Sep 1

Sep 1 Chicago Jazzfest--Day 2

Chicago, Chicago Tourism, Festivals, Jazz, Musicians, Performance, Things to Do in Chicago

Those attending all four days of Chicago’s annual Labor Day Weekend jazz festival often experience a severe case of disorientation because the days quickly blend together. On Friday, I often think it must be Saturday because Thursday felt like a Friday, particularly after spending several hours at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion. By Sunday, I have completely lost track of time, particularly when the weather has been spectacular throughout the preceding three days.

Despite the confusion already setting in, I, together with a large crowd, turned out tonight to see the two headliners, both hometown favorites—The Ari Brown Quartet, and Kurt Elling, who replaced Dianne Reeves on the bill at the last minute. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.

The day opened with The Alexis Lombre Trio performing at the Von Freeman Pavilion. I still recall seeing Lombre at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center seven or eight years ago when she was just starting out. Since then, she has made quite the name for herself as a pianist who can work in a variety of contexts. It is great to see her out front, leading her own trio.

As usual, I found myself running back and forth between the WDCB Jazz Lounge and the Von Freeman Pavilion. At some point, I heard guitarist Henry Johnson at the Jazz Lounge, Like Lombre, Johnson has become a Chicago jazz scene staple, and for good reason. His guitar lines are soulfully rich, with a beautiful warm tonality.

Time, however, does not stand still, so it was back over to the Von Freeman Pavilion for The Jeb Bishop Flex Quartet. Hmm, a trombonist as a leader? J.J. Johnson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Grachan Moncur III, and Kai Winding have all assumed that role at one time or another.

I had not read the program notes before entering the pavilion, so I had no idea how Bishop would approach today’s performance. The great trombonist, Roswell Rudd, came immediately to mind. Afterwards, the program confirmed my suspicions. Bishop and company were performing songs from their 2019 album, Re-Collect, which channeled the “progressive spirits” of Rudd and J.J. Johnson. It may be a form of Free Jazz, but Rudd, as do all trombonists, always brought some humor to the music, which was evident in Bishop’s playing. I was particularly pleased to see Isaiah Spencer on drums, as well as trumpeter Russ Johnson in the frontline. Today Spencer’s face was covered in sweat, which meant his energetic playing was on full display.

This year the festival organizers are taking full advantage of the Pritzker Pavilion, so at 4:00 PM it was time to head over to the red seats and green lawn under Frank Gehry’s web-like steel trellis. Juan Pastor’s Chinchano offered up some Afro-Peruvian music that was steeped in rhythm.

In addition to the highly danceable music, I also enjoyed seeing some of what I sometimes call Chicago’s jazz ‘mafia’ demonstrating one of the many styles they are so capable handling with aplomb. Chicago’s jazz mafia? Yep, this is a group of young players (although they are aging) who support each other’s projects. Among the members present today were alto saxophonist Greg Ward, trumpeter, Victor Garcia, pianist Stu Mindeman, tenor saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, and bassist Matt Ulery. I love the camaraderie. As an aside, there are at least a dozen other local musicians who are card-carrying members of this elite group.

Tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III took the stage next, with bassist Harish Raghaven, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Like Smith, both have worked with Ambrose Akinmusire. In fact, I first saw Smith when I saw Akinmusire a decade or so ago. Pianist Sullivan Fortner occupied the fourth chair in this quartet. They produced a solid set of straight-ahead jazz. Although enjoyable in the moment, I don’t think it will be recalled by many in the audience in years to come. In one sense, that is a criticism, but not every performance at a music festival is a showstopper even when it is excellent.

Next up was one of my favorite group of musicians, the Ari Brown Quintet. With saxophonist Brown were his brother, Kirk, on piano, Yosef Ben-Israel on bass, Kwame Steve Cobb on drums, and Dr. Cuz on congas. These guys have been playing together for years; although I have previously seen this quintet with drummer Avreeyl Ra instead of Cobb. Brown is an AACM member, so he can certainly push the boundaries. He demonstrated that when he played Pharaoh’s Request, a number that came out of his time working with the great Pharaoh Sanders. Particularly notable was Ben-Israel, who extracted a humming sound from his bass, with a thumping beat holding down the bottom.

After Ari Brown’s set, it was time for Kurt Elling. I first saw him at a Chicago Jazz Festival performance that goes back to the Nineties. I left with an intense dislike of the man. At that point in his career, he was not an international star, but he sure thought he was one. Arrogant, conceited, and smug are all words that have stayed with me over the years, which is why I have generally avoided his performances.

I don’t think I am alone. A lot of people I spoke with at the festival had similar reactions. But, I have to give the devil his due—he won me over tonight. First, big kudos for the man’s stamina. When he agreed to substitute for Reeves at the last minute, he was in Australia on a tour. He apparently flew back to Chicago yesterday or today for tonight’s performance—multiple time zones make that a difficult determination. I’ve made that trip, and I can assure you I would not be on a stage singing to several thousand people after heading through Customs at O’Hare.

But had those sitting in Pritzker Pavilion not been told, they would have never have known about that grueling flight. Elling was energetic to say the least. With him were Kenny Banks Jr. on piano, guitarist Charlie Hunter, Marcus Finnie on drums, Derek Gardener on trumpet, John Wojciechowski on saxophone, and Kirby Kristy Fellis on trombone.

Elling and Hunter were promoting their latest collaboration, an album entitled Super Blue: The Iridescent Spree, which like many other recent collaborations by other artists, is a product of Zoom or similar sessions held during the dark and lonely days of the pandemic. The album does include some soulful funk, but much of it is more leisurely, more poetic.

At one point, Elling went into an extended hipster rap telling the audience that they should head to Freeman Square, a selection from the new album. Given our location in Chicago, I immediately thought of Von Freeman, particularly early on when Elling referenced a “velvet glove.” But I am not sure this was an ode to the late Von Freeman.

Although cute, probably the evening’s one miss was his take on the multiplication tables, Naughty Number Nine, which is also on the new album. The song was somewhat funny, and it did provide Elling the opportunity to reminisce about his third-grade teacher, but it will not become a jazz standard because the live rendition lacked catchy phrasing. He actually went through the multiplication for the number nine, starting with one, and working his way to 10. I will say, the album version, which involves more singing than speaking, works better.

But unlike the new album, which is excellent, the set was largely high energy, with Elling moving repeatedly across the stage, or at times clowning with one of the musicians. The crowd loved Elling’s mannerisms, as did pianist Kenny Banks, who had a smile on his face during most of the set.

In addition to several songs from the album, Elling took on a couple of familiar numbers, including an enjoyable take on Eddie Money’s Baby Hold On, which momentarily drove me a little nuts as I tried to identify the song’s title and the original singer who had made it a hit in the late Seventies. A quick Google search calmed me down.

When the group played Carla Bley’s Endless Lawns, which brought a John Cheever short story to mind, Elling stayed true to the album’s dynamics. “Come find the sky with me, Come hear and come see; Melody in perfect symmetry; In love, in light, in key” That was one of several selections he played off his collaboration with Charlie Hunter on the 2021 album entitled SuperBlue.

As Elling and company left the stage, the crowd enthusiastically roared, bringing Day 2 to a close.

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