JAZZHOPE REVIEW by Rebecca Hope
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2003
4th Annual Englewood Community Jazz Festival
////> SAT SEP 13 1– 6PM 4th
ANNUAL ENGLEWOOD COMMUNITY JAZZ FESTIVAL
Hamilton Park 513
West 72nd Street, Chicago, Call 312-747-6174, for info.
In the event of rain, it will be held inside the
Community Center
- reserve
your day for one of the best-produced festivals of the season.
-KWAME
STEVE COBB and CHAVUNDUKA
Miguel
de la Cerna-piano, Yosef Ben Israel-bass, Kwame Steve Cobb-drums, Chavunduka-vocals
-8 BOLD
SOULS
Edward Wilkerson, Jr. (tenor, alto sax, clarinet, alto clarinet) and with Robert Griffin
(trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet), Mwata Bowden (baritone, tenor sax,
clarinet),
Isaiah S. Jackson (trombone,
percussion),
Gerald Deon Powell (tuba), Naomi Millender (cello), Harrison Bankhead (contrabass), and Dushun Mosley (trap drums, percussion)
-LIVE
THE SPIRIT BAND directed by ERNEST DAWKINS
with
special guests ARI BROWN-sax, MAURICE BROWN-tpt and Bryan Nichols-piano, Kurt Schweitz-bass,
Isaiah Spencer-drums, Corey Wilkes-trumpet, Ryan Nyther-trumpet, Marquis
Hill-trumpet, Normal Palm-bone, Tony Herrera-bone, Julius Brooks-bone, Doug
Rosenberg-sax, Kevin Nabors-tenor sax, Aaron Getsug-bari-sax, Jabari Powell-alto
sax, Khari B-poet, and others…
-DELFEAYO MARSALIS ENSEMBLES
Quartet Delfeayo Marsalis-trombone, Justin Dillard-piano, Derick
Polk-bass, Isaiah Spencer-drums
Quintet Delfeayo Marsalis-trombone, Maurice Brown-trumpet, Justin
Dillard-piano, Derick Polk-bass, Isaiah Spencer-drums
Octet Delfeayo Marsalis-trombone, Maurice Brown-trumpet, Norman
Palm-slide trombone, Tommy Bradford-alto sax, Justin Dillard-piano, Derick
Polk-bass, Isaiah Spencer-drums
http://www.jazzhope.com/BAND_EKDLiveTheSpirit.htm
http://www.offbeat.com/text/delfeayo.html
http://www.aacmchicago.org/members/ari.html
http://www.mauricebrown.net
http://www.8boldsouls.com
http://www.cobbala.com
Saturday September 13, 2003 morning
began with an imminent, familiar cloudiness.
Just the day before, the clouds had yielded a healthy flash flood,
catching me without an umbrella as I left a record store in Hyde Park. Though
previsions had been made in the event of rain to hold the 4th Annual
Englewood Community Jazz Festival inside at the community center, a momentary
disappointment merged in my mind.
I cleared the rainy thought out as
best as possible by remembering the cosmic experience of riding in a deluge of
rain to the Iowa City Jazz Festival with Hamid Drake and Fred Anderson. We listened to Hamid and Michael Zerang’s CD
entitled Ask the Sun http://www.okkadisk.com/releases/od12008.html, as we followed Harrison Bankhead and Jimmy Jones in another
car. The torrential downpour continued
for several miles, but as we neared the festival stage, the rain had slowed to
a sprinkle. By the time we exited the
van the rain had virtually stopped.
Then the sun came out and intensely dried the traces of rain. The Fred Anderson trio performed to an outdoor,
applauding audience.
As I traveled south to the Hamilton Park venue, I noticed
the sun peeking through the clouds. The
rain can’t get started! Not with all the good vibes descending. I arrived at the park to see equipment being
brought outside. The stage manager,
Carol Wolfe, had decided the festival would be held outdoors. Harrison Bankhead came over and greeted the
people assembling on the bleachers and we reminisced about Hamid’s discussion
of the power of sunshine within one’s soul and the limitless qualities we as
humans, all possess.
‘Round two, as Eclipse Sound finished the sound check, the festival commenced
with Ernest Dawkins thanking the people contributing to make the community
event possible, such as Lauren Deutsch of the Jazz Institute, Howard Reich of
the Chicago Tribune, Stewart Mann, Joan Grey of Muntu Dancers, Mr. Getsug for
his photography, and his father. He
acknowledged the decision of Carol Wolfe, the efficiency of Eclipse Sound, the
patience of the audience to move the “community event” outdoors, and the
creator for granting such a beautiful day.
He then announced the members of the first act would be introduced in
song.
Drummer and percussionist Kwame Steve Cobb, pianist Miguel de la Cerna and
bassist Yosef Ben Israel were introduced by improvised lyrics of vocalist
Chavunduka in the first song of Afro Blue, written by Mongo
Santamaria. (Afro
Blue is one of my favorite songs and the research of lyrics leads to loads of
web surfing. *) Chavunduka dedicated the next song, You
are the Sunshine of my Life, by Stevie Wonder, to the sun that now confidently
emerged. Chavunduka credited Dianne
Reeves and Sarah Vaughn with popularizing the next song My Funny
Valentine. She mentioned it was
part of her first recorded music on a cassette but for her and most likely the
rest of us watching, it is a timeless classic.
As the band amply backed Chava’s rendition of Sugar, some of the children chased soap bubbles distributed through the
air by a wand from a man carrying balloons.
The set of music was completed with Earth, Wind & Fire’s That’s
the Way of the World. I fetched
my sunglasses from my car and purchased the bottled water available, eager to
hear more of the creative music.
For more information on Chavunduka
and Kwame Steve Cobb: http://www.cobbala.com
Miguel de la Cerna
performances include vocalist Dee Alexander and vocalist Bobbi Wilsyn
Yosef Ben-Israel
performances include Ernest Dawkins New Horizons, Ari Brown Trio, and Malachi
Thompson’s Freebop, Michael Mason’s Exploratory Ensemble in Angels of Fire, Mwata Bowden's
Sound Spectrum, Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Douglas Ewart, Amina Claudine
Meyers, Joseph Jarman, and Steve Colson.
The 8 Bold Souls performed next on stage. This is an exciting collection of talent led
by Edward Wilkerson, Jr. (tenor, alto sax, clarinet, alto clarinet), and with
Robert Griffin (trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet), Mwata Bowden (baritone
and tenor sax, clarinet) Isaiah Jackson (trombone percussion), Gerald Deon
Powell (tuba), Naomi Millender (cello), Harrison Bankhead (contrabass), and
Dushun Mosley (trap drums, percussion).
Many of its members are seen and heard in other Chicagoland
ensembles. The songs played were Third
One Smiles, Pachinko, Odyssey, and Brown
Town. I have heard 8 Bold Souls
a few times before, but especially enjoyed this presentation out in the
sunshine and particularly Brown Town because I couldn’t wait to
hear and bop to the familiar part of the groove.
For more information on 8 Bold
Souls: http://www.8boldsouls.com
Amazon.com's Best of 2000
Chicago's 8 Bold Souls are local legends on their home turf.
Saxophonist and leader Ed Wilkerson's got an ear for dizzying sonorities,
mixing tuba, cello, bass, drums, brass, and reeds in swooning, sweeping
displays and then leading them into heated, richly pressing tunes that gallop
and sprint and hop. This band is one of jazz's hidden treasures, and Last
Option is an endless feast. --Andrew Bartlett
Amazon.com
Band leader Edward Wilkerson Jr., is a jazz auteur in the tradition of Duke
Ellington and Charles
Mingus: his compositions integrate a staggering sum of musical information
without calling attention to their own cleverness. "Third One Smiles"
has a funky swagger that'd make the Adderley
brothers proud; the dirge "The Art Of Tea" wouldn't sound out of
place at a New Orleans funeral; and "Odyssey" sounds quite, well,
Ellingtonian. Like his forbears, Wilkerson writes with his musicians' skills in
mind. They reward him with impassioned solos and, more importantly, disciplined
ensemble work. Wilkerson writes sumptuous arrangements that generate much more
sound than you'd expect from eight players; the leader and Mwata Bowden help
perpetrate this illusion by playing five reeds between them, and Gerald
Powell's tuba and Dushun Mosely's fleet drumming lay down an amply proportioned
rhythmic foundation. Bassist Harrison Bankhead and cellist Naomi Millender bow
exquisite shadings that reveal Wilkerson's affection for early 20th-century
impressionistic composer Maurice Ravel, while trumpeter Robert Griffin and
trombonist Isaiah Jackson add sugar and vinegar to the mix. Never mind the
bleak title, the jubilant music on Last Option holds hope for jazz's
future. --Bill Meyer
Then was the time for the Live the Spirit Band to consume
the stage with its vast array of young student musicians from the Englewood
area. The Live the Spirit Band included
special guests Ari Brown-sax and special
guest/one-time member, Maurice Brown-trumpet, Bryan Nichols-piano, Kurt
Schweitz-bass, Isaiah Spencer-drums, Corey Wilkes-trumpet, Ryan Nyther-trumpet,
Marquis Hill-trumpet, Normal Palm-bone, Tony Herrera-bone, Julius Brooks-bone,
Doug Rosenberg-sax, Kevin Nabors-tenor sax, Aaron Getsug-bari-sax, Jabari Powell-alto
sax, and Khari B-poet. Excluding guest elder
Ari Brown and conductor Ernest Dawkins, their ages ranged from 13 to 25. Poet Khari B. began with a snappin’ number
called Jazz to Hip-Hop to Bebop.
The lyrics will repeat in your ears.
Jazz to hip-hop to bebop…Jazz… Norman Palm’s composition Jazz to
Blues followed this. The set
closed with Etude in E-Minor, written by Ernest Dawkins as a
tribute to Gallery 37** in Bronzeville, explained drummer Isaiah Spencer, and
where he first met Ernest.
Trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis led the final act beginning with pianist
Justin Dillard, bassist Derick Polk and drummer Isaiah Spencer. He then beckoned trumpeter Maurice Brown to
join him on stage and played an audience request of Summertime. Delfeayo then added trombonist Norman Palm
and alto saxist Tommy Bradford for a version of “one of the first blues they
wrote down”, St. Louis Blues.
Though credited to W.C. Handy, many believe this was actually composed
by Jelly Roll Morton. Delfeayo returned
to the quartet setting with a very low chamber-blues type introduction and
finale of Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood. Delfeayo ended the evening with the full
septet in a snapping version of Caravan.
I enjoyed the plentitude of Love Supreme and the yards of invisible
threads weaving a matrix of related people and events through time. It was great to see and greet the familiar
faces and to meet the few I had not in the past (And obtain b-day autographs on
the new Sidereal b-day calendar from the Earth Center (http://theearthcenter.com). And of course listening to the music in the
sunshine, cooled by the trees was the ultimate frosting. I expect the Englewood Community festival to
continue as an annual affair on the “Jazzin’ with zebra Libra” jazz schedule (http://www.jazzhope.com/ToDoAsOfYYYY_MM_DD.htm) and look forward to
many more.
I thank Ernest Dawkins and those in the community who devote their
efforts in laying the foundation with the youth. I believe this excerpt and his quote from the June 8th
concert in 2002, says it better.
(http://www.meetthecomposer.org/works.html) “The concert kicked off at brunch by New
Residencies composer Ernest Dawkins' The Eagles and the Castle: A Vision
of Englewood, Mr. Dawkins' recent paean to his native community of
Englewood, on Chicago's South Side. The piece was performed by his Live the
Spirit Band, a 15-piece ensemble made up of student musicians from the
Englewood area. Of the piece, Mr. Dawkins says:
"It's a tribute to the
enduring courage, sacrifice, and triumph that has characterized the community
of Englewood and those countless youths and residents who had to battle to
claim a space in which to survive."
*AFRO
BLUE
Composed by
Mongo Santamaria
Lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr.
Familiar with version by John Coltrane
Dream
of a land my south is from
I hear a hand stroke on a drum
Shadows of light cocoa-hue
Rich as the night Af-ro Blue
Elegant boy beautiful girl
Dancing for joy der'lictic whirl
Shades of delight cocoa-hue
Rich as the night Afro Blue
Two young lovers are face to
face
With un-du-la-ting grace
They gently sway then slip a-way
to some seclud-ed place
Shades of delight co-coa hue
Rich as the night Af-ro Blue
Whispering trees echo their
sighs
Passionate pleas tender replys
Shades of delight cocoa hue
Rich as the night Afro Blue.
Lover in flight upwareds they
glide
Burst at the height slowly subside
Shades of delight cocoa hue
Rich as the night Afro Blue.
And
my slumbering fantasy
Assumes
reality
Until
it seems it’s not a dream
The
two are you and me
Shades
of delight cocoa hue
Rich
as the night Afro Blue.
**Gallery 37
http://streetlevel.iit.edu/youthprojects/edyc/hypot.html
Bronzeville: Bridging
The Gap by
Brandy,
Sanford, Sanantonio,
Paris, Tuwanna, King
Paul,
Erin ,
Raymond,
Leonard,
Kita
and Jahunnice
We the youth of Gallery 37 at
the Elliott Donnelley Youth Center are residents of Bronzeville. We are trying
to bridge the gap and put our community together. Our neighborhood spans from
North to South from 31st to 51st, and from East to West from Cottage Grove to
the Dan Ryan Expressway. We live in a historic community. Many
African-Americans migrated here to escape from slavery, and later, oppression
in the deep American South. Over several decades, African-Americans built
homes, established businesses, and formed social and cultural organizations.
Today, however, Bronzeville is in need of attention. Our community is filled
with crime, gang violence, poverty, and poor housing. People are sometimes
embarrassed and afraid to clean up the community. Peers often ridicule washing
windows, planting flowers, and doing other activities to beautify the
community.
We the youth of Bronzeville strongly believe in making a change in our
Community. We want the audience to understand that the Bronzeville community is
changing by promoting activities that are revitalizing the urban environment.
Our video will show this in action by showing the effects of planting flowers,
growing gardens, redeveloping vacant lots and implementing other necessary
steps to make changes in our community.
Our project will introduce several individuals and groups that are working to
improve neighborhoods. In Chicago, Project S.O.U.L. (Save Our Urban Land) is a
group that's working in the Bronzeville Community. Project S.O.U.L builds
community gardens and creates nature trails on undeveloped properties by
working in collaboration with community groups and organizations.
We will also document similar projects in other neighborhoods such as
Bridgeport and Englewood that are improving the environment. By showing these
various groups and projects we can learn some of the steps needed to improve
our surroundings. We want people to feel as if they can go out and do the same
thing within their own community. With dedication, and hard work, the results will
be phenomenal!
In life, we believe that we should try to make a better place for ourselves to
live. We want the audience to feel inspired, and to understand that our
community is where we live and is a representation of us. We need to stop
showing the negative side of our community and promote positive change. The
positive would then overshadow the negative and would reflect the good image
that the Bronzeville community once had.