A Night of High Art : Atlanta's High Museum "Jazz on Fridays" : The Dave Potter Quintet

  Miguel Alvarado sax, Darren English trpt, Louis Heriveaux Keys, Craig Shaw bass, Dave Potter Drums.

                  

Last Friday night, as part of the “Jazz on Fridays” series at Atlanta’s High Museum, patrons of the museum were treated to some of Atlanta’s finest jazz musicians as they performed standards from the American songbook and some original music.  The featured group was The Dave Potter Quintet with Louis Heriveaux on keyboard, Craig “Shawbox” Shaw on upright bass, Darren English on trumpet, Miguel Alvarado on saxophones, and drummer/ leader Dave Potter.

Potter is an Atlanta based drummer who studied music at Florida State University under the mentorship of the pianist Marcus Roberts. He received his master’s degree from FSU in 2008. Besides sharing the stage with pianist Roberts, trumpeter Marcus Printup and others he has been an integral part of Jason Marsalis’s Vibe Quartet and recorded with the vibraphone artist on several albums including his latest, highly received The Twenty-First Century Trad Band.

On this early evening, there was a line of people anxiously awaiting the opening of the atrium where Potter and company would perform. The atrium area at the High Museum is a soaring, light filled expanse that is surrounded by an exposed stairwell that coils its way to the upper floors of the museum and offers a view of the City. The architectural firm of Richard Mier and Partners consciously designed the High museum with Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim in mind. The glass exterior wall floods the area with natural light, which in the designer’s plan is a symbol of the enlightenment an institution of art and culture brings to its community and to all who enter the museum’s doors.

The Light Filled Atrium at the High Museum 

There were by some counts upwards of one thousand patrons enjoying the music. Some were seated, some stood, others milled around the atrium enjoying the diverse, cosmopolitan community that is Atlanta in all its splendor, while being thoroughly entertained by these top-notch musicians. For the uninitiated, it was a time of discovery as most of these musicians are all based in Atlanta and can be seen fairly regularly in local venues as well as with nationally touring acts.  Lest anyone fear they have to go to New York or New Orleans to see great jazz, these gentlemen shot an arrow into that balloon of nonsense.

After a brief introduction by WCLK Jazztones DJ Jay Edwards, the group started the set off with a quick paced, hard bop blues composed by the trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. Mr. Potter resplendent in his white suit with dark shirt and light tie leading the way. Mr. English and Mr. Alvarado charging into the melody in synchronous precision. They moved into the Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Mercer standard “I Thought About You” followed by another Van Heusen song “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” where Heriveaux enchanted the crowd with his marvelous keyboard work. If there is one criticism I can levy it is the disappointing lack of a real grand piano in this space. For such a marvelous musician as Mr. Heriveaux not to have a suitable piano here is a crime.



The band followed with the contemporary sound of Wayne Shorter’s “Night Dreamer.” After a spell I took off my journalist’s hat and just listened to and enjoyed the music, paying less attention to what songs they were playing and more into how well they were being played. The front line of trumpeter Darren English and saxophonist Miguel Alvarado was sensational. They often stated the melody line in crisp unified form before each taking robust and creative solos. The rhythm section, driven by Potter and anchored by Shaw and Heriveaux was superb. The pace of the music was often double time, with the rhythm section driving the two horn soloists to step up their game not to be left behind
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This was my first exposure to the saxophonist Miguel Alvarado who now hails from Nashville, Tennessee and what a pleasant surprise he was. His tenor had a rich, deep tone reminiscent of sax legend Houston Person, but when the pace was pushed by Potter and company he became an incendiary soloist of the highest order. The young South African, now native Atlanta trumpeter Darren English did an admirable job trading solos with Alvarado. English used mutes effectively to change up the sound of his open bell  trumpet and intensify the exchange with Alvarado. Not enough can be said about the stabilizing influence of “Shawbox” Shaw’s bass who kept an unerring pulse to the often-frantic proceedings and offered some nice solo work of his own invention.

The second set was more exploratory in that it offered some original tunes by Potter’s mentor Marcus Roberts, a Thelonious Monk composition and a rendition of “The Nearness of You” that had Alvarado ‘s tenor sounding very Dexter Gordonish. The group also did a Potter original “The Ratio Man” with Alvarado picking up the soprano saxophone for this one.  “Letting Loose” was an off to the races sprint that had Potter pushing the tempo with Elvin Jones like flourishes.

While I did not stay for the third set, the atrium was still SRO by the end of the second set. It is clear that Atlanta’s sophisticated listeners appreciate a good time and good music and will support highly cultural experiences like “Jazz on Fridays.” My only wish is that the crowd be a little quieter in respect to the musicians. The din was some times distracting. The High Museum, in association with WCLK, should be proud for presenting such a community service that obviously fills a need and at the same time preserves our only truly all American art form.To paraphrase a famous saying from an endearing baseball movie “If you present it , they will come.”

A view from above The Dave Potter Quartet

Atlanta's Own Freddy Cole plays the Velvet Note

The Velvet Note

About twenty-five miles due north of downtown , a short thirty minute ride up rte 400, is the Velvet Note possibly the best jazz club in the Metro Atlanta area. General Manager Tamara Fuller, like many of us a transplanted New Yorker, started this club almost four years ago with the idea of creating a club that would appeal to musicians, a place where people could experience live music in a living room setting with exceptional sound. To that end she employed an acoustic design engineer to create an atmosphere that maintains vocal and instrumental fidelity throughout the space. The casual, rug clad space is curiously located in a renovated retail store in a strip mall flanked by a Chiropractic office and a Barber Shop. In keeping with the intimate, living room style there are some small tables, some larger community tables, some randomly placed chairs and even a comfortable sofa on which to sit and a rather generous stage that can be seen easily from almost every vantage. 

The venue seats about fifty patrons comfortably and food and drink are available from a courteous and helpful staff. On this past Saturday evening the Note brought Atanta’s own Freddy Cole and his quartet in for an evening of story and song. Mr. Cole is a dapper eighty-four years young and truly one of America’s enduring treasures. He still commands a subtle baritone whose warmth fills you like the first sip of a glass of fine cognac. He was joined by his working quartet of Randy Napoleon on guitar, Elias Bailey on bass and Quentin Baxter on drums. Mr. Cole is a fine pianist who plays sparingly in the Basie style and who often cites the Modern Jazz Quartet’s pianist John Lewis as an enduring influence.  He actively tours with this group who know his every move and it is a marvel to witness such organic symbiosis between his fellow musicians.  Mr. Cole is notoriously known for never pre-arranging his set list preferring to read his audience and choose his material extemporaneously- keeping his musicians guessing.  He has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook and never uses charts.

At this sold out show, Mr. Cole started the first set with a song from Frank Sinatra’s repertoire “ A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening.” The medium tempo song got the audience in the right mood and you could see this band could swing. The second song was a slow ballad “You’re Bringing the Dreamer  Out in Me” and was originally sung by his brother Nat in 1958 with the arranger Nelson Riddle.  Mr. Cole can make any song bristle with emotion in his most personal conversational way.

Freddy Cole Singing the Blues

“Wild is Love” is from a self produced Nat Cole musical score I’m With You, music by Ray Rasch and lyrics Dotty  Wade, again arranged by the inimitable Nelson Riddle. The show was supposed to be Nat Cole’s  entry  onto Broadway but it never caught on. Bassist Bailey pulses the bossa beat  as Mr. Cole  sang out the boisterous refrain “Wild is Love.” The sentiment about a man looking for love among many choices  is perfectly believable from the octogenarian  whose wizened ways clearly come through in the telling.

Other highlights of Mr. Cole’s performance “I Loved You” It’s Crazy,” “Old Folks,”“Something Happens to Me” and “Sometimes I Love You”  

The quartet is tight and nimble taking the lead from Mr. Cole with Mr. Napoleon’s facile guitar work  being the principle other lead voice in this group. Mr. Bailey is steadfast in his rhythmic consistency and Mr. Baxter showed some subtle brush work on occasion. For the most part this group looks to their leader for direction and respectfully never upstage him, preferring to  allow him the deserved spotlight.

With the holiday just around the corner Mr. Cole treated the audience to a medley of Christmas songs including  a down home blues titled “Blue Christmas.”  What Christmas would be complete without Freddy Cole singing the heartfelt “Christmas Song” made famous by his brother Nat.  The baritone went into the sentimental “Old Days, Old Times, Old Friends” and ended the evening ended with the playful“Jingles the Christmas Cat.”

Mr. Cole will be playing at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC on Dec 21st and then reside at Birdland in New York City from December 22 through 26^th.  His latest album is  Singing the Blues  If you plan to be in New York for the Holidays seeing the romantic crooner live  would be the perfect gift for that someone special.

A River Runs Through the Manhattan School of Music's Borden Auditorium

The MSM Jazz Philharmonic and Conductor Justin DiCioccio

On Friday November 7, 2014, the Manhattan School of Music School’s  Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, under the able direction of maestro Justin DiCioccio, produced  a river of sound that washed through the school’s Borden auditorium to a packed house of music lovers.

The occasion was the  World premiere of University of South Florida’s distinguished professor Chuck Owen’s  masterful suite River Runs in its
entirety. The 2013 recording was among the nominees for the 2014 Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Instrumental Composition for Bound Away,and Best Instrumental Arrangement for Side Hikes: A Ridge Away. Both compositions are part  five-movement concerto, combining a full symphony orchestra with a jazz ensemble and jazz soloists on violin, guitar and saxophone. The soloists were the tenor saxophone firebrand Donny McCaslin, the sensitive violinist Sara Caswell and the masterful guitarist Jack Wilkins.

The music is an exhilarating compositional tour de force, combining the multiple musical voices, colors and timbres that a full orchestra can command with the individual jazz expressions of the featured solo instruments of electric guitar, tenor saxophone and violin.

On this night maestro DiCioccio was exuberant in his direction of the music, as his orchestra produced brilliant tones and waves of sound that swept over the audience in the music’s ebbs and flow. The music was conceived by Mr. Owen as a representation of multiple adventure trips he has taken canoeing and rafting down various rivers in this country. Each movement is a musical depiction of various aspects of these trips. 

The opening composition “Prologue: Dawn’s at River’s Edge” is an impressionistic  piece, all about the anticipation of waking up to nature in the early morning ready to embark on another challenging journey down the mysterious waters that lie ahead.

The Grammy nominated “Movement I: Bound Away” is a musical recollection of the shimmering light reflected off the rippling pools of the Greenbrier and New Rivers of West Virginia. The trip meanders through a gorge where the thunderous sound of the approaching rapids is the clarion call that Owens' music recreates.

“Movement II :Dark Waters , Slow Waters” is a representation of Owen's time on the Hillsborough River in Florida, A river edged with drooping cypress and lined with murky pools of ominous swampy waters. The music becomes much more tranquil as you go on a more languishing journey through the humid, moss covered banks of the Everglades. There is a sense of foreboding in this piece, an ominous feel of not really knowing what to expect around the next bend of the route.

“Movement III : Chutes and Wave Trains” is a depiction of Owen's time on the Chatooga River as he makes his way down through Georgia and South Carolina. The music compresses and swells at times, similar to the way the water is compressed when funneled through a restrictive chute carved out of the architecture of the river banks; building up pressure and speed, only to be released on the other side of the obstruction, into the opening calm.

“Movement IV: Side Hikes- A Ridge Away” This Grammy nominated composition is inspired from Owen's trips to the Green River in Utah and the Colorado River in Colorado,  and was also adapted from the CD Ridgelines, a recording made by the saxophonist Jack Wilkins ( no relation to the guest guitarist) who was the featured saxophonist on the original recording. The unifying factor in both pieces is the concept of reaching a nearby ridge for an overview of your surroundings. Finally reaching the ridge you see many other ridges in your horizon, many never to be experienced, always just a “Ridge Away” from your reach. The composition appropriately creates a wistful  sense of longing for the next great adventure.

“Movement V: Perhaps the Better Claim: The River  of No Return” With a line borrowed from Robert Frost’s haunting poem “A Road Not Taken”, Owen's chooses this title for a musical trip down Idaho’s Salmon River, a river known for its fierce rapids, its deep canyon, its treacherous terrain and its stunning scenery. The musical depiction sent the occupants of this auditorium-on-pontoons into a swirling and satisfying conclusion.

The music was masterfully played by the MSM’s Jazz Philharmonic, who conquered the suite's demanding musical nuances, creating the atmosphere that so brilliantly depicts the natural musical sounds of the river rafting experience.

The soloists were in top form. Ms. Caswell was particularly poignant when her violin was featured as a soloist and at times in counterpoint to her two fellow soloists. Saxophonist McCaslin is a firebrand of a player. He always brings a sense of energy and excitement to his work. He was particularly effective producing a "waves of sound” deluge that flowed from his horn much like the rapids of Owen's compositions. Guitarist Jack Wilkins was playing a Fender Telecaster through an amp and the sound was unfortunately somewhat muted from where I sat. Wilkins is one of those players whose technique is precise and immaculately clean; a consummate player whose melodic solos, (the ones I was I was able to hear clearly), were fluid, fleet and precise. His interplay with McCaslin was particularly noteworthy as the two fed off of each other brilliantly. 

Mr. Owen was in the audience for this performance and in speaking to him briefly afterwards he was obviously gratified to see his music performed so admirably.

To be able to imitate the sounds of nature; to be able to magically reproduce the rapturous feeling one can get from communing in the woods on such an endeavor as white river rafting or hiking is an extraordinary achievement.  I related to this album when I first reviewed it back in July of 2013 ( click here for a link to that review.) Now having seen it performed live by the MSM Jazz Philharmonic it only reinforces my original convictions. If you get a chance to see this work performed live and you enjoy commuting with nature you will not be disappointed with this brilliant piece of music.