Everyone has been raving about the second
annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival, with audience members
visiting from as far away as Poland, announced festival spokeswoman
Torrie McCartney Wednesday.
Reviews of two of the Park Slope performances
follow.
Night of the Cookers Reunion
Up Over Jazz Cafe, 351 Fulton St. at Seventh Avenue
April 7, 2001
In April of 1965, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard
assembled a group of talented young musicians to record a live
album for Blue Note records at the La Marchal Supper Club on
Nostrand Avenue at President Street in Crown Heights.
The album was released under the title
"The Night of the Cookers," and has since become a
hard-bop classic. As part of the second annual Central Brooklyn
Jazz Festival, the Up Over Jazz Cafe hosted a two-night reunion
featuring original members of the legendary Cookers band; and
even though 36 years have passed since that night, those guys
can still cook.
Although the night wasn’t the all-out blowout
that can be found on the original album, the Cookers Reunion
band – which featured James Spaulding and Craig Handy on saxophone,
Virgil Jones and David Weiss on trumpet, Kiane Zawadi on trombone,
Ronnie Matthews on piano, Larry Ridley on bass, and Pete "La
Roca" Sims on drums, (Hubbard canceled, citing health reasons)
– performed classic tunes from the Hubbard songbook with very
pleasing results.
Veteran Spaulding and the "Young Lion"
Handy, both tore up the stage with powerfully emotional and explosive
solos on smokers like "Outer Forces" and "Bob’s
Place" (dedicated to Robert Myers of the Up Over Jazz Cafe).
Brooklyn legend Matthews dazzled everyone
with his imaginative phrasing and light touch, while the rhythm
section of Ridley and Sims was rock solid, although perhaps a
little lost in the mix compared to the horns.
All in all, it was a great night for jazz
in Brooklyn. Hopefully, these amazingly talented jazzmen won’t
wait another 36 years to have their next reunion.
Billy Harper Quintet
Up Over Jazz Cafe
April 13, 2001
Although jazz was conceived and birthed
in America from the marriage of African and European music traditions,
this unique and important art form is mostly under-appreciated
in this country, as are the artists that create it. Many American
jazz musicians have achieved acceptance, popularity and success
in Europe and Asia while remaining relatively unknown in the
United States.
Saxophonist Billy Harper is one such artist,
having recorded almost 20 albums in the last 30 years, only two
or three of which are available domestically.
As part of the second annual Central Brooklyn
Jazz Festival, Billy brought his quintet (which features Eddie
Henderson on trumpet, Francesca Tankley on piano, Clarence Seay
on bass and Newman Taylor-Baker on drums) to the Up Over Jazz
Cafe. Those in attendance had the rare opportunity to appreciate
firsthand an artist at work.
Harper took the stage in a black leather
poncho, invoking the image of both Pope John Paul and John Shaft.
His music is a similar mix of spirituality and raw energy, reminiscent
of late-era Coltrane.
The hymn-like "If One Could Only See,"
featuring guest vocalist Judy Bady, found Harper in a quiet and
reflective mood, while the Asian-tinged "Soran Bushi BH"
was filled with urgency, intensity and passion.
Harper’s sound and ideas were the clear
focus of the evening, with the rest of the group providing the
pulpit for his sermon. That being said, pianist Tankley greatly
enhanced the overall performance with her percussive style and
tonal chording.
Grand finale
The closing event of the second annual
Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival takes place at St. Phillip’s Episcopal
Church [265 Decatur St., (718) 778-8700] on April 28. Both the
Torrie McCartney Quintet and the Drake Colley Quartet will perform.
Vocalist McCartney, who will be performing
original songs off of her upcoming album "Torrie McCartney,"
will be accompanied by renowned bassist Bob Cunningham. Admission
to the performance, which begins at 3 pm, is $20.
