Motor City Musical History

As a novice jazz writer in the early 1970s I'd read Nat Hentoff, Whitney Ballet, Leonard Feather, Steve Lake (in England's Melody Maker), DownBeat, and others, in hope that some of those styles would rub off on me.  It took time but I finally realized two important things; 1) - readers appreciate you more if you speak in your own voice and 2) - if you really engage in deep listening and do not rely on snap judgements, you will find the words to describe the indescribable.  Still working on it!

I still seek out as many writers as I can (the Internet certainly helped that search) and discovered Mark Stryker (pictured left) a decade or so ago.  His articles for the Detroit Free Press helped to open my eyes to the importance of the city's jazz scene on modern jazz and the many musicians who came from the area  Like most larger U.S. industrial cities, Detroit's neighborhoods were filled with bars and nightclubs, places for workers to take it easy after a long day or long week in the factories. Many of those clubs had live entertainment where jazz and blues musicians older and younger cut their teeth playing all styles of contemporary.

Mr. Stryker has created a history of those people and their impact on the city and beyond, in an extremely well-researched and lovingly written book. "Jazz From Detroit" (University of Michigan Press) traces the development of the city's once burgeoning jazz scene to its lean years (really, since the 1990s) to today and a sense of rebirth for the music, musicians, and the cities.  In six parts, the author profiles legendary folks, such as composer/bandleader Gerald Wilson, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, pianists Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, and Roland Hanna, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Ron Carter, and saxophonist Joe Henderson.  That's just the first section of the book. Mr. Stryker makes sure the readers understand how important the Jones Brothers – pianist Hank, trumpeter/composer/arranger Thad, and drummer Elvin – were and still are to the music of the 70s, 80s, and 90s and into the 21st Century.  We meet the musicians of the Detroit Jazz Workshops and other Black music organizations of the 1970s that gave artists such as pianist Kenn Cox, trumpeter Charles Moore, trombonist Phil Ranelin, saxophonist Wendell Harrison, and,  most of all, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave whose spirit and mentorship of young musicians inspires the final third of the book.

Mr. Belgrave (1936-2015) worked with the Ray Charles Orchestra in the early 1950s, moved to NewYork City where he played with Eric Dolphy and Charles Mingus, and moved to Detroit in the early 1960s to become a staff musician at Motown Records.  Part five of "Jazz in Detroit" looks at a number of musicians that Mr. Belgrave mentored including pianist Geri Allen, saxophonists James Carter and Kenny Garrett, bassists Robert Hurst and Rodney Whittaker, and drummers Kareen Riggins and Gerald Cleaver.  Most, if not all, of those listed serve (or served) as mentors or teachers to younger musicians in the Detroit area.

The final section looks at the present-day situation (as of 20
18) and offers hope for the proud city and the music it sired.  Throughout the book, Mr. Strkyer gives examples of the music, offers insight into what life was like in the city during the youth and early careers of the musicians – an important factor in the development of these people is what the public schools and its dedicated teachers were able to provide in the way of instruction, band opportunities, and access to instruments.

"Jazz in Detroit" is a deep dive into the heart and soul of a city that created so much of the important music of the 20th Century.  For this reader, the descriptions of the musicians as they were playing are often priceless: for example, the author writes about Elvin Jones's drumming – "On a technical level, Jones reinvented the fundamental bebop ride cymbal beat with his right hand. He reorganized the standard ding-dinga-ding pattern, breaking up the beat with fluidity and phrasing over bar lines. Jones scattered triplets across the drum kit with his left hand and integrated all four limbs into a churning undertow. He further unshackled the beat by abandoning the conventional practice of accenting beats 2 and 4 in every bar of 4/4 time on the hi-hat. Instead, he folded the hi-hat into his vortex."  Then, there's Kenny Burrell's tone on guitar  (pictured above)- "Instantly recognizable, it’s a singing sound, a seductive purr, with a faint halo of reverb and a refined attack that’s crisp upfront but finishes as warm and mellow as cognac."  

Mark Stryker makes musical history come alive in this book. If you're curious about that history, its roots and musicians, plus its implications for the future, look no further than "Jazz in Detroit" – the book is necessary reading!

For more information, go to jazzfromdetroit.com.

Now For Something Completely Different...No, Really

When I am not listening to music for fun or review purposes (it's usually fun), there is usually a book or 2 by my bedside.  Walking through our local public library the other week, I came across "Blue Revolution: Unmaking America's Water Crisis."  Published in September of 2011 by Beacon Press, it's the culmination of several years of study, many thousands of miles of travel and immeasurable hours of rumination on water usage, the wasting of this precious resource and what communities and countries are doing to make sure  that we and future generations will be have enough water to live.

Not surprisingly, the author Cynthia Barnett is a veteran journalist and historian (with a specialization in environmental history.)  A resident of Florida, her previous book, 2007's "Mirage", used the ongoing water issues in that state as a springboard to discuss developers, city planners and others moved communities away from water (damming rivers, cutting off access to rivers and lakes, siphoning water from rivers and watersheds to supply new communities).  The new book goes even farther (for instance, Australia and Singapore) and finds that, though problems are many, solutions are in place and in development.

Ms. Barnett writes well, passionately (without bitter polemics) and does not take political sides.  She realizes, as do many people around the world, we are all in this together and must work together to right the decades of wrongs.  And, she's optimistic that people will make sacrifices for the general good.

I had the opportunity to interview Cynthia Barnett as a segment of Suzanne Thompson's "CT Outdoors", heard weekly from 12:30 - 1 p.m. on WLIS-AM and WMRD-AM (in Old Saybrook and Middletown, CT).  You can listen to the 2-part interview by clicking on the links below.  To find out more about Ms. Barnett and her books, go to www.cynthiabarnett.net/.


archive.org/details/CynthiaBarnett-CtOutdoorspart1
archive.org/details/CynthiaBarnett-CtOutdoorspart2

Brass Bonanza (Part 1)

I admit to rarely moving out of my comfort zone, basically the room with the computers and the CDs.  Bur, I do love "live" music, I like to watch musicians interact, create on the spot, "think" on their feet, and react to the audience.


Last night, I hopped into the car and drove 80+ miles to Montague, Mass, the home of the Montague Bookmill, an old grist mill that's been converted into a bookstore/performance space with quite the cafe on the lower level.  I went to see and hear TIN/BAG,the duo of Kris Tiner (trumpet) and Mike Baggetta (guitar), whose new CD "Bridges" (Mabnotes) is one of the better releases of 2011 (my review is here.)  Opening the show was a high school friend of Baggetta's, singer-songwriter-acoustic guitarist Nathan Hobbs. In the humid air, with windows wide open, fans whirring and the sounds of the Cafe's customers ringing through the room, some of the subtleties of Hobb's lyrics got lost.  But his guitar was mesmerizing, the slow quiet delivery of the words often hypnotizing, and, in the summer's heavy air, the music was soothing to the ears.

After a short break, Messrs. Tiner (a resident of Bakersfield, CA) and Baggetta (now living in New York City) moved into the title tune of the CD.  The guitarist opened the piece solo, overtones, full chords, a handsome melody rising out of the introduction - Tiner, who gets his "wild on" with the Industrial Jazz Group, moved easily into his melody lines, never forcing the pace.  His crisp tone meshed well with the fullness of the amplified guitar throughout the evening.  Their music, too, was mesmerizing but a bit more playful with a Hank Williams tune (there was than a touch of Bill Frisell in Baggetta's sonic explorations) and a straight-forward reading of "Broken Windmills", a pensive ballad from the Blue Cranes.   Closing with a Willie Nelson song (sounding a lot like "The Tennessee Waltz"), the music soared through the room, landing softly on appreciative ears.  Despite the humidity, the intimacy of the music and the creativity of the duo made any physical hardship seem minor.

Although the duo does not play together as often as they (or music lovers) would like, they have a West Coast tour planned for October of this year.  To find out more, go to either kristiner.com or www.mikebaggetta.com. 

I drove home from the concert listening to trumpeter Randy Brecker's sumptuous new recording with the DR (Danish Radio) Big Band, Michael Bojesen, conductor.  "The Jazz Ballad Song Book" (Red Dot Music/Half Note Records) has much to recommend it, not the least of which is Brecker's impressive melodicism, his fine solos and rich tone.  Surrounded by the 19-piece aggregation plus the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, the program ranges from classic standards, such as "Cry Me A River" (with an evocative arrangement from Jasper Riis) and "Skylark" (arrangement by Gerard Presencer and Siobhan Lamb) to jazz favorites such as ""Round Midnight" (arrangement by Bill Dobbins with the string arrangement by Siobhan Lamb).  There's a particularly rousing take on John Barry's "Goldfinger" (with excellent drum work from Soren Frost).  There are even a pair of Brecker originals, "Foregone Conclusion" (a funky piece arranged by Vince Mendoza) and the light-hearted "I Talk to the Trees" (also arranged by Mendoza), impressive for the way the arrangement wraps the brass, horns and strings around Brecker's trumpet lines.

There are a few moments when the strings, to my ears, get in the way but, most of the time, the arrangements are imaginative, well-played and add greatly to the presentation.  Randy Brecker never falters, displaying his creativity solo after solo, while members of DR also get the spotlight on a number of tracks.  This may remind some listeners of Miles Davis & Gil Evans' work on "Miles Ahead" (no strings attached to that but listen to the rhythm sections) - "The Jazz Ballad Song Book" hearkens back to that collaboration and is mighty easy on the ears. For more information, go to reddotmusic.net.

Before the concert, I continued digging in to the fine new book, "What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong's Later Years" (Pantheon).  The work of journalist/historian/pianist Ricky Riccardi, the book takes a comprehensive look at the last 25 years of the great musician/entertainer's life and career (tough to separate.)  Armstrong was often depicted as a "moldy fig", a "throwback", even worse, an "Uncle Tom", but the doors he opened for African American musicians, actors and writers took great courage, fortitude and determination. Riccardi debunks those myths and more, including the one that the trumpeter was not as good a musician after becoming popular.  Yes, he was an entertainer, he had a "shtick", but he was the smiling face of American music throughout the world, bringing jazz to parts of the globe that had never heard it.  He was wildly popular in Europe and Japan, made State Department trips to Africa and rarely rested.  Everyone knows of his daily use of marijuana and more people should know of his condemnation of the way Blacks were treated in the United States (all popular African American entertainers can talk about playing to full houses in the southern part of the United States and not being allowed to stay in good hotels or even eat with their audiences.)

Louis Armstrong took much heat during his life but, most often, let his trumpet and songs do the talking.  Ricky Riccardi's book gives the man his proper due and it would be great to hear all the songs he references in the text. You can actually do that by going to Riccardi's excellent website - dippermouth.blogspot.com - and, what a treat that site is.  Along with Terry Teachout's 2009 "Pops", "What a Wonderful World" makes abundantly clear just how much "Satchmo" meant to American music in the 20th Century.