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| Sam Skelton, Justin Varnes, Delbert Felix and Brian Hogans |
Last night, at a local restaurant in the shadows of Emory University called the Mason Tavern on Clairmont Road in North Decatur, I
was fortunate to be able to experience some of the best live jazz that I have
seen since arriving to the Atlanta area from the New York metro area two and
one-half years ago. Four extraordinary, locally based, musicians came together
and did an impromptu, two-set show at proprietor Sam Yi’s latest bastion of jazz, The Mason Tavern.
You may remember Sam from his
nearly twenty-year run as the proprietor of the now closed Churchill Grounds
jazz club in downtown next to the Fox theater. Churchill Grounds was a beacon
of light, hope and support for the jazz community here in Atlanta and Yi
expects to open a new club in Grant Park sometime early next year under the
same banner. The original club closed in July of last year and for the last six
months or so Yi set up a pop-up jazz night in conjunction with local musician
Terrence Harper at this new location in North Decatur. I have been going frequently to the club on
Thursday nights where Harper and Yi usually provides a core band of local
professionals that are then augmented by other local musicians, who are
encouraged to sit in with the band. It has been especially rewarding to see
young musicians, some from great distances, come to sit in and get an
opportunity to hone their skills in a real-life session with other professionals
and in front of an audience.
This past Friday night, however, was something special. Brian
Hogans, Sam Skelton, Delbert Felix and Justin Varnes put on one of the most
rewarding sets of music that I have seen in a long time. A little background on
these musicians can give you an idea of just how special this event was.
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| Brian Hogans |
Brian Hogans is a thirty-five-year old alto saxophonist/pianist, who hails from
Morrow, GA and has been playing jazz since he was fifteen years old. His
superlative technique and inventive harmonic sensibility has attracted a great
deal of attention beyond the local Atlanta scene, where he is considered among the
finest saxophonists in the South. Brian’s fiery work, particularly on alto, has
been featured in his own groups as well as groups led by drummer E.J.
Strickland, trumpeters Russell Gunn, Etienne Charles and Sean Jones and Hogans can
often be seen in the saxophone section of Joe Gransden’s Big Band.
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| Sam Skelton |
Saxophonist Sam Skelton is a phenomenally gifted player as well as an
influential educator and current Director of Jazz Studies at Kennesaw State
University. As a multi-reed player of exceptional talent, Skelton’s work can be
heard on everything from the music of Elton John to the London Symphony
Orchestra. He has credits on over two hundred and fifty recordings.
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| Delbert Felix |
Delbert
Felix’s is one of those bass players that just makes you smile when you see him
play. Originally inspired by the electric funk bass work of Bootsie Collins and
Larry Graham, Felix is an in-demand upright player in his own right. His style
is ebullient and his fingers are fleet, but it is his joyous love of what he
does that makes his playing so special. Felix’s pedigree include work with
Wynton, Brandford and Ellis Marsalis, iconic tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, fusion
drummer Billy Cobham and local crooner legend Freddie Cole amongst others.
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| Justin Varnes |
Drummer Justin Varnes did his formal musical
education at the University of North Florida with saxophone legend Bunky Green
and later continued his education in New York at the New School. He is a
working drummer who has an abundance of technique, but more importantly a
boatload of taste. He has toured with singer Phoebe Snow and has played with
everyone from trombonist Wycliffe Gordon to piano icon Kenny Baron. Justin has on online teaching
website called Jazz Drummer’s Resource where he shares some of his techniques
with students. Locally he is often the go to drummer in groups led by trumpeter Joe Gransden and the
pianists Kevin Bales and Gary Motley among others.
With such a formidable group of talent on hand, I
expected the music to be both challenging and entertaining. The group ran
through the opening song, Thelonious Monk’s “Green Chimneys” and we were off to
the races. Hogans and Skelton both playing synchronously and traded licks,
never sounding alike or for that matter like anyone else but themselves. They
spurred each other and the rhythm section on to new heights. Varnes and Felix set
the pace perfectly for these two to go off on the quirky melody. The songs were
excellent selections from the jazz canon.
The group just morphed from one into
the other: “All Blues,” with Hogans sounding like Cannonball, I’ll Remember April,”
“Body and Soul” with Skelton sounding very Webster-esque, a Coltrane inspired
tune that sounded like it was based on “Giant Steps” and a Freddie Hubbard classic
“First Light.” The group continued with the Ellington/Tizol classic “Caravan”
and then a hard bop tune from Horace Silver “Doodlin’.”
As drummer Varnes explained to me at the break, the group
decided to choose a set of songs that were familiar to all, but then to let
their creative abilities to improvise propel where the group would take the
music. The result was electric, daring and totally enjoyable. The audience was
engrossed with the unexpected twists and turns that each musician brought to
the party. Unexpected gems around every corner. The music was surprisingly
elastic, allowing for stretching ideas into new territory, spurring new paths of invention from each member.
The group took no break between songs, preferring to allow
the last idea to unfold into the next tune organically. Bassist Felix was a joy
to behold as he often danced with his upright in a display of oneness with his
instrument. Varnes utilized all the sticks, mallets and brushes at his disposal, made his snare, toms and cymbals sing with purpose, while never missing a
beat. Hogans and Skelton were like two lions trading roars, brandishing their
claws at times or laying back on their regal haunches taking in the scene that they
just instigated. It was creativity at its best, spontaneous, unrehearsed and
magical.
After a short intermission, the group returned and finished the
second set with “Invitation,” Joe Henderson's "Recorda Mi" Mal Waldorn's "Alone Together" and “There Will Never Be Another You.” They ended as they began with a Monk tune.
These guys will return to the Mason Tavern again tonight for
a repeat performance starting at 9pm. If you love jazz or just great music the
way I do, you owe it to yourself to get down there and catch these artist and be
part of this magic. Chemistry like this doesn’t occur that often, so don’t miss
this chance to support live music at its best. The Mason Tavern is at 1371 Clairmont Road, Decatur, GA 30033.
