ELVIN JONES JAZZ MACHINE (VANCOUVER, MARCH 3,97)
Brad Dardis
ELVIN JONES JAZZ MACHINE
Vancouver East Cultural Center, March 3 1997
As one very appreciative audience member elegantly put it, "You guys
kick ass!!" When was the last time you heard that about a band led by
a 69-year-old? To paraphrase someone else, Elvin Jones is definitely
one of the musicians carrying the Coltrane legacy (see upcoming review
on new Pharaoh Sanders "Message from Home"). After the sold-out
concert at the "Culch", I'd have to say I'd take a Jones piano trio
over a McCoy Tyner trio any time. After a 23 year absence, the man was
back, and hopefully his next visit to Vancouver won't be a long. He
joked about seeing the city for the first time(the weather), and
seemed to be touched by the warm reception, as the crowd started the
concert with a standing ovation. He also commented on the cozy
confines of the VECC: as a former church he thought it the perfect
place to play music, as he reminiced about starting his career at age
12 in a church with his brother Hank on piano.
The music? Two or three songs in each of the two sets: a lot of Monk,
an Ellington, an original by his wife. But more importantly, how to
describe the playing? (Brings to mind a quote by Steve Martin,
something to the effect that talking about music is like dancing to
architecture.) The trademark polyrhythmes were there, but what soul!
Something cliched about drummers half his age? The amazing stamina? As
he put it, "the songs are long, but they won't be boring." The band
is pretty awesome as well. A real jazz workshop. This was a band that
Jones controlled with just a look and a smile. At one point the
pianist, Carlos McKinney (a real highlight…can this guy be older than
25?) was starting a tune at a much louder dynamic than what Jones had
in mind. He repeatedly tried to get McKinney to bring the level down,
finally communicated that he should just stop playing and listen, and
then was invited to rejoin the band latter when he had the idea. There
was complete freedom to play, but one had to listen as well. It was
the sort of thing you would associate with Betty Carter, only done
with so much warmth and obvious affection. At another point he was
looking at Javon Jackson and Delfaeyo Marsalis and laughing and having
such a good time that before long they were both bopping to the music.
We can only imagine what they were thinking. Both musicians were in
fine form, Jackson at times making one long for Coltrane, but in a
good way! Marsalis was especially refreshing. Some have a love-hate
relationship with the Marsalis family, and trombone hasn't been the
easiest jazz instrument for me to appreciate, but here finally was
another Marsalis who would rather play the music, than talk about it.
Most importantly, here was a man with warmth in his heart, and a
desire to share stories. He talked about paying homage to Monk at the
Five Spot in New York in the early 1960's. As he tells it, this was a
place for drunks and starving artists where if you arrived early you
could beat the cover and nurse a beer all night. All in all, perhaps
the most powerful, explosive and virtuosic jazz drummer of all time,
definitely the concert of a lifetime, always to be treasured by those
lucky few in attendance.
Mark Mushet
bda...@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca (Brad Dardis) wrote:
>ELVIN JONES JAZZ MACHINE
>Vancouver East Cultural Center, March 3 1997
snip review
>All in all, perhaps the most powerful, explosive and virtuosic jazz drummer of all time,
>definitely the concert of a lifetime, always to be treasured by those
>lucky few in attendance.
...who had neary fifty bucks to part with for the experience.
MRM
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