A few weeks ago, U of M School of Music Jazz singer/saxophone player extraordinaire Rachel Mazer performed her very own songs at the Canterbury House on 721 East Huron Street.With the accompaniment of a medley of musicians from the School of Music as well as several alums, Rachel amazed the intimate audience with her incredibly luscious voice. As classic as Billie Holiday and as fresh as Beyoncé, Rachel delivered five original songs and one inspired by the greats. In fact, after her performance I asked her what her vision had been for her show and she said something along the lines of “to make jazz approachable, easy, and hip to our generation.” The possibility of adding Jazz overtones to some Beyoncé covers is one of the projects she has up her sleeve- one day, after hopefully recording her own work first. I have heard Rachel play saxophone before, but until her show I had never had the pleasure of hearing her belt it out on stage. It was a treat for all who were present, and I will definitely be waiting for her Beyoncé remixes to come out on vinyl.
It’s recital season. This means that every venue in Ann Arbor is jam packed with parents, friends, and artistic talent on any given day of the month. On Saturday April 27th, The Yellow Barn hosts the Julian Allen Senior Recital. A musician in the School of Music, this performance will feature original music and lyrics by Julian Allen and multi-media collaboration with local artists. Both jazz and electronic, vocals and rap, this dynamic and varied recital will explore a number of themes, techniques, and messages. In conjunction with Dance BFA student Julia Smith-Eppsteiner, local hip-hop artists Tree City and Kadence, and a number of U-M School of Music students and alum, this performance will run the gamut of Ann Arbor talent. The show starts at 6 pm. The Yellow Barn is located on 416 W. Huron Street. See you there!
It wouldn’t be MLK Day without a sonic tribute to the soul of the social justice movement. In honor of the rich musical history of the city of Detroit, Hill Auditorium hosted a collaboration of some of the world’s best jazz musicians. The D-3 Trio, comprised of Gerri Allen, Robert Hurst, and Karriem Riggins (shown above in that order) filled the auditorium with the sweet sounds of Motown’s finest tunes.
The evening was curated by Geri Allen, who is an esteemed professor of Jazz in the Music school as well as a world renowned musician. On campus, she is known for her Sunday Salons which she hosts in the Sterns Building every so often in honor of Mary Lou William’s jazz tradition. Geri Allen is a native of Detroit who was guided by legendary trumpet player Marcus Belgrave. He is a father figure to many early Detroit jazz instrumentalists, including Bob Hurst. On Monday, Belgrave performed at Hill with his former students who are now world class musicians.
The evening was designed to pay respect to the legacy of Detroit music. The program began with the spiritual “Lift Every Voice,” followed by a Martin Luther King Jr. speech which was originally recited at the Berlin Jazz Festival. The speech was sung/read by George Shirley, who is also a pioneering legacy in the black musical tradition: he was one of the first black operatic singers to perform at the Met. In the speech, MLK described jazz and blues as an oracle for the black experience; no other medium can synthesize the story as purely. It is an intangible and abstract experience, but also direct and connected to a deep lineage.
The performances featured notes of trial and tribulation as well as complex jazz gospel. The celebrated vocalists represented a tradition of older female singers; a woodwind feature showcased four clarinets, including the legendary James Carter; tributes were paid to names like Aretha Franklin, Elvin Jones, and Roy Brooks; then, an improvised poem recited by Shahita Nurulla. The only young voice of the evening was a featured student named Stephen Grady who took a a solo on a gospel jazz arrangement. The rest of the voice spoke the older days of Detroit musical origins.
The second half of the evening remembered Detroit’s pop sensation: Motown. The Original Vandellas and The Contours inspired the crowd to dance. And in honor of Detroits most recent musical movement, a female MC and rapper called Invincible paid hommage to hip-hop sensation J Dilla.
Over flowing with emotion, the program was a soulful and evocative experience. What was striking about the music was that it was deeply traditional, but infused with something very new. They were not playing the gospel songs as they had always been played. Echoes of Afro-Diaspora sounds rung out loudly but were met with modern, impressionistic overtones. The music avoided the pentatonics that are signature of African rhythms and infused the sounds with modern notes and ideas. The blues remained, but the color pallet had been warped. With musicians of such high caliber, it is possible to do this without compromising the tradition from which they came.
At the end of the night, Marcus Belgrave received an honored award. He had been father to so many talented musicians in the Detroit family and that night, they were all on stage with him. The program closed with the most spiritual and emotional performance of all, “Oh Precious Lord,” leaving the audience and the musicians alike deeply moved by the tribute.
After trekking from class to class on Thursday
in rainy, cold weather, the warm sanctuary of Rackham Auditorium was a welcome
blessing.I was attending the George
Lewis Interactive Trio, having blindly signed up on an e-mail from a peer
advisor.It was quite the
spectacle.I’ve seen my share of
abstract performances; however, I’d never seen an improvised jazz trio, let
alone with a computer-programmed instrument as a member of the ensemble.The Trio featured George Lewis, musical
genius, playing his trombone alongside renowned pianist Geri Allen, and yet the
true marvel of the performance was the “virtual improvisator.”This computer-programmed piano, referred to
as “the player,” responded to the musical stylings of Lewis and Allen by contributing
its own improvised melodies.Lewis
designed the software himself, allowing for “the player” to connect to the
other instruments involved.It was
entirely spontaneous, albeit programmed spontaneity on the computer’s end, and
absolutely astounding.An audience
member commented in the panel discussion following that “the player” both
paused to let the other instruments take their turn in the ensemble and
instantaneously responded, with both clashing and harmonious chords.This performance was all at once bizarre, thrilling,
and, at times, unsettling in the chaotic nature of avant-garde jazz.I couldn’t help but think of robotic pianos taking
over the world when Lewis commented that he in fact had no idea what “the
player” was going to play until the moment it began.After hearing just three or four notes from
Lewis’ trombone, the computer decides what performance it wishes to give.A trippy and thought-provoking display of human
versus computer improvisation, I am so glad I made time to attend.
The Bad Plus (Ethan Iverson, Reid Anderson, and Dave King)
In high school, in our age of the new driver’s license, I had a crew of friends that became very anti-social. Most of the kids with new driver’s licenses found a new freedom in planning a night out, not on a dad’s watch- but their own, or not having to ask a mom for a drop off at a girl’s house (or even worse, a pickup at a girl’s house. Awkward). Instead, these guys asked their parents for use of the family car for the night just to drive around town with each other. They would pack five in a five seater or seven in a mini van, open all the windows, pass a spliff, and, most importantly, put on a jazz record- full blast. Then, for hours, just cruise. The only communication was the focused passing of the spliff and the yelps and groans that were their responses to the jazz record.
I never rode with them. I didn’t smoke but, more isolating, I didn’t know when to yell. I enjoyed jazz. I always have. But, I enjoyed jazz with the old folk that frequented Hill Auditorium for Wynton Marsalis. We put on nice clothes on a Sunday afternoon,Wynton charmed us with his anecdotes, and played impeccably. We clapped politely when the set was over.
This was not how the boys in the car on Huron River Drive listened to jazz. They interrupted when they wanted, responded when they were moved. They didn’t just let Wynton play for them (well, they quickly wrote Wynton off as a square and a sell out so it wasn’t Lincoln Center from the speakers anyway)- they were fully engaged as a part of the music. They said this is what jazz, the only true American art form, is about. Not about playing to concert halls and suits but to people, to individuals, to communities.
So, in order to get a chance to hang out with my friends and stuff, I am trying to learn jazz, “the language of jazz” (as taught by UM jazz prof. and jazz legend Geri Allen). On Thursday night, as a hands-on lesson, I had the great opportunity to see The Bad Plus, a ridiculous trio with roots in the Midwest. The Bad Plus is probably best known for covers of well known pop and rock songs including Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit and Neil Young’s Heart of Gold along with a new album of covers- For All I Care- that features vocalist Wendy Lewis. However, in the second of two shows, The Bad Plus played a set of mostly originals.
These guys are nuts. Ethan Iverson, on the keys, introduces the band and the set list with a stoicism straight out of a Roman sculpture however, upon sitting down, Iverson, the bass man Reid Anderson, and the drummer Dave King swing so hard and with so much emotion. While Iverson strokes the keys while seemingly doing leg squats over his bench, King pounds then caresses then pounds away at his drum set while pulling out an army of children’s play instruments to augment his sound. And, King yells just like my friends driving down Main St. He’s not speaking to his band mates or the audience, he’s yelling at his drum set, the sounds of his trio. Also, just like the dudes packed into the green CRV, the 9:30 show audience was a hip, young crowd- a bunch of giddy kids in the lobby after the show.
It was still the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater with assigned seating and shiny programs. There were still nicely dressed ushers escorting us to our seats. But, Thursday night, the spirit of the communal jazz experience- or, at least, how I am beginning to understand it- seemed to be in full fight with the powers that be, ‘the man’. Next time, UMS presents the Bad Plus live at the Blind Pig? Doors at 9, $10 cover? Or, UMS presents Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center Jazz playing ‘Flim’ by Aphex Twin (as The Bad Plus did Thursday night)? Or, will I have to start smoking weed to really understand what goes on in the car rides around town?
Over and out, Bennett
(Below are streams of my favorite Bad Plus album, ‘These Are The Vistas’ and the new album ‘For All I Care’) Oh, and for more live jazz, check out the UM Jazz Festival next Saturday. Christian McBride Band, Geri Allen, Rodney Whittaker, Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra, University of Michigan Jazz Ensemble. Going to be crazy. Schedule here. Tickets here from Ticketmaster (or, as others have noted, ‘TicketBastard’).
