Jazz show dishes up sweet tribute to departing executive director The Tucson Jazz Society presented Jazz Sundae yesterday (Oct. 11) at DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center in Reid Park
By Ken Keuffel Jr.
The Arizona Daily Star
Yvonne Ervin has done lots for Tucson's jazz scene. Under her leadership, the Tucson Jazz Society has grown spectacularly in budget, members, concerts and education programs.
Yesterday, many musicians paid Ervin the best tribute possible, giving her a varied and finely played Jazz Sundae at Reid Park.
Actually, even during yesterday's music-making, the New York City-bound Ervin was calling herself the society's "executive director emeritus." She graciously shared emcee duties with her successor, California public-radio veteran Peter Williams.
Where last year's event turned almost wintry, yesterday's six-hour marathon baked under unrelenting dry heat and brilliant sunshine.
Charles McPherson, the headlining alto saxophonist, reportedly feared his horn's mouthpiece would melt.
Maybe the heat made McPherson & Co.'s musicianship a little hotter than it normally is. The quartet essayed with verve everything from Charlie Parker to your basic 12-bar blues.
Between raucous, inventive solos by his companions, McPherson proved particularly adept at making sudden shifts in tempo, dynamics and mood more inevitable than gimmicky. His fingers unleashed a fast-and-furious torrent of notes that reflected the influence of Parker.
"Manhattan Nocturne," the title track of his new CD, began as a sultry ballad, only to showcase double bass player Jeff Littleton's hard-edged note- filled improvisations. "Lonely Little Child" started with an almost hypnotic syncopated figure in the double bass and piano and found further enrichment in McPherson's wailing horn.
McPherson and the groups that followed benefited from a much-improved sound system that transported a full-ensemble sound further and with greater clarity. In smooth and subtle fashion, trombonist Rob Boone led the under- engaged Tucson Jazz Orchestra through an often explosive medley of swinging, nicely arranged tunes for big band. These featured many solos for trombone; in "Star Eyes," trombonist Ed Ulman's extensive and engaging improvisation found fetching support in fleeting saxophone counterpoint and shifting rhythmic terrain.
Not to be outdone, Boone moved his slide surely through "Diapers by Day, Dapper by Night," a more hip-hop version of the eponymous Boone tune on harpist Christine Vivona's CD.
Jazz Sundae is decidedly family entertainment, but the quartet of singer/pianist Lisa Otey seemed content on pushing the envelope anyway. In one blues number by Otey, she told the tale of Bill, a dirty octogenarian who relentlessly pursues an unobliging female neighbor. Other numbers were tamer, with the singer always finding the widest possible expressive range.
Achi Pa' Ti, which on Saturdays plays a contemporary blend of American dance music and traditional Cuban salsa at El Parador, prompted much dancing from the audience, even teaching them a few steps in the process. Sometimes, the group eschews Spanish for English songs - which, regrettably, is like watching a focused actor fall out of character.
The day began with Swingin' Seven - a group of steadily improving middle and high school female instrumentalists who performed under trombonist Ed Ulman's steady direction. How gratifying to see this kind of poise and commitment from youngsters.