• Home
  • About
    • Jazz Beyond Jazz
    • Howard Mandel
    • Contact
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal

Jazz Beyond Jazz

Howard Mandel's Urban Improvisation

Digging Our Roots videos, speakers inspire engagement

Billy Branch watches Sonny Boy (Rice Miller) Williamson II. Photo by Alan Frolichstein
Billy Branch watches Sonny Boy (Rice Miller) Williamson II;
photo by Alan Frolichstein

Nearly 100 Chicagoans (maybe some visitors?) watched Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy and other heroes of the blues on videos at the Cultural Center Thursday night (5/23/19), with harmonica star Billy Branch and WDCB program host Leslie Keros telling stories and participated in lively interplay with knowing attendees. It was the fifth Digging Our Roots: Chicago’s Greatest Hits “listening session” this spring, co-presented by the Jazz Institute of Chicago and Jazz Journalists Association.

Full disclosure: I sit on the JIC board, am president of the JJA, curated and moderated this series. Let that not invalidate this report! Because since cold last January, our once-a-month, free, public music show-and-tells have drawn a steadily growing, diverse and highly engaged audience to both revisit and discover anew jazz/blues favorites of the distant and recent past, pointing to culture of this city now.

I don’t say that to brag, just to confirm that small budget, low cost, all-ages-and-sophistication-level presentations can raise the profile of local musicians and journalists working together, expose successful (entertaining!) if perhaps forgotten artists to awe and encourage younger music lovers, and generate fine content for posting, such as Mashaun Hardy does for the Jazz Institute’s social media streams by video streaming portions of the proceedings, live — like below:

The economical nature of the production is thanks to the Cultural Center (overseen by the Mayor’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events) providing space and staff, as well as the amazing banquet of video performances online (we watched clips selected by the panelists, including this dynamite performance by Billy Branch and Lurrie Bell with an early version of their band Sons of the Blues).

The Jazz Institute provides promotion online and a staffer or two who help with production, harvest attendee’s email address and sign up new members. I contribute my efforts on behalf of the JJA, and have enlisted members as speakers.

For instance, in April photographer/writer/visual artist and saxophonist Michael Jackson joined tenor saxist Juli Wood to celebrate the Chicago Tenor Tradition represented by Gene Ammons, Johnny Griffin and Von Freeman (pianist Michael Weiss, at the Jazz Showcase that week with saxist Eric Alexander to celebrate Grif’s birthday, sat in). John McDonough, a longtime writer for DownBeat and the Wall Street Journal, created a medley of historic versions of “King Porter Stomp” for a presentation of Jelly Roll Morton’s classics in February with roots Americana pianist Erwin Helfer performing two of Jelly’s tunes.

Veteran broadcaster Richard Steele, just hours back from a tour of Cuba in company of trumpeter Orbert Davis, talked with saxophonist Eric Schneider about the collaborations and careers of Earl “Fatha” Hines (with whom he’d toured) and Louis Armstrong. Ayana Contreras, producer for WBEZ and Vocalo Radio, provided in-depth commentary about the jazz influences and nuances of Curtis Mayfield, Minnie Riperton and Earth Wind and Fire in the March Digging Our Roots, which climaxed gloriously: as keyboardist Robert “Baabe” Irving III played EWF vamps on the Cultural Center’s piano, audience members started singing along, Maggie Brown (Oscar Brown Jr.’s daughter) rushed to the stage, grabbed a mic and started wailing — dancing erupted! It was grand.

At the May session, Branch spoke admiringly of the musicianship of his elders he had known, especially including Sonny Boy Williamson II, as slyly understated harmonica man Rice Miller called himself while touring from the Mississippi delta to the capitols of Europe, having appropriated repertoire and reputation of John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson, who had hit records but was murdered in 1948. Keros introduced an excerpt of a film of Maxwell Street, Chicago’s fondly remembered outdoor market at which Blind Arvella Grey, guitarist Robert Nighthawk, Big John Wrencher (don’t the names summon their images?) held forth.

One fan corrected my impression that Bill Broonzy was playing from his own doorstep — actually the clip was from a film shot by Pete Seeger. Another suggested that the way to return blues to popular music today is have a deejay/producer grab it for presentation to the EDM audience. Apparently that gent was unaware of previous attempts to turn that trick, such as the Elektric Mud Cats — Chuck D and Common with guitarist Pete Cosey — doing a number on Muddy Water’s “Mannish Boy.”

The next Digging Our Roots session, at 6 pm on Saturday June 29, highlights Chicago’s singers, starting with Dinah Washington, Oscar Brown Jr and Johnny Hartman. The panelists are Aaron Cohen — former DownBeat editor and author of the forthcoming Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power — and singer Bobbi Wilsyn. The venue changes to the Logan Center, in Hyde Park on the edge of University of Chicago campus, which is hosting two free days of Jazz Institute programming, noon to 10 pm, as a 50th anniversary Birthday Bash reveling in the breadth of JIC and our local scene’s concerns and activities.

As part of the JIC’s year long 50th engagement and fundraising campaigns, a series of jazz movies programmed by the Chicago Film Society kicks off Monday, May 27 with Mickey One (starring Warren Beatty, directed by Arthur Penn, with music by Stan Getz, shot in Chicago) at the Music Box. Further flicks include Ornette: Made in America, Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues and Les Blank’s Always for Pleasure.

The drift is: Mutually beneficial partnerships for free or modest-fee events featuring local celebs at readily accessible venues can advance the mission of medium to small not-for-profit arts groups (like the Jazz Institute and the Jazz Journalists Association). Knowledgable people who have insights into pre-recorded media can offer curious listeners and viewers an interactive experience (all Digging Our Roots sessions included q&a time) that bonds most everybody present, like any successful performance. I’m thrilled to present music I love to anyone who’s got the time and inclination to enjoy it and hope to continue this series in autumn in Chicago.

Billy Branch, Leslie Keros, Howard Mandel;
photo by Alan Frolichstein

Might I suggest Digging Our Roots-like programs as a model for arts journalists and arts organizations spotlighting arts-near-us, contemporary or historic? All you need is a public space, time, date, and speakers able to be enlightening about great content. That last is the main thing. We’re lucky here to have such enduring jazz and blues.

Chicagoans’ albums reviewed, author’s edition

My reviews of recordings  by Chicago pianists Larry Novak, Laurence Hobgood and Robert Irving III, percussionist Art “Turk” Burton, and saxophonists Caroline Davis and Roy McGrath appeared in DownBeat‘s January issue, but the print edition limited their length. DB’s rating system ranges from one to five stars (*s), poor to masterpiece. Here’s my text as submitted:

imgres

Josh Berman, trumpet and Jason Adasiewicz, vibes, at Chicago’s recently closed Jazz Record Mart (we mourn its end). No copyright infringement intended.

In Chicago jazz, veteran modernists pave the way for innovators to expand on a fabled legacy. Experimentalists and mainstreamers alike convene supportive communities, yet everyone, whatever their aesthetic, presents themselves as an individualist. The longtime gulf between North (largely white) and South Side (predominantly black) scenes is still only partially bridged, but wherever they live Chicago artists must be talented and resolute, as nothing is readily given or easily achieved. Practicality, originality and integrity are valued. The breadth, depth and ongoing development of jazz from this Midwest capitol continues to impress and please local devotees, casual listeners and visitors from afar who discover its well established, under-promoted and/or newly emerging artists.

Larry Novak, at age 82, is current dean of Chicago’s pianists, an 51d1SSsc8HL._AA160_unofficial post previously held by such notables as Jelly Roll Morton, Lil Hardin Armstrong, Earl Hines, Nat “King” Cole, Ramsey Lewis, Art Hodes, Eddie Higgins, Judy Roberts and Muhal Richard Abrams. Invitation (Delmark 5022; 68:30 * * * *) is only Novak’s second album as a leader after 50 years of steady excellence at clubs including the London House, Mr. Kelly’s and the Jazz Showcase. With frequent sidemen bassist Eric Hochberg (also the album’s producer) and drummer Rusty Jones (who died unexpectedly in December 2015), Novak interprets not-quite-standards, applying elegant touch, deft technique and harmonic wisdom along with confident if self-effacing swing.

The pianist is indebted to Bill Evans, as avowed by his tender solo version of “Waltz for Debby” and trio rendition of “Very Early,” but really everywhere, including “The Days of Wine and Roses” to which he gives unusual brightness, and a fast, deft “Minority.” But Novak excels most in simmering late-night ruminations, like the 11-minute “Close Enough for Love” in which he spins free of the theme to enhance its romance.

More than 30 years Novak’s junior, Laurence Hobgood in Honor Thy 51uAwTHgK0L._AA160_Fathers (self-released; 60:53 * * * *) updates the trio format they share with understated treatment of would-be-pop anthems (“Sanctuary”), intimations of classicism (“Tryptich,” “The Waltz,” “Sharakumo No Michi”), hymn-like airs imbued with funk (“The Road Home”), a slightly more assertive yet still exquisite attack and carefully considered flow. Keith Jarrett may be one touchstone, The Bad Plus another, but Hobgood distinguishes himself with a plethora of influences in and out of jazz as well as nearly 20 years’ history as singer Kurt Elling’s music director. He attends to both arrangements and spontaneous play, engaging with ultra-responsive bassist John Patitucci and drummer Kendrick Scott, whose independent activity lifts several of tracks to their climaxes.

Five original Hobgood compositions are leavened with a New Orleans-syncopated take on Nat Cole’s “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” unusual ostinato under the oldie “Give Me The Simple Life” — the one tracks here less than five minutes – and a nuanced investigation of Stevie Wonder’s “If It’s Magic.” Overall the ambiance is warm, dark and reflective, which is not to discount the Hobgood’s strategically big, broad voicings, streaming glissandi and consistently perfect articulation.

So different from Hobgood and Novak’s albums it could be from another 51o61DarX-L._AA160_planet, conga drummer Art “Turk” Burton and Congo Square’s Spirits: Then & Now (TNTCD 101; 74:50 * * 1/2 ) arrives in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of Chicago’s AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians), the loose-knit cooperative that has from inception rejected jazz staples for unconstrained but rigorously conceived and performed new music. Here, two pieces from a 1983 live public radio broadcast and six tracks recorded in a studio in 2015 strive to meet that standard.

“Cuba: A Tribute to Chucho” and “When Sonny Gets Blue” are the old bits; the first a tight, hot example of Windy City Latin jazz, the second a soul chestnut marred by unfortunately amateurish sax playing. The contemporary recordings feature mostly different personnel: Ari Brown on tenor and soprano saxes (sometimes both at once), his brother Kirk playing piano, Taalib-Din Ziyad on flute and singing, plus bassist Harrison Bankhead (present in ’83), traps drummer Avreeayl Amen Ra, hand percussionists Sammi “Cha Cha” Torres and Luis Rosario.

The rhythmists sync well and reedist Brown is commanding, but some editing would have been useful. The band commits itself to warhorses “Afro Blue” and “A Love Supreme” for 14 minutes each. Ziyad croons his own lyrics to a brief “Moment’s Notice,” then comes Mojuba,” a drums-and-bass vamp, and the jams “Mr. Brown (Cold Sweat)” and “Soul Naturals,” both too long despite bright moments.

Conversely Doors: Chicago Storylines (ears & eyes Records 61PCGatBKsL._AA160_ee:15-039; 64:12 * * * ½) by alto saxophonist Caroline Davis (now living in New York City) with her quartet plus special guests, is arguably too produced. Interspersing local players’ memories of people and places since the mid ’80s with small group instrumental episodes, she’s crafted a hybrid of podcast and suite, without the compelling narrative or structural balance of either form.

The oral history clips name-drop, accruing a sense of activity without informative details. They are either unaccompanied by music or laid over Davis’ mellow, sleek writing that features guitarist Mike Allemana, especially, bassist Matt Ferguson, drummer Jeremy Cunningham and on seven of the cd’s 13 tracks (10 of which start with interviews), trumpeter Russ Johnson. “Lincoln Land,” “Rounds: For the Horses,” “Chicago Sound,” “Delighted,” “Another Way,” “Fields” and “Doors” prove that Davis, a graceful soloist with a silvery tone, and her sympatico ensemble have a full album even without the speaking and sound effects, which, once heard, seem superfluous.

Tenor saxophonist Roy McGrath‘s quartet, on Martha (JL Music; 514fDrReYjL._AA160_64:52 * * * ½) abjures high concept in favor of straightforward presentation of six of the leader’s compositions, Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” incorporating a montuno, and Daniel Iverson’s “Spirit of the Living God.” Born and raised in Puerto Rico, a student at Berkeley and Loyola in New Orleans before he received a masters degree at Northwestern University under Victor Goines’ direction, McGrath has a fully mature tenor sax sound. He employs a hint of vibrato, dips into Dexter Gordon-like languor and can attain Stan Getz-reminiscent gleaming, too.

Pianist Joaquin Garcia accompanies and stretches creatively, attuned — as are bassist Kitt Lyles and drummer Gustavo Cortiñas — to McGrath’s mostly subdued moods. The four break into buoyancy midway through “Spirit,” and don’t lack passion, but might be more cheerful. They have the talent and chops to add upbeat feeling, always a welcome quality, to Chicago’s soundscape.

Robert Irving III, Generations: Our Space in Time (Sonic Portraits Jazz SPJ 1222) * * * * Our Space in Time addresses such themes as the links between artists 81MU0MqEGVL._SY355_past and present, the balance of legacy and innovation, where we are now and how to move ahead. Robert Irving III, an under-promoted Chicago-based pianist, arranger, composer, educator and producer has created a suite-like album and set his saxophonist wife as well as several mentees to exploring these concepts in progressive yet accessible contemporary jazz forms.

As a member of Miles Davis’ 1981 comeback band and later Davis’ music director, Irving rode a post-fusion wave when it was being supplanted by the Marsalis-led revival of hard bop. Here he resurrects an alternative strategy that Wayne Shorter proposed in albums like Atlantis and High Life: tightly knit, intriguingly complex charts for small ensembles, flexible enough to couch striking personal statements but distinguished by hooks and repetitions to comfort audiences with an identifiable thread.

Baabe, as Irving now calls himself, writes close parallels for his three capable horn players and directs his rhythm section’s approaches, leaving openings for his deft, light-fingered pianism and everyone else, too. Solos are usually backed by unusual group riffs. Dissimilar passages or stop-times effectively separate one spotlit bit from the next. The ten tracks, including two “interludes” under 50 seconds, expand on shared harmonic material that’s advanced from smooth soul-jazz progressions. Drummer Charles “Rick” Heath IV bonds with bassist Emma Dayhuff and Irving himself to inflect the backbeat.

“Posnan Dream,” named for a Polish festival town — spelled on the album with both “s” and “z” — evokes an airy wistfulness that recurs in “Octobre.” Scott Hesse’s guitar skitters through the saxes on “Generations,” and is generously featured on “Maat.” “Energy,” suggestive of McCoy Tyner, packs punches including Ms. d’Estival Irving’s fervent wail and hot, bubbling Hesse. Irving’s interlude recitation about our “once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right” may seem superfluous, but Rajiv Halim’s soprano makes “Our Space In Time” right.

“The Road Less Traveled” advances in stops and starts, the saxes expressing a broken line in unison then each individually, the ensemble picking up speed but suspending tempo entirely for Dayhuff’s wordless cooing and then floats, briefly free. “Amour Incondicional” is lovely before fading out at 40 seconds. Irving uses both electric and acoustic keyboards to lend “Every Today” an ominous undertone, support winding soprano and garrulous tenor solos; he concludes resolutely. The band’s response to the issues its leader raises is to play together, in the moment.

Our Space in Time: Poznan Dream; Generations; Energy; Aurora Australis (Interlude); Our Space In Time; Roads Less Traveled; Octobre; Maat; Amor Incondicional (Interlude); Every Today. Personnel: Irving, piano, vocals; Laurence d’Estival Irving, alto sax; Scott Hesse, guitar; Rajiv Halim, soprano sax, flute; Irvin Pierce, tenor sax; Emma Dayhuff, acoustic bass, vocals; Charles “Rick” Heath IV, drums.

howardmandel.com
Subscribe by Email |
Subscribe by RSS |
Follow on Twitter
All JBJ posts |

Howard Mandel

I'm a Chicago-born (and after 32 years in NYC, recently repatriated) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, consultant and nascent videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, consulting on media, publishing and jazz-related issues. I'm president of the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit membership organization devoted to using all media to disseminate news and views about all kinds of jazz.
My books are Future Jazz (Oxford U Press, 1999) and Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (Routledge, 2008). I was general editor of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (Flame Tree 2005/Billboard Books 2006). Of course I'm working on something new. . . Read More…

@JazzMandel

Tweets by @jazzbeyondjazz

More Me

I'll be speaking:

JBJ Essentials

Archives

Return to top of page

an ArtsJournal blog

This blog published under a Creative Commons license