Articles & Excerpts             

Ann Arbor Concert Reviews:

Blog
by Lazaro Vega, a Public Radio Announcer/Producer
from http://forums.allaboutjazz.com/

On the way down I’d heard all of a Louis Armstrong Jubilee broadcast with his orchestra, Rochester, special guest Jack Benny, M.C. Ernie Bubbles Whitman, some good tunes for Armstrong, and a feature for Joe Garland, is it?, tenor; as well as the companion concert on the cd by Red Allen with J.C. Higginbotham, alto Don Stovall, Bigard....had just switched to the first Coltrane live at the Village Vanguard when the storm hit.

Unrelenting heavy rain gusting winds all the way from this side of Grand Rapids to Lansing. Washers high speed and just white to silver to gray searching for red. There were tornado warnings in Kent County my wife says on the celli as outside somewhere are farms. Zero visibility for stretches first in single lane construction then amid football traffic. I voted to myself to not turn around three times as that danger was past, why turn around and drive into it again because it had to be better on down the road.The luck of the Irish screwed Michigan State but it kept my ass behind some Ted Nugent white Rancher and followed his taillights, a freak angel amid the weather fury of John Coltrane’s 80th birthday.

After Lansing cruise control again and, after Brighton, a switch from the Vanguard set to WEMU, and they took me right to the ramp on Thayer across from Hill Auditorium with an incredible 80th Birthday tribute. Spontaneously literate radio. Came in on what might have been “Equinox.” Listened to “Mr. Sims” before leaving.

Alice Coltrane’s Translinear Light Quartet began the concert with a number -- I wrote nothing down -- which recalled the meditative tempo and three bass drum beats that Coltrane blew so much over. Haynes just pulsed the concert to life with his foot pedal and ever elaborating poly rhythms.

Haden was not heard well in the first set -- there was no punch to his sound, and the large vibrational low end was in Haynes bass drum and Mrs. Coltrane’s left hand on her Wurlitzer organ, which also brought out the Eastern aspect in sound and, under her hands, an improvisational concept exploring incrementally different intervals, widening and contracting them in insistent flutters but driven by an energy which reminded me of John Coltrane’s. Her ability to leap registers with both hands playing harmonic counterpoint against each other sounded like an elaboration on Coltrane’s band.

There was a lovely piano/bass duet with Haden in the first set, though, and then Haden was well featured. His deliberate, simple variation on three notes gave the concert Ornette’s improvisational approach, a nice layer to the evening as a reminder of Ornette’s influence on Trane.

Haden and Haynes hooked up, though, as Haden creates his own drones without a bow and Roy dances with it. She leaves little by the way of breathing points, especially on Wurlitzer. Roy elbowed his way in and took it up during “Impressions,” bringing pithy, fast tom-tom and cymbal riffs which grew in intensity and length as the number built. Brought the house down. It wasn’t while with Ravi -- could anything top John Coltrane and Roy Haynes at Newport 1963? -- but as Alice continued to lengthen her modal verging on free method solo Haynes led the band to an early high point in the concert.

The show had its moments.

Alice Coltrane’s one trip to the synthesizer was a star gaze, and a relief from the sameness in dynamic range of the Wurlitzer.

The first number featured piano, and she played piano during the encore, taking the bass vamp from “A Love Supreme” to heart with her left hand. Her piano solos were beautiful, ornate terms of exploration, gentle in spirit. Ravi’s brightest moment was during “Leo.” After Ravi’s familiarity with Coltrane’s later approach, and Alice's long exploration, Haden zeroed in on that opening interval, the mere hint of a “head,” throughout his solo on “Leo” and it was mind blowing.

The film after intermission was a well written, tastefully done tribute, and it filled in Alice Coltrane’s years off the recording/touring scene (teaching and developing institution) and her activity since returning to playing in 1998. The film was comic, too, in it strung together clips of Hollywood film actors talking about John Coltrane via dialogue in popular movies.

Big love in the house last night for Alice Coltrane, who is from nearby Detroit. Having Coltrane's family in one spot for his 80th birthday -- history is ongoing. Ideas alive and evolving.

Of course nothing will top Coltrane's own band with Alice. Hearing Roy Haynes with her was interesting as he's very different than Rashied Ali, or even DeJohnette. Haden and Haynes held the show together, kept rhythmic textures changing enough in intensity and dynamic variety that Alice’s deep explorations of time extending into time like a Raga took more shape than a monochromatic line. Together everyone gave the now version of the sounds Coltrane’s band with Alice inspired, and included the surviving drummer from John’s own great quartet, and a fulcrum member of a quartet which deeply inspired Coltrane. No wonder people were standing and cheering for five minutes before the band played a note -- there's still something going on out there.

The writer and WEMU producer George Klein was sitting in the same aisle. He’s another great one. George, and all of WEMU, is concerned with drawing more young people to jazz. It was good to talk to him. His daughter is an editor at Metro Times in Detroit. Klein helped me with instructions out of there. Before hitting US 23 off Washtenaw my wife was on the phone giving me the play by play on the Michigan State disaster.

The rest of the way home, with one stop for gas in Okemos -- the football fans were spinning angry tires on the wet pavement there -- it was The Art Ensemble 1967/68 (Nessa) discs one and most of disc 2. Love “Theme Statements.” Was enlightened by the first take of “Tatas Matas” as it is so tentative compared to the “master.” Could listen to “Old” forever.

Though Bowie’s long solo on “Quartet No. 1” is an incredible thing to hear, as is Philip Wilson’s drumming as he follows some melodic events with the suggestion of an energy music ride cymbal only to trail off in diminuendo and slow down to silence, the over all performance eventually lost me with the long, long rests and elaborate events that came out of them. Thought the use of silence on “Quartet No. 2” was more “composed,” or more under control, and that the richer textures of the second piece more engaging.

“Trio (Oh, Suzannah)” was back to Trane, in the sense of elaborate variation of a simple theme using, for 1967, a new improvisational approach to duration and intensity. Though Roscoe’s intro is anything but rubato tension building in the same way as Trane’s quartet, and his overlay of irony in a post modern genre crossing is in another emotional dimension than “My Favorite Things.”

Two o’clock and good to be home having sandwich and a beer, looking at ESNP hype the comeback on Michigan State as Notre Dame’s season saving emotional shot in the arm after being pasted by U of M the week before.

John Coltrane’s 80th Birthday, September 23, 2006. What a jolt.