Music Review by Marilyn Lester…
When the Wynton Marsalis-led Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) plays the Rose Theater stage, the venue becomes known as the House of Swing. That appellation was never so true as in the 24-25 Season-opening concert entitled Hot Jazz and Swing. In an absolutely thrilling show, two giants of jazz scholarship and musicianship, Marsalis and Loren Schoenberg, curated an exceptional evening that put a spotlight on the Big Band era of the 1930s into the 40s—when the emphasis was on filling a hall so that patrons could dance.
Schoenberg, among his yards-long list of credits, is a co-founder of The National Jazz Museum in Harlem and a saxophonist who as a young man played in the Benny Goodman Orchestra. As host and narrator for the show, he spoke a truth when noting the JALCO is the greatest jazz band in the world. This unit has been a consistently tight aggregation of A-list musicians for about 30 years. And when Marsalis started the JALCO he did it on the “Ellington Ethic,” so how could he go wrong with that exalted template to follow? In another 20 years Marsalis will have matched Duke’s record for keeping a top-notch band together for an astonishing 50 years, terminated only by his death. As the concert began its journey on the path of hot jazz and swing, for each number played, Schoenberg provided back stories with nuggets of information about composers, arrangers and players that were truly illuminating, even to those knowledgeable about the era. He’s a natural and charming presence on stage who could no doubt make the recitation of actuarial tables sound exciting.
The importance of arrangers to the music was a thread throughout the evening—for instance Eddie Sauter’s complex arrangement of the Gershwin’s “Summertime,” with a recurring piano motif, which gave the keys dominance in executing the number, was a revelation. And saxophonist and band leader Jimmie Lunceford’s arrangement for Sy Oliver (a bandleader and arranger himself) of Oliver’s own “For Dancers Only” put the spotlight on a number that became Oliver’s theme song. A barn burner was an electrifying “Big Noise from Winnetka,” a duet for bass and drums written by bassist Bob Haggart and drummer Ray Bauduc, members of the Bob Crosby Orchestra (which Ellington deemed as the most original band of its time). The tune was played with immense chops by JALCO bassist Carlos Henriquez and drummer Obed Calvaire. There’s a whistling component to the tune too, which Haggart handled while playing the bass. In this presentation it was trombonist Vincent Gardner who added that spice.
In the late 1930s and taking off in the 1940s, singers started to become band stars. Duke Ellington, always ahead of his time, had Ivie Anderson out front beginning in 1931. In 1939 a musical genius named Billy Strayhorn joined Ellington’s organization. He was, like Duke, a pianist-composer and brilliant arranger. His arrangement of “Flamingo” (Ted Grouya, Edmund Anderson) for crooner Herb Jeffries was a Billboard charter in 1940. It was sung by Kurt Elling for this evening. On the distaff side, Shenel Johns offered a tune that was a hit for Peggy Lee, “Why Don’t You Do Right?” (Joe McCoy), revealing herself as a rare jazz singer who packs a punch in lyric interpretation along with the usual stylistic emphasis on phrasing and vocal dynamics.
Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies” is usually a sung affair. It has a happy lyric paired with a wistful melody since it’s written in a minor key. But in the instrumental interpretation of the song for Benny Goodman, arranged by Fletcher Henderson, the happiness reigns supreme, even with the underlying haunting melody. Of course there were references to the many other greats of the Big Band era: Mary Lou Williams, Don Redman, Les Brown, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, among others. But as many would agree, at the top of the tree is Ellington, and one of the most fun and creative numbers of the evening was his 1940 “The Flaming Sword.” As told by Schoenberg, it was inspired by a nightly conga line in the ballroom of Chicago’s Sherman Hotel. That explains the tune’s Latin beat. But why the flaming sword? Well, that’s exactly how the shish kabob specialty of the house was served.
By the close of an evening that could have gone on for a good long time if the audience had anything to say about it, Hot Jazz and Swing proved the perfect opener for the new JALCO House of Swing season.
Photos: Gilberto Tadday/Jazz at Lincoln Center.
