The Jazz Foundation of America held its annual A Great Night In Harlem gala on Thursday night at the historic Apollo Theater in upper Manhattan. While the list of players who graced the stage throughout the night came from a range of musical backgrounds—from Grateful Dead guitarist/vocalist Bob Weir to Public Enemy rapper Chuck D, make no mistake: the art form of jazz was the star of this show.
Moneefa Brown, the emcee for the evening, spoke at length about the Jazz Foundation’s work in seeing to the needs of the musician community nationwide, from helping with housing costs and medical bills to connecting performers and crew with work opportunities to providing cash assistance for the ills and expenses that can keep those talented folks from making the music we all so desperately need.
Before we slip into the details of the show itself, special thanks to FANS.live, who made this event free to anyone who registered. You can watch the stream here. While you’re online, you can also pop by the Jazz Foundation’s website and throw a few dollars towards its worthy endeavors.
Marshall Allen worked with Sun Ra and his cosmic project, the Arketsra, for more than three decades before taking over when the Afro-futurist Ra rejoined the stars from whose dust he was surely formed. Under Allen’s steady guidance in the thirty years since, he and his horn have added an element of unpredictability to an already combustive collection of musicians. Whether the players were stretching the limits of mind, music, or their bodies, it was all in furtherance of the form and the message that we are not alone.
The Arkestra physically departed the stage as they came, discordant but united, marching off with instruments in hand when possible. Allen, aged just shy of a hundred Earth years, received the Lifetime Achievement award from longtime Jazz Foundation supporter, noted actor Danny Glover. The elderly Allen’s acceptance speech quoted the late Sun Ra and a few friends from the Arkestra and ended to the rousing cheers of all in attendance as Glover helped the band leader make his exit.
Actor Griffin Dunne was on hand to introduce the next award, an honorarium of longtime Jazz Foundation president Dick Parsons. Parsons, who only stepped down last year, made his musical bona fides by re-opening Minton’s, a venerated New York City jazz venue, in 2013. Having served on the Apollo Theater’s board for 19 years, Parsons was no stranger to organizing and promoting his lifetime source of inspiration: jazz, and music itself.
First up in the musical shows of appreciations for Parsons was rising star Jazzmeia Horn and a stellar backing ensemble dropping a new tune, “Submit to the Unknown”, a bouncy piece with fierce scatting from bandleader/front woman.
A couple of short video testimonials to Parsons narrated by director Spike Lee and current president of Jazz Foundation president Dr. Daveed Frazer set up the young duo of vocalist Alexis Morat & organist Matthew Whitaker—featuring popping percussionist and JF music producer Steve Jordan providing the pocket—who gave their all on Timmy Thomas‘ classic “Why Can’t We Live Together” before Parsons received the Doctor Billy Taylor Humanitarian Award.
“The law is, you have to keep moving forward,” pioneering bebop drummer, noted civil rights activist, and the next honoree Max Roach once said. Max’s 1960 Candid Records release We Insist!: Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite was as much a declaration of intent as it was a song cycle. It featured Roach, vocalist Abby Lincoln, and a fiercely pro-civil rights theme that burned brightly throughout the five tracks and on through the rest of Roach’s amazing career. In fact, from that point on, Roach refused any work that didn’t have a strong, positive message and hopeful intent that could elevate his playing and purpose.
Trumpeter Charles Tolliver led the next performance, a tribute to Roach, featuring George Coleman on tenor sax, along with his own Big Band. Featuring pianist George Cables, Billy Harper on saxophone and Rufus Reid on bass alongside very special guests “The Titans of Jazz Drums” trio consisting of Al Foster (longtime Miles Davis sideman), Billy Hart (drummer for Herbie Hancock’s legendary Mwandishi among other discs), Louis Hayes (drummer for John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly) the instrumental side of the configuration was as experienced as they come. Legendary jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater joined the star packed stage for a dense “Drum Suite” that showcased all three drummers as well as Bridgewater’s epic scat scales. Roach’s family seemed extremely moved by the performance, as well as the award they accepted in the late drummer’s honor.
Related: Biggie As Bebop: How Jazz Drum Solos Informed The Notorious B.I.G.’s Famous Flow [Watch]
Chuck D, Public Enemy’s politically minded and outspoken frontman, was up next, brought out by no other than legendary scene-definer Fab 5 Freddie. Freddie presented D with his lifetime achievement award which he humbly accepted before getting to work with drummer Steve Jordan and the legendary Mix Master Mike (Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill). The trio rocked the Apollo with a pair of Public Enemy classics, “Kill Those Guns” and “Fight The Power”— which, sadly, have the same urgency now as they did decades agi=o. After that, it was time for the headlining set with Jazz Foundation’s Current president, Dr. Daveed Frazier, on hand to personally bring out the evening’s final award recipient, iconic Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir.
Weir opened his Apollo debut with a soulful take on Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” with a special set of sidemen including Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass, David Murray on saxophone, and Steve Jordan on drums in addition to a veritable murderer’s row of horn players. The ad hoc band followed that with an intricate “Bird Song” with the players, Weir included, finding new, personal approaches to the Dead tune. Tacuma’s bass carved out a deep pocket with only the barest of touches from kitman Jordan as waves of tonal sax from Murray transformed the next piece, “West L.A. Fadeaway”, into a sparse yet energized stroll.
The closing number of the collaboration and the Jazz Foundation’s Gala festivities as a whole was a fresh version of the Bobby Bland classic “Turn On Your Love Light” that served as the highlight of the set and the entire evening thanks to the sheer energy it brought to the players and audience alike. The song, also previously reinvented by the Grateful Dead, had all the same vibrancy of the most famous iterations though this leaner, funkier version—and certainly had no problem getting the Apollo crowd up and dancing in the aisles.
With more than a million dollars raised prior to the event and the night’s donations yet to be calculated, who knows how many worthy and in-need musicians will be helped by the evening’s proceedings. One thing is for certain: the Jazz Foundation’s mission will continue. Those who have spent their lives making the music thaht enrich the world around us will have a bit more of a safety net. What more noble a purpose could possibly be held for making musical mirth and merriment?
Watch a full video of the Jazz Foundation of America’s A Great Night In Harlem gala at the Apollo Theater featuring Bob Weir and more below.
A Great Night in Harlem – Apollo Theater – 3/28/24 – Full Video
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