Ramsey Lewis at Orchestra Hall: Concert review

When: Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 • Where: Orchestra Hall • Who: Ramsey Lewis, piano; Larry Gray, bass; Leon Joyce Jr., drums. Opening set: Bruce Henry, vocals; Peter Vircks, saxophone; Bryan Nichols, piano; Chris Bates, bass; Daryl Boudreaux, percussion; Kevin Washington, drums. Host Irvin Mayfield.

Last night’s program at Orchestra Hall was billed as being all about the blues. It wasn’t, but nobody cared. Instead, the audience was treated to a sublime set of music by the Ramsey Lewis Trio.

Anyone who thinks this group is about resting on laurels, delivering hits, and playing it safe is mistaken. The music was as rich and sophisticated, melodic and complex, inside and out there as any I’ve heard in a long time.

The opener, “Wade in the Water,” became a sweet samba, with Joyce stroking his drums with his hands. The crowd applauded wildly and Lewis joked, “Shall we quit while we’re ahead?”

At 74, Lewis has embarked on what is almost a new career, or at least a new passion: composing. A series of commissions for the Joffrey Ballet and the Ravinia Festival, where Lewis serves as artistic director for jazz, has made him feel “like a kid on Christmas morning.” His new CD, Songs from the Heart, due out on Concord on Sept. 29, is his first-ever (out of 80 to date) to include all original compositions.

We heard “To Know Her Is to Love Her” (from the Joffrey work) and “Conversation,” written for Ravinia and performed there in 2008 by the Turtle Island String Quartet. The latter made me hold my breath, it was so beautiful—and much like a conversation, perhaps between lovers, with changes in mood and tempo. Another original, “Exhilaration,” showcased Gray on the bass, bowing like a classical master, plucking and tapping like an avant-garder. We heard a lot of arco (bowed) bass during the evening; Gray used his bow almost as much as he used his fingers.

Throughout, Lewis made occasional references to the blues, inviting us to “find where it is” in the music he was playing, reminding us that jazz was born in the blues. For the centerpiece of the set, he took us back to before the blues with a medley of gospel tunes and spirituals. Not the usual play-a-few-notes, awkward-pause, switch-tunes medley, but a lengthy, elegantly constructed series of phrases, whole songs, and variations within songs, linked together by improvisation, like pearls on a string. Between selections, as Lewis moved his fingers over the keys, you could almost hear him thinking “What next?”

I recognized “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” “Precious Lord,” Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” “How Great Thou Art,” and (I think) “Lift Ev’ry Voice.” Lewis and Joyce traded melodic phrases (Joyce played notes on his drums, with help from his elbows) on the way to Joyce’s big solo of the night, a breathtaking display of speed, invention, and precision.

Except for the originals, much of this was music many of us had heard before, made new by surprising changes and phrases, rhythms and transitions. People talked afterward about how modern it was, how “outside,” and how it wasn’t what they expected.

We got the encore everyone wanted: “The ‘In’ Crowd.” A soft and lovely solo piano introduction worked its way there, the familiar chords burst forth, and the audience loved it. Joyce’s whistle midway through signaled a detour into an Afro-Cuban tempo.

If you’re going to have a huge hit, make it a good one, like “The ‘In’ Crowd” or “Take Five” or "Poinciana," and don’t get stuck singing “Muskrat Love” for the rest of your life.

For the last song of the night, Lewis finally gave us a classic blues tune: Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do.” (Hat tip to Dan Emerson for the title.) Which, as it happens, appears on Lewis's first-ever live album, Ramsey Lewis Live at the Savoy (1982).

A note on where we sat: We moved during intermission from a row midway down the main floor to empty seats on Tier B looking down at the stage. With help from my handy binocs, I could see everything: how Leon Joyce reached casually over his right shoulder to tap the inverted cymbal to his right, Larry Gray pressing the strings of his bass, the red felt lightning bolts inside the Steinway, Lewis’s hands on the keys. I thought the sound was better, too—it rose up to us from the monitors and the instruments themselves, rather than passing over and between hundreds of people

And I have to say that Lewis, Gray, and Joyce looked good. I mean really good All three were impeccably attired. Their posture was perfect, their stage presence professional. Handsome men. Lewis, the legend, great statesman of jazz, is 74? Don’t believe it. Skin like a baby.

Ramsey Lewis Trio Setlist
"Wade in the Water"
"To Know Her Is to Love Her"
"Conversation"
"Exhilaration"
"Spiritual Medley"
"The 'In' Crowd"
"Baby What You Want Me to Do"

Starting what I hope will be a regular thing at OH jazz shows, the evening began with an opening set by area musicians, led by soulful vocalist Bruce Henry, who now lives in Chicago but was here long enough to become part of our music scene (plus we’re not willing to let him go).

He and his band brought out the big crowd-pleasers: “Statesboro Blues” (“Wake up, mama, turn your lamp down low”), a lovely “Embraceable You” (nice solo, Chris), Henry’s composition “Jump That Broom,” and “House of the Rising Sun,” which Henry said he was inspired to sing by Nina Simone.

They were given half an hour—not long enough, even though Lewis and his trio were up next.

After last night’s “Broom,” Boudreaux needs a new washboard; he broke a leg on the one he had.

Bruce Henry

When: Friday, June 27, 2008 • Where: Dakota • Who: Bruce Henry, voice; Bryan Nichols, piano; Dean McGraw, guitar; Johannes Tone (?), bass; Peter Vertz (?), saxophone; Darryl Boudreaux, percussion; Kevin Washington, drums



It’s a bittersweet celebration: Bruce Henry’s final public performance in Minneapolis before moving to Chicago. It’s not that he won’t be back—he’s already scheduled to play a free concert on Peavey Plaza on July 23—but it’s not the same as having him here with us.

He gives us songs we love: “Let the Good Times Roll,” “Autumn Leaves” (a fiery solo by McGraw, a falsetto verse by Henry), “Africa Cries” (Henry’s own composition, always achingly beautiful), “Billy’s Bounce,” “Mighty Mighty” (another Henry original, this time with a killer solo by “Kilowatt” Washington), “Hearts Afire” (during which the audience joins in to sing “Keep your head to the sky”). He invites his Freedom Train group on stage—including Debbie Duncan and Katie Gearty—to sing “It’s a Party” (“a freedom party!”). Every minute of this night is a party, with tables crowded together and every table full and people standing in doorways and at the bar. Other musicians have come to pay tribute: Mary Louise Knutson, Connie Olson, Rhonda Laurie.



After the break: “Hallelujah!” Then “Jump That Broom.” The crowd is growing. People are dancing. Debbie Duncan and Gwen Matthews are summoned to the stage. “We used to have a group,” Henry tells us. “It was called Henry Duncan Matthews. They put my name first because I was youngest.” The three sing “Everything must change, nothing stays the same/Everyone will change, no one stays the same” and Matthews is crying. For the next tune, Ginger Commodore, Connie Olson, Katie Gearty, and Yolanda Bruce join in for “Sweet Home Chicago” and change the lyrics to “Hey Hey Bruce, don’t go.”





For his final song, we wonder if we’ll hear “Nature Boy” or “The House of the Rising Sun,” two famous tunes Henry has made his own and each one a showstopper. Instead, we hear a song he has promised to someone in the audience: “The Second Time Around.” Accompanied by saxophone, it’s gorgeous, a singer’s song, with low, deep notes and caressing vibrato. Is it for his wife? It feels very private in a room packed with people who are hushed and listening hard.

Photos by John Whiting.

Bruce Henry and Freedom Train Ensemble

When: 4/18/08
Where: Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church
Who: Bruce Henry and special guest Jevetta Steele (voice), the Freedom Voices (singers including Leon Dillon, Katie Gearty, and Sandra Henry), the Freedom Dancers, and the Freedom Train Band: Daryl Boudreaux (percussion), Marcus Dillon (percussion), Jason Craft (keyboard), Wendell Craft (drums), Ian Young (bass)

Bruce Henry is one of the good guys. He's been working for months on tonight's show, a benefit performance for The Dignity Center, an outreach ministry of Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church that offers help, support and hope for homeless, poor and disenfranchised people. It's a festive and joyous occasion, deeply felt and genuine.



The theme: "Sheroes and Heroes: The Women and Men Who Risked All to Make This a Better World." Songs include "The Ballad of Harry Moore" by Bernice Reagon (founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock), about the first NAACP official killed in the civil rights movement; "Jump Dat Broom," Henry's song about his great-great grandfather; "Grandma's Hands" by Bill Withers; and Stevie Wonder's "A Time to Love."

The splendid Jevetta Steele sings "Great Is Thy Faithfulness," "This Little Light," and "Go to the Rock," prefacing some serious gospel by saying that even though this is a Methodist church, we're all about to become Pentacostals and Baptists.



The live performance doesn't follow the printed program to the letter, the multimedia presentation (slides on a screen) has glitches, we can't see the dancers from where we're sitting, and the acoustics—the stone vault of the church sanctuary—are big and bouncy, but who cares. Bruce is Bruce and Jevetta is Jevetta and you can't ask for more. Because the printed program is mainly a formality, Henry adds his own "Africa Cries" and "Freedom Party," both perfect for the occasion. After the concert, there's a dessert reception in the lobby, with sheet cakes and cookies and brownies.

For more information about the Dignity Center, contact Ann Carlson, Director, 612-435-1336 or carlsonaj99@msn.com.

Bruce Henry at the Dakota: Concert review

When: 4/4/08
Where: Dakota
Who: Bruce Henry (voice), Peter Vircks (tenor sax), Bryan Nichols (piano), Chris Bates (bass), Daryl Boudreaux (percussion), Wendell Henry (drums)

We're seeing Bruce Henry as often as we can before he moves to Chicago. Tonight he's in fine form, dressed to the nines, accompanied by an excellent band, singing his heart out, bantering with the open-curtain Friday-night crowd, and happy to be in this elegant club ("People talk about this place all over the world," he later says).



We don't hear "Nature Boy" or "Afro Blue," two of his signature songs, but we do hear others Henry has made his own: "House of the Rising Sun," Chick Corea's "Spain" (with lyrics by Al Jarreau), the original "Africa Cries."

As many times as I've heard Henry sing "House of the Rising Sun," it has never been the same. It depends on his band, his mood, the crowd, the weather, maybe the way the planets are aligned. Tonight it's new again—partly because Henry sings as if it is, partly because each note from Nichols's piano is a surprise.



We hear "Autumn Leaves," Horace Silver's "Senor Blues," and "In the Beginning God" from Duke Ellington's Sacred Concert ("a seldom heard song unless you come to my shows," Henry says).

He tells us about growing up on Madison Street in Chicago, home of the blues; how all of the big blues singers had "imposters" (Little Little Milton, Little James Brown;) how he once saw the real Muddy Waters get out of his car and go into a club and tried to follow him in. "I'm not a blues singer, but I've got the blues aesthetic," Henry says, then launches into the blues standard "Sweet Home Chicago."

More Horace Silver, this time "All," a song Henry got from Dean Brewington, "the first person I met in the state of Minnesota." The lyrics (also by Silver) seem especially appropriate for Henry: "All time is now/all space is near/all minds relate/all souls evolve...all things are spirit/all is in mind." His performances are engaging and entertaining, but they're also deeply spiritual if you're willing to let that part reach out and touch you.

African American history is important to Henry. "Every day of my life, I celebrate African American History Month," he says. Then he sings an original song, "Jump That Broom," based on genealogical research he did on his own family, including a great-great grandfather who loved his about-to-be great-great grandmother so much that he bundled his clothes on top of his head and swam across a lake to court her. Boudreaux plays the washboard and it's joyous.



Henry closes out the night with a song for Martin Luther King Jr., who died on this day 40 years ago. Rather than a sad song, he gives us "a song about freedom and justice and peace all around the world." I don't know the name but here are some lyrics: "It's a party/it's a freedom party/raise your victory sign!" He ends by wishing us peace and love. There's no encore; we don't need one.

A few about the band: I hadn't heard Nichols and Bates play with Henry before but you can't go wrong with either one. Boudreaux has always seemed like Henry's own hands on the percussion, a natural fit; as Henry said earlier in the show, "We go way black, I mean back," then laughed. I've heard Wendell Henry play drums for Bruce Henry but never for anyone else. I'm guessing he'll show up at the Freedom Train benefit concert on April 19? (For more about that, see Andrea Canter's preview on Jazz Police.)



Vircks was new to me but I have since learned (thank you, Jazz Police and the Internets) that he's part of Moveable Feast, the Rhythm Junkies, and other bands around town. I thought he got off to a slow start but picked up the pace later in the show. Good, strong sound.



Photos by John Whiting.

Bruce Henry with the Tuesday Night Band

When: 3/25/08
Where: Artists' Quarter
Who: Bruce Henry (vocals), "Downtown" Bill Brown (Hammond B-3), Billy Franze (guitar), Kenny Horst (drums); surprise guest Reuben Ristrom (guitar)

After Blues in the Night, we walk a few blocks to the Hamm Building to hear Bruce Henry in his first-ever appearance with the AQ's Tuesday Night Band. Henry is a singer I never tire of hearing. He's moving to Chicago soon and breaking my heart. I'll just have to hear him as often as I can before then.

He starts his set with Horace Silver's "Song for My Father," a tune I didn't know had lyrics until now. Then something Henry describes as "a little bebop skebop," followed by a passionate "House of the Rising Sun." Debbie Duncan comes in from the Ordway and Henry joins her at the bar; she calls him "my brother." Meanwhile (apparently Tuesday night is a rapidly changing scene here) Reuben Ristrom gets called up out of the audience to join the band for "Bye Bye Blackbird" and (unless I misremember) "So What."



I haven't seen Ristrom play in years. He's the first guitarist I actually paid attention to, during a long-ago KBEM Winter Jazz Fest event. Until then, jazz to me had been all about piano and brass.

Taking pictures, I quickly learn that Ristrom plays with his eyes closed. He never, ever opens his eyes.

Henry returns for a soulful "What's Going On" (the second time in a week I've heard this performed live; J.D. Steele opened with it on Sunday), followed by "Summertime" and "Nature Boy." He's pulling out all the stops tonight, swinging and scatting and making trumpet sounds with his voice. The band can't stop smiling.

A break for Henry and up comes someone AQ doorman Davis Wilson only knows as "Chaco." He recently had a heart attack and now has a pacemaker. Dressed in gray leather, he sings "When I Fall in Love."

Singers

Christine Rosholt, pictured here with her regular bassist Graydon Peterson, performs at the Dakota on Monday. She's one of the artists featured in my MinnPost column this week, which didn't start out to be all about singers but turned out that way.

Bruce Henry called from Chicago and we talked briefly about the Tuesday Night Band, the group he'll perform with on Tuesday (duh) at the AQ. He hasn't sung with them before and wanted to know what to expect.

"Are they jazz? Soul? R and B?" Bruce asked.

"Funky jazz soul, I guess," I told him. "I haven't heard them except on Don Berryman's YouTube videos."

"Whatever they play is fine," he replied. "I know a million songs, and whatever they want, I can do."

So it's going to be new for everyone including the artists. Can't wait.

Bruce Henry

When: 12/20/07
Where: The Dakota
Who: Bruce Henry (voice), Scott Fultz (saxophone), Jason Craft (keyboards), Serge Akou of Joto (bass), Wendell Henry (drums)

I previewed Bruce Henry's holiday show for MinnPost and arrived to find a slightly different band than I thought I'd see, which is not at all unusual for jazz. I was expecting Gary Raynor on bass and Daryl Boudreaux on percussion; we got Akou on bass and Fultz on saxophone. No problem. They played a couple of tunes before Bruce came on stage with Al Jarreau's "Spain (I Can Recall)," a song that demands immediate verbal gymnastics. From there, because it was a holiday show, they gave us "A Child Is Born" and another Christmas tune, after which Bruce asked the crowd what else they were celebrating. Birthdays, anniversaries, retirement...and one man said "Her," beaming at the woman seated across from him, who beamed back. Bruce was singing Earth, Wind & Fire's "Mighty Mighty" when we had to leave for another place we'd promised to be that night.

I liked the drummer very much and will watch for him.

On my calendar for April 19: Bruce Henry's Freedom Train at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church.

Photos: Bruce; Serge looking snappy; Scott and Wendell

MinnPost: Bruce Henry

Leigh Kamman called him "an international voice...the Jazz Messenger Supreme." The manager of a Paris nightclub where he performed called him "astounding and unclassifiable" (probably in French). Bruce Henry knocks my socks off. Hear him sing "Afro Blue" and read about his upcoming holiday show at the Dakota.

Photo by Andrea Canter.

Bruce Henry brings that candlelight feeling to the Dakota

Originally published on MinnPost.com, December 14, 2007

The first time I heard Bruce Henry sing was in May 2003 at the Fitzgerald during a Leigh Kamman tribute concert. Even though it was a star-studded event — Karrin Allyson and Bill McLaughlin were co-hosts, Debbie Duncan sang, Percy Hughes played sax — I came away with a head full of Henry's big, beautiful baritone, a passionate instrument with a 3½-octave range.

I've heard him several times since, and his most recent CD, Connections (2003), is a permanent part of my playlist.

Early influences

Born in West Point, Miss., home of Howling Wolf, Henry grew up in Chicago and was singing publicly by age 5 in his family's Baptist church. His pianist father surrounded him with the music of Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Henry was classically trained, but the siren call of improvisation (Nina Simone, Al Jarreau, John Coltrane) won out. Today he maintains a busy schedule of performing here and abroad, teaching (privately and at the FAIR magnet school in Crystal), and leading his ensemble Freedom Train, a performance group with a 15-voice choir, five-person dance troupe, seven-piece band, and a spoken word component with a mission of sharing African American music and history with all people. He also serves as music director for the Bridge worship service at 11 a.m. each Sunday at Messiah Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis.

Henry brings a rare and not-to-be-missed holiday show to the Dakota on Thursday, Dec. 20. His band will include Jason Craft on piano, Gary Raynor on bass, Daryl Boudreaux on percussion, and Wendell Henry (no relation) on drums. I talked with him about what to expect and more.

MinnPost: Will you perform only holiday music, or can we hope for "Afro Blue," "House of the Rising Sun" and "The Sound of Music"?

Bruce Henry: You'll get a mixture of holiday songs, favorites and originals. I'm still working on a new piece that needs to be finished by Monday. If the washboard is there (at the Dakota), you'll hear Aaron Neville's "Louisiana Christmas Day." We'll also do a jazzy arrangement of "A Child Is Born" and "Winter Wonderland" as an ode to Ray Charles.

MP: These days, we start hearing holiday music at Halloween, and we're sick of it by Christmas. How do you keep holiday songs fresh for yourself and the audience?

BH: I went years without doing holiday music. I heard it too much. When I did private and corporate shows, I got by without doing holiday songs — I gave them to the band. And then, somehow, I got the spirit of Christmas again. I've found some nice arrangements that freshen up the music, very jazzy. ... I might not catch the Christmas spirit on Halloween, but sooner or later that candlelight feeling is gonna come.

MP: What else are you up to these days?

BH: I'm writing a business plan for the Jazz Vocalists of Minnesota [Henry is one of the founding members]. And I'm in rehearsals with Freedom Train. That's my baby, and we are a tribe. The idea is to combine our love of African American culture with activism. Our next public performance is April 19th at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church. It's a fundraiser for their Dignity Center and right up our alley, trying to raise money for the good work they do for homeless people. ... I'm also doing the school thing, finishing my undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota in Afro studies with an emphasis on black music history. I've been a college senior since 1975. I've taught, written curriculum, done workshops, but it's all been self-taught. Now I'll get that piece of paper. I'm shooting for graduating by Christmas 2008.

MP: Your latest CD, Connections, came out in 2003. Is there a new recording on the horizon?

BH: We recorded a live CD at the Dakota 2½ years ago. I don't know why they haven't released it.

MP: Last week, we asked local jazz artists which CDs by other local jazz artists they would give as holiday gifts. What would you give?

BH: Can I only say one? No? OK, then. ... Lucia Newell's Steeped in Strayhorn. Something by Moveable Feast. And I'd give Debbie Duncan's holiday CD, It Must Be Christmas.

MP: What do you want for Christmas?

BH: That's a heavy question. What I really want is all of my family together in peace and good health. We're having everybody over this year [to Henry's home], and my mom and dad aren't coming [from Chicago]. But I haven't given up on them yet.

MP: The Dakota calendar says your show starts at 8 p.m.; your website says 7:30. What time does it really start?

BH (laughing): I guess we'll have to find that out together. Weeknight shows at the Dakota usually start at 7. But if the calendar says 8, I'm going with 8.

What: Bruce Henry's Holiday Show
Where: The Dakota, 1010 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
When: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20
How much: $5
Phone: 612-332-1010
Website

Upcoming Picks

George Avaloz: In last week's post, drummer Phil Hey named Avaloz's "The Highest Mountain" (2004) as his holiday gift pick. Avaloz began his career as a young Mexican hat dancer at community celebrations on St. Paul's West Side. He has since played drums with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Quincy Jones and Billy Eckstine. The Artists' Quarter, 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15 ($10).

Ginger Commodore: Between performances of "Black Nativity: Twenty Years of Holiday Cheer!" at the Penumbra, the Moore by Four member and former Sounds of Blackness singer brings her holiday show to the Dakota. It's probably safe to expect selections from her 2002 holiday release "Merry Christmas...With Love." The Dakota, 7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 18 ($5).

iQuit Experimental Music Series: Chris Bates performs the first set on solo bass, layered with loops and electronic effects. The second set features Poutums Jazz Trio + 1 (Chris Thomson, Adam Linz, Alden Ikeda, Jon Pemberton; Thomson, Linz and Ikeda are the trio, Pemberton the plus). Rogue Buddha Gallery, 9 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 20. ($5 donation).