A night of jazz stars and star pupils
Gifted Chicago musicians go toe-to-toe with the masters
For young jazz musicians, there's no greater honor — or challenge — than sharing the stage with the masters.
On Tuesday evening, a dozen emerging artists had the privilege — and onus — of performing alongside some of the most accomplished jazz instrumentalists in the country. The performance, at Spertus, on South Michigan Avenue, reflected beautifully on both sides of the teacher-student equation.
That these forces came together in the first place, however, represented a signal achievement for the non-profit Jazz Institute of Chicago, which organized the concert as part of its innovative Jazz Links program. Designed to develop new generations of talent, Jazz Links has enabled students to study, perform and record across the city with Chicago's top jazz musicians. Tuesday night's concert — which doubled as the finale of the institute's 9th Annual Gala — emerged as a milestone for Jazz Links and an inspiration for anyone who wants to see young artists embracing the music.
The very sight of New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison and Chicago virtuosos such as trumpeter Corey Wilkes, saxophonist Ari Brown and pianist Robert Irving III playing alongside so many students was enough to make even a skeptical listener optimistic about the future. It takes a very long time to obtain even a modest proficiency in jazz, and simply by holding their own alongside the pros, these emerging musicians, ages 17 to 22, affirmed that they were willing to sweat to get to this stage.
Some of the evening's most moving moments occurred in George Gershwin's "Summertime," in a captivating, unconventional arrangement by one of the students, pianist Logan Roth. With Roth's rhythm section churning relentlessly, saxophonist Harrison produced high-pitched cries on alto and the Jazz Links horns answered with great surges of sound. Student tenor saxophonist Irvin Pierce ventured far, far away from Gershwin's original chord structure, and alto saxophone colleague Monique Johnson lavished palpable blues expression on a solo that yielded more substance than flash. Here, more than anywhere else in the night, distinctions between professionals and students disappeared amid the onrush of music.
But there were other, smaller triumphs as well. Jazz Links trombonists Zakiya Powell and John Floyd duetted poetically in "Bye Bye Blackbird," with warm support from pianist-teacher Irving, in a lyric arrangement penned by Powell. And the Jazz Links horns produced a great deal of punch in student Sam Frampton's "The Drive" (which also happens to be the title track of the students' new CD).
Yes, the pros crafted solos at a much more exalted technical and artistic level than the students. Chicago tenor saxophonist Brown, for instance, unfurled deep, dark, soulful statements of a sort that represent a lifetime of experience. It will be a while before the students can play with that kind of emotional fervor and instrumental mastery, but now, at least, they know it's within reach.
Earlier in the evening, the Jazz Institute presented its Walter Dyett Lifetime Achievement Award to Chicago pianist Willie Pickens, 80, whose acceptance speech set the tone for the night.
"This award helps to validate what I have been doing for most of my life, and that's helping young people realize their potential," said Pickens, who indeed has taught generations.
"And that's what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life."
Which is why promising young musicians, such as those in Jazz Links, keep rising up in Chicago.
Post script: Now that the Jazz Institute's annual Gala no longer occurs during Chicago Jazz Festival week, the presenters ought to consider moving it to a weekend evening, where this kind of celebratory, musical-social gathering would flourish.
Howard Reich
