This is going to take some faith, but at one time, jazz was actually so popular that albums would be multi-million sellers and bands could fill arenas like the Bowl. Here, let me pick you up from fainting…
Don’t believe me? Just check out drummer Harvey Mason, who packed out the The Blue Whale playing music from his latest too-hot-too-touch album Chameleon. Teamed up with a collection of guys that actually lead their own bands, namely John Beasley/key, Kamasi Washington/ts–ss, Mark DeClive Lowe/key and Jimmy Haslip/b, Mason drove the wagon train of rhythm like a scene from Red River as the cavalcade of funky sounds mixed with exciting and free flying solos.
A fierce and hard hitting back beat was laid down by Mason on tunes like “Black Frost” while Washington’s tenor sax blazed into the atmosphere like a Nike missle and Beasley’s keyboards delivered a kaleidoscope of blues. On the hard hitting “Looking Forward” Mason’s sticks delightfully skipped over the skins like a rock on Lake Superior while Haslip laid down a ferocious back beat. A medley of “Watermelon Man” and “Chameleon” created a deep rivulet of 70s rhythm that was infectious and irresistible, mixing with the spacey keyboards while Mason made the sticks gallop like the 3rd Race at Santa Anita.
Adding some lyricism to the evening was vocalist Christ Turner, who delivered passionate and soulful readings of “If I Ever Leave This Heaven” and Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” with a clarity that hushed the crowd to rapt attention. His combination flexibility, dexterity and open nerved emotion was a triple threat that drew gasps of praises from the audience. The closing take of the old jazz hit “Places and Spaces” featured Turner riding the tidal wave of jazz fusion in a celebration of a sound that mixes viscera and grey matter in a way rarely reached these days of musical navel gazing. What a treat to be reminded of how good jazz can make you feel.