazz charts. It was clear to see why. As her piano trio vamped behind her on the UPMC stage, she unleashed a strong scat solo in "East of the Sun (West of the Moon)."
Like many jazz musicians in the wake of the new administration, Horn added some politically charged moments to the set. Marking Juneteenth, she sang "Lift Every Voice" ("the Black National Anthem," she called it) and segued that into "Moanin'," the Bobby Timmons classic that got lyrics from Jon Hendricks. It was easy to miss but it sounded like she substituted "life" in the line "Life's a losing gamble to me," with the name of the current president.
What took away from the performance was Horn's habit of oversinging the words, as if squeezing the life out of "Moanin'" was going to get it more depth. In the intro to another song, she squealed and caterwauled in the upper register, which also felt a bit excessive. What was strange was hearing her contrast the heavy stuff (which seemed to evoke Abbey Lincoln's intense performances on We Insist! Freedom Now Suite) with lighter, overdone fare like "I Remember You" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore." She definitely has talent and needs to be followed because she could head in a number of different directions.
At the jam session the night before, a woman sat in on drums and awed everyone who was listening. "Who was that," we kept asking. The drummer in question was Shirazette Tinnin, who played with her band Sonic Wallpaper followed Horn's set. Tinnin's c.v. includes everyone from WuTang Klan to DIVA and Hugh Masakela. The group had an intriguing instrumentation, with alto saxophone, cello, trombone, keyboards (Rhodes and acoustic piano), guitar, bass and her drums.
A lineup like that could confuse the sound engineer and that seemed to happen. The keyboards moved in and out of the mix, the trombone (which had a wah-wah effect on it during a solo) dropped out during a dramatic moment. But Tinnin had some strong grooves going, in what might be considered fusiony funk. It had the chops and electronics of the former style and the grease of the latter.
I've written enough about Sean Jones that most people know that he is an astounding trumpet player. One difference in his playing at the jam session at on the Spirit stage was that he seems to have moved away from his approach from a few years ago, where a solo would start low and build in intensity, like a preacher's sermon (his words). He did a little bit of that but it was great to hear him continuing to evolve as a player.
But what might not be obvious to those what haven't seen Jones live all that often is what an engaging performer he is. He sounded so happy to be back in Pittsburgh again, playing for people that he treated like friends. He was so casual, like he was hanging out in someone's living room. His song introductions remind me of the easygoing talks that were a big part of Cannonball Adderley's live albums.
Sean likes to explain the back story with the tunes so there is something to think about that while the group is playing. When introducing "The Ungentrified Blues" he made light humor about neighborhoods that are losing their character as they're rebuilt. For the closing "BJ's Tune" he offered a song of hope and unity, and a plea to "forget all the things that separate us." The quartet rolled to a climax and when they finally got there, Jones still wasn't done. His obbligato included "Danny Boy" and "Amazing Grace." Mark Whitfield, Jr. (drums) and Ben Williams (bass) were a solid rhythm section while Jones' good friend and longtime collaborator Orrin Evans sounded stellar on the piano, especially when he smacked some low notes during "The Ungentrified Blues."
Public Service Announcement to future JazzLive attendees: Don't forget your sunblock or your sunglasses. And if you invest in a portable chair that you can tote easily, you won't regret it. Sitting on the curb, you don't know what you'll kind of view or shelter from the sun you'll get, or who will be sitting next to you. The roped off VIP sections are never that full. A lot of people groused to me about them, saying dollars could be spent better on tents or some kind of shelter from the sun for the regular folks. SEE ADDENDUM
Linda May Han Oh started off Sunday afternoon on the 9th Street Stage with her quartet. The way she handled her instrument made her tower over it, even if it was a few inches taller than her. "Walk Against Wind" is the title track to her new album and it contains a few different movements, starting minor and snaky, where drummer Eric Doob recalled Paul Motian in his use of space. In my notes I wrote "What's going through her mind," during her out of tempo bass solo. It felt dramatic and really original, and then she shifted into the background so Ben Wendel could play a tenor solo that was gruff around the edges. For the songs "Speech Impediment" and "Perpuzzle" Oh moved to bass guitar.
It's kind of hard to imagine tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman as one of the "young lions" of the 1980s, along with Wynton Marsalis. His genes (his father was the astounding-but-under-the-radar tenor man Von Freeman) and his Chicago roots (he taught at the AACM and recorded in the Leaders with Lester Bowie) indicate that he's someone that respects the tradition but insists on pushing it forward. That's exactly what his Plus+tet did on Sunday at the Spirit Airlines Stage.
Freeman plays with a bold, rich tenor sound. "To Hear a Teardrop in the Rain" was a gentle waltz that could sound smooth if it wasn't for the way he played a solo, tonguing the notes more often than merely slurring them together. Pianist Anthony Wonsey did the same thing during his solo, striking the keys and fragments of a line individually instead of smoothly constructing somthing. The approach gave the tune more edge. For "Soft Pedal Blues," the Plus+tet avoided the shouting blues designed to rile up a crowd. This rendition was slow, a little dirty and really soulful. Freeman's lines were spare but very heavy. "Blues for a Hot Summer Day" was more like it.
Vibraphonist Warren Wolf has become a reputable leader in his own right, but he served as the perfect foil to Freeman on the frontline. In some ways it evoked Freeman's work with the late vibist Bobby Hutcherson, who recorded "Crossing the Sudan," a 7/4 the Plus+tet played early in the set. Some vibes players use the double mallet approach, with two in each hand to help with harmonies. Wolf doesn't need that. He gets plenty of energy with one in each hand, especially when he's wailing over a minor vamp in 6/8.
Father's Day commitments kept me from seeing the Bad Plus, Tia Fuller, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra or Hudson (the new supergroup that's on the cover of the next issue of JazzTimes!!). But this was an extremely stellar set of acts. Hopefully the newfound sponsorship will grow and next year will be even bigger.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment