2015 DETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL

2015 DETROIT JAZZ FESTIVAL

DAY 2, EVENING SET, J.P. MORGAN CHASE MAIN STAGE

 

The evening set at the 2015 Detroit Jazz Festival, from the J.P. Morgan Chase Main Stage, is the reason my wife and I drove 12 hours from Atlanta to Detroit.  A night of what I consider “classic jazz”. The set began with The Brian Blade Fellowship Band. Blade, whom I last, saw at the 2012 DJF with the Wayne Shorter Quartet, and his cohorts were definitely up to the challenge of wowing the crowd. Drummer Blade, accompanied by Melvin Butler on tenor & alto sax, Myron Walden, soprano sax & bass clarinet, pianist John Cowherd and bassist Chris Thomas offered an inspired set. Blade, Waldon and Butler were the standouts. Yet, they turned out to be only a very tasty appetizer for the two “homecoming” acts to follow.

In the first “homecoming” set, native Detroiter saxophonist and flautist James Carter was a special guest, joining the Steve Turre/Rahsaan Roland Kirk Birthday Celebration Band. Trombonist Turre, who played with Kirk in the 1070’s played an evening of music composed by Kirk and tunes from his repertoire. Turre’s band included Vincent Herring on alto & soprano saxes, pianist Xavier Davis with Gerald Cannon on bass, drummer Dion Parson and special guest Carter. Turre began his set with Kirk’s “Three For The Festival”. Turre and Herring had heated solos, but Carter was scalding on tenor. On the original Turre composition, “Trayvon’s Blues”, written in honor of slain teen Trayvon Martin, Turre was solemn, but bluesy. Turre also played the shells on this tune. Turre was fiery on “Dorthon’s Walk”, another Kirk composition, written in honor of his wife Dorthon, who was in attendance. Turre and Herring on alto, trade 16’s, 8’s, 4’s and went back and forth, while Xavier Davis’ Sonny Clark style comping helped them along. James Carter then began to take over the show. Carter ripped into this tune on tenor and showed his tenor and the hometown crowd who was in charge. You could hear and feel Coltrane, Rollins and McLean in Carter’s spirited solo.  On Kirk’s, “The Inflated Tear”, Turre added spoken word and vocals. Turre again played the shells and Herring and Davis were eloquent in their solos, but again Carter took over. Dramatically aggressive, Carter truly let everyone know he was home. And the crowd responded in kind. But on the Turre penned “Blue Rol (as in Roland) Carter performed a feat of circular breathing that was absolutely astonishing. Aided by a muted Turre and Herring’s alto, During his solo, Carter held single note for three minutes. His face or body never showed a sign of stress, fatigue or discomfort. And after holding the note, he didn’t stop, but soloed for another 45 seconds and was dancing to the groove the whole time. It was amazing.

The final “homecoming” set was the band led by Detroit native, alto and soprano man Kenny Garrett. On their first tune, Garret’s band, pianist Vernell Brown, Corcoran Holt on bass, drummer Marcus Baylor set the stage and crowd on fire. In a mode reminiscent of the “classic’ Coltrane quartet, Garret and friend evoked memories of a golden age of jazz that is sorely missed. Whether up tempo or in a “spiritual” mode, this group swang.  Percussionist Rudy Bird joined for the rest of the set. Garrett was in rare for evoking Clifford Jordan from his “spiritual” days and quoting Sonny Rollins numerous, with Holt slapping his bass like Stanley Clarke and drummer Baylor was nothing short of a revelation. Never overwhelming, Baylor always seemed to be upfront just like Garret and pianist Brown.

This was indeed an incredible evening of music and it was truly worth the drive.

 

l-r, James Carter, Steve Turre,Gerald Cannon, Vincent Herring

 

Kenny Garrett Quartet