Stephon Harris’ Jazz Pop-Up and Jon Cleary blasts off on Dyna-Mite

17th September 2018   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

With just a blink of an eye it might have been easy to overlook that vibraphone master Stefon Harris and his group Blackout is performing on Monday, September 17, at North Rampart Street’s Jazz & Heritage Center. A native of New York and the Director of Jazz Arts at the Manhattan School of Music, Harris is considered by many as the premier vibraphonist of his era. The vibraphonist’s 1999 album, Black Action Figure, which was released on the Blue Note label, earned him a Grammy and further adulation as a composer. Locals might recognize Harris as teamed with our own trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and pianist David Sanchez on the album Ninety Miles.

Stefon Harris & Blackout’s free show in New Orleans represents its first stop on its tour presenting material from the band’s new album Sonic Creed (Montema Records). Coming in for the occasion are two of the musicians heard on the release, Terreon Gully, who makes an immediate impression on the disc’s first cut, and the tonally rich and expressive saxophonist/vocoder Casey Benjamin. Also onboard are pianist Marc Cary and bassist Ben Williams.

What’s smart about Sonic Creed is that classic material from jazz greats are seamlessly mingled with the vibraphonist’s original material in a fresh, all-is-one attitude. The album kicks off with the legendary drummer Art Blakey’s “Dat Dere” with Gully aggressively paying his respects to its author. It’s soon realized that Blackout boasts all percussive instruments except for the sax and the occasional entrance of a guest artist. That element creates a lot of excitement as heard on Horace Silver’s Latin-tinged “Cape Verdean Blues.” The beauty of Harris’ technique lies in the fact that he remains musically articulate no matter the velocity of his mallets.

In keeping in that flavor is Harris’ “Chasin’ Kendall,” a warm melodically memorable number that boasts a cha-cha rhythm. Harris’ thoughtful yet intricate vibes take center stage here as pianist Cary repeats a simple line to effectively provide a solid base. The often outward reaching Benjamin respects the tune’s softness until, it seems, he just has to allow his sax to stretch.

Things get funky when Harris and Blackout take on Wayne Shorter’s “Go.” The vibes have a naturally sweet tone though Harris definitely knows how to make them groove.

The late, great Abbey Lincoln’s signature tune, “Throw It Away” is delivered with the same great depth of emotion as she gave it whenever she performed her unforgettable composition. Harris’ vibes “sing” the well-known lyrics, “So keep you hand wide open, let the sunshine through, because you can never lose a thing, if it belongs to you.” Beautiful.

The ensemble closes the album with another moving tribute on Harris’ “Gone Too Soon,” in remembrance of superstar Michael Jackson. With Harris in a smaller setting it stands as a quiet way to end the recording that burst its way out at the starting gate.

Stefon Harris & Blackout is at once accessible and challenging. It welcomes jazz aficionados with the wealth of talent in its midst and greets those just testing the jazz waters with familiar touchstones.

Jon Cleary
Dyna-Mite
(FHQ Records)

Pianist, vocalist and composer Jon Cleary loves New Orleans and you can tell. He’s put delicious pieces of this city in the opening, title cut of his new album, Dyna-Mite. The first ingredient in the roux is, of course, the street beat rhythm that is then spiced with piano licks coming right out of Professor Longhair’s bag of tricks. The tune’s repeated refrain, “Don’t tell nobody,” remains best known from the classic “I Got a Big Fat Woman,” though it can turn up anywhere in the second line community. The guitar of Leo Nocentelli adds the funk he helped originate with the Meters. Oh yeah, it’s got some silly words in there too that were a typical aspect in the heydays of New Orleans rhythm and blues. Think about lyrics like “Sitting in La La” or “Let me tell you about Ooh Poo Pah Doo.”

Cleary, a native of England who moved to New Orleans in 1981, is a keeper of the flame of the songbook of the era and more specifically of the New Orleans piano tradition of legends like Fess, Dr. John, James Booker and Allen Toussaint. On Dyna-Mite, Cleary has the luxury of bringing in a full horn section on many cuts that beef up his core band that bulges with great talent including drummer/vocalist Jamison Ross, percussionist AJ Hall, bassist Calvin Turner, keyboardist Nigel Hall and more. Importantly, Cleary presents New Orleans style music authentically out of love, knowledge and respect for this city’s musicians and traditions.

He goes to a different shore for the cleverly titled tune, “Big Greasy,” that grooves to a reggae beat. It’s a duo of sorts with Cleary not only on piano but also guitar, which he plays often on the album, organ and bass. He also provides a drum loop with Ross coming in on the drum set. Dig that “Big Greasy” includes a socially conscious message warning folks not to go too far in an effort to clean up the city. “It’s the funk that holds it (New Orleans) together.”

Other gems include that soulful, old school “Best Ain’t Good Enough,” and the catchy “All Good Things.” It soars with the vocal harmonies and dances the album out.

Jon Cleary will celebrate the release of Dyna-Mite at the Maple Leaf on Friday, October 5, and will perform at the Algiers Fest on Saturday, October 6.

This article originally published in the September 17, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.