"...compelling and unforgettable concert."

October 13, 2006 performance review by Ronald K. Baker

Festival reviews: Saturday: T.S. Monk Sextet;
Sunday: U.S. Army Band, Phil Woods, Grace Kelly.

Ed Bride, moderator and chairman of the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival Committee, took to the stage at exactly 8:00 P.M. Friday evening to thank Legacy Banks and Mayor James Ruberto for their financial support and vision respectively. He asked for a quick show of hands for first timers at the newly restored Colonial Theater. Most responded in the affirmative.

The Metta Quintet opened with a sizzling rendition of "Caravan" with some interesting time changes thrown in. The trumpeter, Riley Mullins, established himself quickly as did the other players: Robert Rodriguez, piano; Keith Loftus, a Ray Charles veteran, on sax; and Josh Ginsburg on bass; brandishing both technical and melodical excellence.

If there was a lack of spark in the group as a whole, maybe it was because they'd played for high school students there all day. Additionally, the bass was muddy early on and lacked any top end at all. The piano was miked in such a way that it was primarily bright and lacked body in the left hand. All of which begs the question why amplify horns, piano and drums for a small ensemble in the Colonial.

H. Benjamin Schuman, founder and director of JazzReach, came out from behind his drums to address the audience, which warmed to his congenial manner. While he was swinging back there for most of the performance, the rest of the crew didn't relax and let their hair down until the finale -a blues piece with a fat back beat featuring a Loftus solo that could be described as "'Trane meets Red Prysock". It left the audience cheering and hooting for more.

Dr Billy Taylor has garnered every major accolade a jazz musician could hope for. He brought it all with him and laid it out for the lucky Friday night audience at the Colonial. His opening selection, "Hi, Y'all," immediately established that this would be a great moment for all. Winnard Harper, percussionist, clad in traditional African garb, was sitting behind Dr. Taylor. It was from that position that he would proceed to kick him in the butt in cahoots with Cliff Jackson on bass. As the opening piece morphed alternately to a rockish feel, Harper's ebullience spilled out with his unflappable smile and personality. He showed himself at once to be tasty, cute, funky and witty, with awesome technique and impeccable diction. You could not help but be caught up in this infectious fun. And, lest you think he was working, he was chewing gum all the while and making faces, as if Taylor could see, that said "oh yeah?" well "take this!" As explosive as a Saturn Five, and as responsive as a Lamborghini, he was the improbable melding of Michael Jordan and Beaver Cleaver. Invite him into the kitchen.

The piano had been moved up-stage center and, happily, so had the drums. The hall was acoustically perfect. Taylor performed a short piece using left hand only eliciting magnificent power and nuance from the gorgeous nine foot Steinway. Harper had great fun with a Latin version of "All The Things You Are." Bassist Jackson wowed all and sundry with his solo on a Taylor composition, "One For The Woofer" featuring dizzying 16th note passages in the extreme upper register coupled with flailing double stops and other technical wizardry on his string bass. Doubly damnable was that his perfect tonality and musicianship all seemed to be effortless for him.

"His Name Was Martin", written by Taylor for the late Dr. Martin Luther King, was a most poignant moment in the program. The composition melodically evoked the Old South with a melancholy sadness. Yet it had a sprinkling of guarded hope like flowers (superbly complimented by Harper's brushes on the cymbals) in the gentle rain. There was not a cough, a whisper, or a murmur.

In dapper attire and looking far younger than his years, Taylor addressed the audience by rising from his piano bench to one of the microphones onstage. His educator side showed as he claimed he'd cautioned his students not to try to get too much out of a single chord and then proceeded to play an entire piece based on a simple, repeated major triad, as if to make a liar out of himself.

Other selections included "Darn That Dream", which was followed by a tour-de-force by Harper on drums. He set his jaw for a moment as "Te Toro" began. Then he took off on a solo that featured possibly, every imaginable sound you could get from a hi-hat. After he banged on every conceivable piece of equipment including cymbal stands and lock nuts, he showed awesome cross-hand independence and flare. Then grabbed a pair of maracas and wailed an Afro-Cuban snare solo which caused the audience to erupt with applause as they had throughout the entire evening. Harper rose from his drum stool in appreciation and gave a traditional African bow to the audience.

Dr. Taylor introduced some additional works of his including some funk mixed with a gospel sound featuring his fat-sounding left hand. Another selection which seemed to give the audience pause was titled "I Wish I knew How It Felt To Be Free." Introducing a work he wrote for the Utah Symphony Orchestra, he quipped, " I guess there's a symphony near here."

Who would have dreamed this for Pittsfield with its failed Pyramid Mall and bypass? Kudos to all involved in bringing the Colonial, the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival and the lucky Friday night audience together for this compelling and unforgettable concert.