Last Night On Clairmont: A Night of Magic

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. 

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.

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. 

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.

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.

The Kevin Bales Quartet Steams up the Mason Tavern

Pianist Kevin Bales

This past Saturday the quartet of the fine pianist Kevin Bales entertained the patrons of the Mason Tavern in North Decatur. The Tavern has been revitalized with the addition of partner Sam Yi, of Churchill Grounds fame, and his inclusion of Thursday night jazz sessions since December 8, 2016. The formula has worked so well that Sam recently expanded the music to include Saturday night shows.

Yi has been a fixture on the Atlanta jazz scene as the proprietor of the venerable jazz club “Churchill Grounds.”  The club was forced to close last July after a twenty-year run.  In search of an alternate venue, Sam was able to institute pop-up jazz events at the Mason Tavern, a local North Decatur eatery on Clairmont Road, and to date some extraordinary jazz has been played at this welcoming venue.

The venue has featured a stable of local and nationally recognized talent with names like Louis Heriveaux, Russell Gunn, Dave Potter, Craig Shaw, Darren English, Terrence and Deshawn Harper, Marlon Patton, Gary Motley and Chris Burroughs appearing on multiple occasions.  It has also seen the likes of Jason Marsalis, Carl Allen, Rodney Witaker, Theodross Avery and Russell Malone all sitting-in at the Tavern.

Kevin Bales and Sam Yi at Mason Tavern

On this evening, the renowned pianist Kevin Bales brought together a cooking ensemble, with Kevin Smith on upright bass, Robert Boone on drums and E.J. Hughes on saxophones. Bales is one of the Southwest’s busiest on-call jazz keyboard artists. A graduate from the University of North Florida music program, he has toured and recorded with iconic saxophonist Bunky Green, guitarist Nathen Page, trumpeter Marcus Printip, and Grammy nominated vocalist Rene Marie to name a few. His journeyman work as a sideman always adds a touch of inventiveness and energy to any artist he supports. He is a busy educator who offers individual and group lessons through his music company, Kevin Bales Music.

Robert Boone, dr; EJ Hughes,saxs; Kevin Smith, b; Kevin Bales, keys

After a brief introduction by Mr. Yi, the evening started out with Bales and company playing an Ellis Marsalis composition that I was unfamiliar with,” Swingin’ at the Haven.” The group took this easy swinger immediately into high gear with Bales pushing the pace and Boone and Smith responding in kind. E.J. Hughes played a sedate but tasteful soprano saxophone solo. The animated pianist soloed on his electronic keyboard with abandon.  He bounced on his small stool , jostling his keyboard with a joyous elan that shook the stand to the point of precariousness. His fleet right hand blurred the separation between notes with speed and agility.

The set continued with the classic “Time After Time,” a song originally penned for the film It happened in Brooklyn. Hughes on tenor this time using a vibrato-less, soulful tone that had no pretense or flash. Bassist Smith produced nice, plump walking bass notes over which Bales played a particularly bluesy piano solo.

The quartet proceeded with the traditional New Orleans standard “House of the Rising Sun,’ popularized by Eric Burden and the Animals in 1964. Under Bales direction the group took a deep, down and dirty approach to this blues classic. Bassist Smith showed off his arco abilities by bowing a soulful passage. Saxophonist Hughes also elicited some mournful notes on his sparse tenor. Drummer Boone tastefully kept the pace as Bales, a master of dynamics,  led his group up through a crescendo of tension ultimately easing the music back down to a skillful release.

“If I Were a Bell,” a song penned for the 1955 musical Guys and Dolls and made famous by Miles Davis rendition on his 1956 album Relaxin” with the Miles Davis Quintet, was next on the playlist.  The group played this with tremendously intuitive interplay, Boone being especially attentive to Bales musical suggestions along the way. Smith knowing precisely where to place purposeful bass line for maximum effect. This was surprising as Bales admitted to having not discussed the playlist with his rhythm section prior to the gig.

The group ended the first set with the title track from the 1990 Spike Lee movie of the same name “Mo Better Blues.” Bales switched the tone of his electronic keyboard to sound like an organ. The tone was perfect for the gospel inspired composition that had the band cooking, with Bales directing the up and down of the pace at will. Bales is an incredibly facile player who seems to have an inner wellspring from which percolates creativity and expansion in his playing. His ebullient personae is infectious spurring on his bandmates and assuring his audiences a night of musical adventure and steamy delight.

You can listen here:

https://play.spotify.com/artist/6rtoiKVyvoRkGROcRQ2bkr

The Spirit of Churchill Grounds lives as Julie Dexter Sings in the New Year at Decatur's Mason Tavern

Julie Dexter

On July 31,2016 Atlanta’s longest running jazz club, Churchill Grounds, shuttered its doors with a final concert at its downtown location adjacent to the Fox Theater. For many it was a shocking reminder of how fragile the economic existence of community based institutions and artistic venues can be. CG was the love child of its owner, Sam Yi, who nurtured the art form we call jazz and fostered a sense of community within and outside of its walls. Jazz musicians found a home at Yi’s little club for close to twenty years. Musicians and fans alike could congregate, socialize, listen to each other, learn, laugh, cry, improvise, entertain and be a part of something bigger than themselves. The club also had its hard-core fans, those who don’t necessarily play the music, but love it just the same and want to preserve this most original of American art forms for future generations. The club was a way station for young, up and coming musicians who found a space where they were given a chance to test their mettle, experiment with new ideas and sometimes get the rare opportunity to play with some of the music’s luminaries and elder statesmen. When Churchill Grounds closed, it was like a gaping hole was torn out of the heart of the Atlanta jazz community.

The good news is that since the closing Mr. Yi has been fervently working on finding a new location to reopen Churchill Grounds. It was recently announced that Yi has come to an agreement with Beacon Atlanta developer Phillipe Pellerin, to open a new Churchill Grounds jazz club in the soon to be revitalized Grant Park development. This is a twenty million dollar, mixed use, inner city development project that will take time to come to full fruition, but Yi is hopeful that the new club will be ready in a year. In the meantime, Yi has been setting up “pop up” jazz concerts in a local Decatur eatery, the Mason Tavern. For the last four Thursday evenings, the Tavern has hosted some of Atlanta’s finest jazz musicians, all pulled together by local trumpeter/producer Terrence Harper and curated by Yi. The shows have been a fabulous success drawing an ever-increasing audience to the Tavern on Thursday nights after 9 pm.

Appropriately, New Year’s Eve was the perfect chance to offer a jazz inspired celebration to usher in 2017 at the Mason Tavern. The Tavern offered music after dinner with a special performance by British born, Atlanta based vocalist Julie Dexter and a trio. Ms. Dexter, an established artist who has released seven albums to date, has a smooth, soulful voice that easily traverses the most difficult of jazz changes with an instrumentally based scat style.

The trio was made up of pianist Alex Williams on electric keyboards, drummer Jonathan Mills and bassist Steve Brown. They started the set warming up the crowd with Chick Corea’s “Windows” and then followed that by a Joe Henderson classic “Recorda Me.” Pianist William’s got to stretch out nicely on some of the changes on these two gems from the jazz anthology. Bassist Williams showed some animated pizzicato and drummer Mills established the solid groove.

Julie Dexter, Steve brown and Alex Williams, Jonathan Mills is playing drums

Ms. Dexter came out to what appeared to be a full house. She started her set with the 1926 Henderson/Dixon classic “Bye Bye Blackbird.” Ms. Dexter has a captivating voice that can easily grasp an otherwise rambunctious audience’s attention with her beguiling delivery and buoyant stage presence. She can scat with an instrumentalist’s sensibility and makes it all seem deceptively easy. Bassist Brown added a nice Arco bass solo to this one.  Ms. Dexter continued with swinging version of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” which she sang with a raucous blues sensibility, showing deft inflections and a soulful earnestness in her voice.

Ms. Dexter continued the set with Mongo Santamaria’s rhythmically driven “Afro Blue,” followed by “The Meaning of My Love,”  which seemed to lose the band at times and then into “The Nearness of You.” Perhaps her most moving performance came with her rendition of “Willow Weep for Me.” Her ability to reach into the lugubrious lyric and make it her own was worth the price of admission. A vocalist of extraordinary elasticity, M. Dexter offered her own version of the serpentine Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson composition “Four.”  A song made famous by Miles Davis; the lyrics were written and sung by the great vocalese master Jon Hendricks. Ms. Dexter, an obvious student of Hendricks, successfully demonstrated her own vocal dexterity on this challenging composition.

As the witching hour approached Ms. Dexter did an abbreviated version of the classic “My Favorite Things”, a Broadway tune from The Sound of Music that was made famous in the jazz lexicon by the saxophonist John Coltrane. She scatted her way into a countdown to the New Year in true jazz style as we all toasted to a hopeful and healthful New Year.

Once again jazz lives and breathes in the Atlanta area with the help of flame keepers like Sam Yi. While we wait for the new Churchill Grounds to open its doors next year in Grant Park, it’s nice to know that for the foreseeable future Yi continues to bring this live music to the Mason Tavern on Claremont Road in Decatur every Thursday night after 9 pm. 

Check her sing "Softly as the Morning Sunrise" from the show:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10211857270848142