{"id":7366,"date":"2016-02-25T17:23:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T01:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/?p=7366"},"modified":"2016-02-26T11:40:36","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T19:40:36","slug":"javon-jackson-on-coltrane-at-pdx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/2016\/02\/javon-jackson-on-coltrane-at-pdx\/","title":{"rendered":"Javon Jackson On Coltrane At PDX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7367\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Javon-Jackson-.jpg\" alt=\"Javon Jackson\" width=\"240\" height=\"350\" \/>With the 2016 Portland Jazz Festival built around the legacy of John Coltrane (1926-1967), Javon Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearances were reminders of his tenor saxophone hero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lasting impact on the music. In a Winningstad Theatre concert, Jackson headed a quartet called We Four. The band included a Coltrane colleague, the veteran drummer Jimmy Cobb; pianist George Cables; and the young bassist Corcoran Holt. Jackson kicked off \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So What\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at a turbo-charged tempo. In his solo he disclosed his \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTrane credentials and chops in variations on a phrase adapted from Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s celebrated solo on the piece in the 1959 Miles Davis <em>Kind of Blue<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The 87-year-old Cobb uncharacteristically missed a few strokes as he began his solo on the piece but once warmed up, he played the rest of the set with his customary drive, crisp attack and rhythmic ingenuity. Following Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unadorned reading of the melody of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My One and Only Love,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cables integrated melodic asides<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-7372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/C.-Holt-\"\u00a92016-Mark-Sheldon.png\" alt=\"C. Holt \"\u00a92016 Mark Sheldon\" width=\"129\" height=\"200\" \/> into his solo; right-hand fillips commenting on his own improvisation. It was a surprising and beautiful manifestation of the mind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability to create simultaneously on two levels. With impressive arco tone, Holt bowed a solo on the song\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bridge section. Jackson ended the tune with an unaccompanied tag that featured harmonics\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe playing of two notes at once. Coltrane mastered the technique, and so has Jackson.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7370 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Cobb-\"\u00a92016-Mark-Sheldon-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cobb \"\u00a92016 Mark Sheldon\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" \/>We Four paid tribute through several pieces associated with Coltrane. Highlights:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8221;\u00a0Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s huge sound in his lightning foray through the harmonic changes of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I Were a Bell.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Cables, unaccompanied in a gorgeous \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Body and Soul,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d reining himself in when he realized he was quoting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Prisoner of Love\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for the second time.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8221;\u00a0Cobb, back in form, exchanging four- and eight-bar phrases with Jackson.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Jackson at his most Coltraneish on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Someday My Prince Will Come.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cables\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 solo on the piece recalling why Art Pepper nicknamed him \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mr. Beautiful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/li>\n<li>Jackson on fire in the encore, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Shining Hour.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The next night, Jackson was the guest artist with a quartet of musicians who help make Portland one <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7369 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Balmer-Dan.jpg\" alt=\"Balmer, Dan\" width=\"141\" height=\"230\" \/>of most interesting jazz towns in the country. Guitarist Dan Balmer (pictured) was the leader, with Tony Pacini piano; Ed Bennett, bass; and Mel Brown,&#8221;\u00a0 drums. Playing to a packed house at Jimmy Mak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s club, their repertoire was heavy on pieces by pianist Tommy Flanagan, one of Coltrane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favorite colleagues in the 1950s. The tunes included \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Minor Mishap,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the blues \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Freight Trane,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eclypso.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Without the leadership duties of the previous evening, Jackson seemed relaxed in the comfortable surroundings of the club. He again played a superb solo on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My Shining Hour.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Pacini was impressive in a vigorously two-handed solo that had a stirring passage of parallel octaves. Everything Balmer played was alive with the energy that has helped make him an Oregon institution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2016 Portland Jazz Festival built around the legacy of John Coltrane (1926-1967), Javon Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearances were reminders of his tenor saxophone hero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lasting impact on the music. In a Winningstad Theatre concert, Jackson headed a quartet called We Four. The band included a Coltrane colleague, the veteran drummer Jimmy Cobb; pianist George Cables; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7366","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7366\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rifftides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}