Summer scene…

Given the summer break most classical presenting organizations take each year there haven’t been many listening opportunities but that’s been balanced out a bit by the Jazz Foundation of America’s weekly summer series at Hudson River Park, which happens to be just down the street.  I’ve made almost all of them, having written about Bill Saxton and Dick Griffin in a previous post.

In a surprising plus there have been a number of unexpected meet ups with musicians that I’d not seen in many years.  One such instance was seeing drummer Steve Johns who played on July 1st with trombonist Clifton Anderson’s group (along with Gene Ghee on saxophone, Andrew McGowan on keyboard, Beldon Bullock on bass and Victor See Yuen playing percussion).  I’d heard Clifton Anderson a number of times with Sonny Rollins on the Lincoln Center Out of Doors series and it was good to hear him in a leadership role.

Steve was in my first band in NYC (along with Marc Copland on piano and Drew Gress on bass).  It was great to have the chance to catch up a bit and chat about days gone by.  Afterwards I went home and dug up the demo recording we made in 1986.  Here’s something from it, an untitled blues written by Marc that I first played with him at Blues Alley in 1979.

The saxophonist, Gene Ghee was new to me although he’s been around a good while.  In looking him up I came across this video of him telling a wonderful story about meeting John Coltrane.

On July 8th the band was led by Chief Baba Neil Clarke (percussion) with Bryan Garrett (vibraphone), Alex Blake (bass) and Kheunt Rose (steel pan) in a tribute to pianist Randy Weston.  This was impressive not only for the great repertoire but also for the unique instrumentation.  Baba Neil had many great stories to tell about he and Alex’s time with Randy Weston.  I once played with Alex Blake in 2006 and it was great to hear his sound again.  I’ve never seen anyone else play the bass while sitting down but perhaps that helps facilitate his emphasis on strumming the strings.  Everyone in the group was virtuosic (in a positive way) especially Kheunt Rose who applied a real harmonic sensibility to that instrument in a way I’d not heard before.  

August 12th was the final concert of the series for this year and I think it was my favorite.  Vocalist Ghanniyya Green led a group featuring Patience Higgins (saxophone), Les Kurtz (keyboard), Donald Nix (bass) and Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks (drums) in a set that made me feel completely at home since it was reminiscent of any number of gigs I played coming up in Baltimore in the late ‘70s.  

Patience Higgins and I played a bit in the mid eighties and we had a chance to reconnect afterwards.  I don’t otherwise know much about Ghanniyya Green but clearly she knows what she’s doing and how to do it.  She often invited people to dance, demonstratively but affectionately.  “All my friends call me GG” she announced, so I’ll do so here.  Her band started out with a version of Blue Bossa (jam session style meaning none of the syncopation of the melody heard in the original) in which Patience did his best to pull the rhythm section along.  Then GG came out and did “In a Mellow Tone” followed by “Without A Song”, both in the exact same tempo.  There were some Jobim tunes, “No More Blues” and another I love but the name of which escapes me.  There was one selection that was not a standard nor did I recognize it, a song with a patriotic theme after GG addressed current humanitarian issues without being in any way divisive.  There were two ballads in a row (she asked permission from the audience) “My Funny Valentine” and “Here’s to Life”, ending with a swing version of Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are”.

Did I mention that this was my favorite concert of the series?  There were musically awkward moments; some missed notes, missed chord changes, some time issues here and there.  And yet the entire performance lifted everyone up.  I was surprised by how much I miss that feeling.  I might have assumed that was a thing of the past but this was no replication project, just a sincere expression of bringing everyone in.  Works every time, but should never be taken for granted.