As one who has sung with the likes of Stan Getz, MC Ruth Price knows a bit about jazz vocalists, and so you can take it to the bank (as did the audience at The Moss Theatre Saturday night) when she introduces Jazzmeia Horn as “The most original new singer in ages”.
I saw her a few years ago last time she came to town, and this completely new team of Destiny Diggs/b, Miles Lennox/p and Jaz Sawyer/p betrayed the fact that they just recently got together, as their playing for Ms. Horn was as perfect a mix of tight arrangements and modes for free thought as one could hope for.
Ms. Horn herself simply astonished the crowd, as you could detect hints of inspiration in her delivery from the swing of Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter’s flexibility, Aretha Franklin’s church, Nina Simone’s earthiness and the majesty of Sarah Vaughan. And yet she’s all herself, as her own musical and personal journey is also played out before our eyes and ears.
There is an easy and cozy swing to brand new originals (from her upcoming album Messages) such as “Tip” and the fun “Voicemail Blues” that have Horn playfully bopping along in styles akin to vocalese, but with sudden jumps, leaps and scats that make like a happily screeching infant in fascinating celebration. Her treatments of standards make for fascinating rides, as Horn can soar to altissimo heights before swooping like a pelican after its prey on a swaying “Willow Weep For Me” that had Lennox digging deep with his hard hitting ivories over Sawyer’s relentlessly riveting avalanche of a drum support. A duet intro to “Darn That Dream” was exquisitely agonizing and as flexible as Turkish Taffy, as the two sweetly wafted in a soft breeze before Sawyer’s brushes dusted the underbrush. Likewise, Horn and Digg delved into a sleek and liquid rendition of “Our Love Is Here To Stay” that had Horn reaching into deep magma as well as piercing the ozone layer.
And then there were the songs and between song themes of encouragement, such as the sing-along “Free Your Mind” that had Horn hopping around Lennox’s hip chords. But nothing I’ve seen in awhile comes close to her latest piece, “Submit” that not only included Ms. Horn making chirps over the rippling rhythm that hinted at sounds from a tropical rain forest, but her musical preaching about putting life’s problems in perspective of eternity over a swirling shuffling pulse and giving praises to “Bless The Most High God” was akin to Nebuchadnezzer’s epiphany in The Bible. Did someone say “Amen”.
“Inspiring” is a word too easily thrown around these days, but I’m sure that there was no one who left The Moss on Saturday that wasn’t inspired by either the music, the message or the messenger.
Upcoming shows sponsored by The Jazz Bakery included Jeremy Pelt 01/13 and John Patitucci/Brian Blade/John Cowherd 11/10