“I just want to play well enough for you to invite me back”
So joked jazz icon Wynton Marsalis, returning from a tour in Asia to continue his 40 year relationship with the UCSB Arts and Lectures Department.
Marsalis has performed here in many band incarnations, ranging from his JALC orchestra to dances. This time around, he brought to the sold out theatre a unique septet, with a rhythm section of Carlos Henriquez/b, Domo Banch/dr and Dan Nimmer/p and a front line with trombonist Chris Crenshaw and a pair of tenor saxists in Abdias Armenteros and Chris Lewis to provide the freedom of a small band, but the harmonies of an orchestra.
The idea worked perfectly through the evening with the rich, dark and exotic harmonies of “Caravan” and the easy swing of the modal “Free To Be” creating fragrant frames for the soloists. Armenteros had a smoky thick tone on the latter, while Lewis was a mix of Texas tenor and freebop for his spotlight. Both Marsalis and Crenshaw plunged with earthy fervor while Nimmer veered between Bill Evans classicism and Red Garland bop for his solos. The peppy “Ballot Box Bounce” included Lewis on flute for extra cirrus clouds on the tricky theme, while here and throughout the evening Marsalis showed that while his teammates are stars in their own right, he is a master, always on a plateau just above everyone else in terms of authority, history and copious knowledge of his craft.
Nimmer tapped into his inner Errol Garner for a rolling flutter on “Embraceable You” as Marsalis took this piece as an opportunity to do everything you can do to a trumpet except take it out to dinner, with cries, leaps, sighs and leaps to the depths and the heavens.
For an extra thrill, legendary drummer Jeff Hamilton stepped in for a couple pieces and gave a brush and stick workshop on a shuffling blues that coaxed inspiration in Marsalis and Armeteros, while a version of “Take the ‘A’ Train” had Hamilton dig in deep under Chrenshaw’s lead and Marsalis plunged deeper than Jacques Cousteau.
A closing of “Tenor Madness” had the reed meisters going mano a mano, both in unison and in wild conversation, wearing everyone, including the audience out in ecstasy, before Marsalis encored with a butterfly winged take of “Cherokee” that spit and squeezed out notes like a firing line at shooting gallery, hitting a target with every round.
After a generation of being not only a jazz band leader but one of the music’s’ major spokesmen, Wynton Marsalis continues to bring in fresh music with fresh voices, yet always with a foot in the tradition with an eye in the future.
Upcoming musical events from UCSB include So Percussion with Caroline Shaw 04/21 and Artemis 04/23
photos by Davide Basemore