Tribute to Louis Armstrong

When: 4/17/08
Where: Orchestra Hall
Who: Delfeayo Marsalis (trombone), Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Kermit Ruffins (trumpet and voice), Victor Goines (saxophone), Bill Charlap (piano), Reginald Veal (bass), Herlin Riley (drums); guest vocalist Charmin Michelle; narrator Phil Schaap

Go to a concert by a visiting jazz group or artist at Orchestra Hall these days and you're likely to see local musicians, even students, on the stage.

Before Marsalis and his band began to play, jazz historian and NYC deejay Phil Schaap introduced the High School of Performing Arts Jazz Band. Teen trumpeter Caleb Lockwood slicked down his pink Mohawk for the occasion and they all sounded great on "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and "Savoy." A terrific opportunity for kids from an area charter school to play before a large crowd and meet an all-star band.



Maybe because this was my second narrated show within the same week (Beyond Category was the first), the Louis Armstrong tribute never quite clicked for me. Normally I enjoy hearing Schaap talk about jazz, but putting him to one side of the stage beside a big "Dr. Phil" sign and having him introduce each tune while pretending that Ruffins was Armstrong got old fast. (Ruffins didn't want to play along and eventually wandered off stage.) I understand that Ruffins was part of the show because he's a New Orleans legend and blows and sings Armstrong-style, but the band already had a great trumpeter, Nicholas Payton, and I wanted to see and hear more of him.



No complaints about the music—"Dippermouth Blues," "West End Blues," "The Sunny Side of the Street," Fats Waller's "Black and Blue," "Mack the Knife." Charmin Michelle did very well with "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," "That's My Desire," and "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans." She looked and sounded beautiful. (Marsalis called "Do You Know" the group's theme song.)



Throughout, the piano sounded muddy, which was too bad; I haven't heard Charlap play this style of music before and now I still haven't. People have said the Orchestra Hall Steinway is not a particularly good one. Dave Brubeck comes to play in May.

The high point of the evening arrived late in the second half, when Marsalis and Charlap played "What a Wonderful World" as a duo. Like "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," this song borders on the hackneyed. It seemed as though I was hearing it for the first time. Both musicians approached it with tenderness and affection.

The final tune was a Kermit Ruffins standard, "Skokiaan." There was an encore but we didn't stay for it.

High School of Performing Arts photo by John Whiting.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

When: 1/21/08
Where: Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis
Who: Wynton Marsalis (music director, trumpet), Sean Jones, Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup (trumpet), Vincent R. Gardner, Christopher Crenshaw, Elliot Maxon (trombone), Walter Blanding (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet), Victor Goines (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet and bass clarinet), Sherman Irby (saxophones), Ted Nash (alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet), Joe Temperley (baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet), Dan Nimmer (piano), Carlos Henriquez) bass), Ali Jackson (drums)

They came, we saw, they conquered. On a snowy night of bad roads and big traffic delays, it seemed that almost every ticket holder in the sold-out house made it to Orchestra Hall to see the world-famous Wynton and his amazing ensemble: 15 musicians, each capable of leading his own group (which some already do).

The program, "Love Songs of Duke Ellington," began with a solo by Marsalis that slid smooth as silk into the whole band playing "Mood Indigo," which Marsalis dedicated to Manny Laureano, principal trumpet for the Minnesota Orchestra. From there, we were carried on a satisfying ride through Ellington's work, interspersed with anecdotes and banter from Marsalis.

We heard "Satin Doll" and "Lady Mac" from Such Sweet Thunder, Ellington's 12-part suite based on the plays and sonnets of Shakespeare ("Lady Mac" being Lady MacBeth). The Marsalis brothers are fond of both the Duke and the Bard. In June of last year, Delfeayo brought his octet to Orchestra Hall and performed Such Sweet Thunder in its entirety, the first time that had happened since 1956, when Ellington did it himself.

From there: "Prelude to a Kiss," "Moon Over Cuba," "In My Solitude," "Old Man Blues" ("a piece written for a movie called Check and Doublecheck," Marsalis explained. "It's a terrible movie, don't see it"), "Creole Love Call," "Dance in Love" from Ellington's Perfume Suite (performed on piano and bass, with the horn players snapping their fingers), "Warm Valley" and "Flaming Sword" (two sides of an Ellington 78 written about "the greatest duet, a man and a woman going steady," Marsalis said, and everyone laughed). The trombones used derby mutes, and it looked like choreography, a doo-wop group fancy-stepping.

The program was generous and easy on the ears: familiar melodies, rhythms you could tap your feet to, lots of opportunities for individual members of this great band to show off. (Sean Jones didn't solo much but when he did, it was blistering.) We heard "Self Portrait of the Bean," a song Ellington wrote for Coleman Hawkins; Marsalis asked Goines if he would "put some of his feeling on this tune," and Goines responded "I will, sir!" then gave us a sultry solo. Ted Nash took the spotlight on "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart." They gave us a movement of the Queen's Suite, "The Single Petal of a Rose," with haunting bass clarinet, then ended with "Rockin' in Rhythm."

Some people left but the rest of us wouldn't so the band returned for a "C-Jam Blues" that was a concert in itself. The rhythm section took their places and everyone else lined up loosely along the front of the stage, passing solos like talking sticks. The music was so fine and the band looked so stylish and elegant that I wished everyone who doesn't like jazz or only likes smooth jazz or thinks jazz is dead could have been there. Marsalis has been accused of being too traditional, too strict about what he will and won't play, too bent on building a jazz repertoire, but he's bringing real jazz to a wider audience than anyone has since the days of swing.

Jazz at Lincoln Center

Photo by John Whiting.

The Dakota Combo with Delfeayo Marsalis

12/1/07, The Dakota: Co-sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education and the MacPhail Center for Music, the Dakota Combo is a group of high-school student musicians who are selected by audition to study with jazz trumpeter and educator Kelly Rossum. Previous Combo members have gone on to the Brubeck Institute, Berklee, Oberlin, and Indiana University.

This year's edition features Jake Baldwin on trumpet, Stephanie Wieseler on tenor sax, Geoff LaCrone on guitar, Jacob Wittenberg on piano, Corey Grindberg on bass, and Matthew Roberts on drums.

Last year's combo performed with guest artist Bobby Watson; this year's rehearsed and performed with Delfeayo Marsalis, the trombone-playing Marsalis. Delfeayo is spending a lot of time in Minneapolis these days. In January he came to the Dakota, in June to Orchestra Hall with his brother Branford, and in August he returned to Orchestra Hall with James Moody. While in town for his June date at Orchestra Hall, he also made a surprise appearance at the Dakota, sitting in on the Trombone Summit show with Steve Turre, Wycliffe Gordon, and Fred Wesley. Four trombones on one stage: That was an amazing night.

Playing music by Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, Jerome Kern, and original compositions by the students themselves, the Combo more than held their own with Delfeayo and before a club crowded with parents, supporters, and people who didn't know the Combo but came to see Delfeayo. Andrea Canter wrote a terrific blog entry and that's what you should read if you want to know more. I'll also post the link to her review on Jazz Police when it's live.

Photos: The Combo with Delfeayo; Delfeayo digs Stephanie's solo.