The soul of gospel

Mahalia Jackson

A joyful noise
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.31.09
I’ve been thinking a lot about gospel of late, the soulful music I loved listening to at my parent’s Pentecostal church years ago.

Far removed from the stiff original hymns, the best gospel music stirs the soul with rhythm and a sense of swing without losing its dignified essence. I’m talking about the gospel that predates the modern hip-hop influenced styles of Kirk Franklin and his contemporaries, which for my tastes goes too far.

An earlier era gospel reminded us that the music of praise inherently embodies the African-American struggle for freedom and equality, reflecting the slave’s chant, the blues with its reflections on the joy and pain of daily life and the foundations of jazz &mdash but in way that kept it sanctified. Indeed, the roots of America’s best music can be found in the black church with its spiritual yet earthy call to worship, singers like Mahalia Jackson shared inside and outside of the sanctuary.

I thought of these roots a few days ago during the televised wake for Sen. Edward Kennedy, when the Boston Community Chorus stepped up to remind the nation of the power and moral persuasion of gospel’s soulful sound with Just A Closer Walk With Thee. With the pianist expertly playing a bass line and the melody, the choir sings a bouncing chorus underneath the soloists. It was lively and moving spirituality that took me way back &mdash to Church.

Lord, let your great music live on. Amen. |♫|

Lester Young, "The Prez"

"The Prez" could blow
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.28.09
It is said that the saxophone is the closest instrument to the human voice. But it takes a true master to make it sing, particularly in jazz.

Lester young was one such player, a virtuoso musician who created art with the instrument in ways none had before him. The storied tenor player made such a name for himself in Count Basie’s band and later with singer Billie Holiday that she nicknamed him "The Prez."

Though many jazz saxophonists could improvise in ways that built on the notes of a tune’s chords, Young was unique. He had an incredible ability to play behind or in front of the beat, bending a tune into his own personal groove, as jazz critic Kevin Whitehead notes in an NPR audio essay. It's a style that would influence other stellar musicians, including Charlie Parker.

Check out this NPR story, produced to mark the centennial of Young’s birth. |♫|

«Band to the Land»

Kenny Burrell

A classy pick
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.27.09
I usually start my days listening to virtuoso jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, one of my favorites, even if I don’t intend to.

It’s my daughter’s routine. A budding guitarist, she’s raided my music collection and claimed as her own a great Burrell compilation &mdash Kenny Burrell on Prestige Profiles, Vol 7. Not that I mind. I can think of few better suggestions for her to listen to, both as a study on the guitar and an introduction to jazz.

That album’s eight tracks cover Burrell’s time at Prestige from 1956-1963, during which he recorded several strong albums and collaborated with a number of great musicians, among them pianist Tommy Flanagan and saxophonist John Coltrane.

Born in 1931 in Detroit, Burrell grew up in a musical family and came of age when the city also was home to a number of other young jazz lions &mdash Flanagan, trumpeter Donald Byrd, drummer Elvin Jones, and vibraphonist Milt Jackson among them. With his motor city roots and classical training, Burrell played with a sophisticated bluesy swing that comes through clearly on the Prestige album.

He shines in a variety of sessions. On I’ll Close My Eyes, Burrell and a rhythm section play it straight. Montono Blues features saxophonist Coleman Hawkins on a blues solo and bassist Major Holley singing and bowing. On All of You, Burrell’s guitar playing is rich and sweet. I Never Knew (That Roses Grew) features Coltrane, Flanagan, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb in a true jam session.

It’s a great musical ride, one that influenced generations of guitarists.

Burrell still does today. |♫|

«Groovin' High»

Juanes and the Cuba question

The pop diplomat
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.26.09
A decade or so ago, when I first saw Juanes, the now-world famous pop star and humanitarian was a shy and unassuming singer and guitarist in jeans and tennis shoes who was only starting to attract attention with a groundbreaking new album.

Fíjate Bien was an excellent recording, one in which the then-budding international sensation fused rock with traditional Colombian genres &mdash and spoke out against war-torn conditions of his homeland.

Then our rising star changed. Gone was the hunger that drove him to invention, the edge that signaled a new kind of performer. He became comfortable with the trappings of success, fell in love, began to dress better and show his softer side.

Sure, the hit albums kept coming. And they were good enough. But they lacked the energy of his first recording, the spark that had made him such an intriguing force.

For the fans, though, that wasn’t an issue. Our man kept just enough of the social commentary and guitar rifts to keep earlier fans interested while adding more songs of love and heartbreak to woo the young. Besides, his improved hairdo and appearances on award shows made him an idol. With a lovely wife, children and a posh home, he had acquired a great life.

But what good is being successful and rich if a man cannot make his mark on the world &mdash especially when other big-time stars have foundations and global causes?

So our star, who long before had fortuitously put aside his given name of Juan Esteban Aristizábal for the short and catchy Juanes &mdash after all, what superstar isn’t known by just one name? &mdash sought to use his fame for the greater good.

A foundation to help land mine victims was a good idea. And recently his “Peace Without Borders” concert on the Colombia-Venezuela border brought together other stars seeking to bridge the divide between the two nations. It’s all good.

Then Juanes stepped on a landmine. He announced that he would perform during a Sept. 20 concert at Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución with nueva trova singer Silvio Rodriguez and Cuban musical powerhouse Los Van Van. Also scheduled to perform are Puerto Rican singer Olga Tañón and Spanish crooner Miguel Bose.

Sounds like a great show. But in Miami, home to the second largest Cuban population outside of Havana, the reaction was predictably swift. Anti-Castro groups denounced the planned show. Other celebrities called the singer misguided, saying his show would not feed the Cuban people or free any political prisoners.

Juanes fought back with post on his Twitter feed, saying he loves Miami and Havana and is saddened by the half a century old war of words that divides them. And of course he said, the concert is about openness, not politics.

“There is a future for Cuba but we have to give them a hand, to help them, to open our minds to them, so that they will do so to us,” Juanes wrote.

To those who say it is wrong to go to Cuba because there is no freedom on the island, Juanes asked, “That is freedom?”

He makes a good point. Some of the same voices that decry the planned concert in Havana have long opposed performances by Cuba’s bands in Miami &mdash concerts that brought Cubans together.

But don’t think for a moment that Cuba’s hardliners will miss a chance to point out the continuing intransigence of those in Miami who would deny ordinary Cubans a chance to hear Latin American stars. Meanwhile, Havana likely is preparing for the day when relations between Cuba and the United States thaw and a flood of North American visitors pour onto the island &mdash many of them to absorb Cuban music, perhaps with other Latin American stars on the bill.

Such is the mess Juanes has stepped into while on his quest for worldwide relevance. Does he have the force of personality or moral authority to bridge that divide? No.

His tennis shoes aren’t yet so big. |♫|

PHOTO – 8sunshine

Wayne Shorter

Wayne Shorter

An enduring jazz footprint
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.25.09
Here’s wishing a happy birthday to saxophonist Wayne Shorter, the virtuoso composer and musician who not only has played with jazz masters but is one. From his days playing with the mid-1960s quintet of Miles Davis to his extraordinary collaboration with Joe Zawinul in the jazz fusion group Weather Report in the 1970s and early 80s, Shorter has shown creative genius. His tunes &mdash Nefertiti, Pinocchio, Sanctuary, Footprints &mdash are alluring and intimate stories, the work of pure genius. Of late, Shorter, 76, has performed with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. Their acoustic recordings include Footprints Live!, Alegria and a new one, Beyond the Sound Barrier on Verve. |♫|

A new look for So What Groove

Stylin’
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.24.09
Today brings a new look for So What Groove, courtesy of my friend and mentor Eliseo Cardona, whose BlueMonkMoods is a critical treasure of insight and perspective. His fresh design will allow us to more vigorously explore music and culture. Pa’ lante. Gracias hermano. |♫|

Totó la Momposina

Black Colombia to the World
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.20.2009
I used to listen to a lot to Miami’s Spanish-language pop and tropical music stations. But increasingly I find it all sounds the same, as programmers aim for the lowest common denominator.

Instead of celebrating Latin America’s rich and varied genres, the Latin music industry and its purveyors on the radio opt for the formulas and pretty faces. But great music still arrives, often in the person of stellar performers who are determined to present their local grooves to the world stage. That’s the mission that brings Colombia’s Totó la Momposina to Miami on Friday.

When she takes the stage at Knight Center, Totó will celebrate Afro-Colombian culture with a repertoire that explores its African, indigenous and Spanish influences. Hers is a music that sprang from the songs of African slaves, who hid their drums to preserve their culture – and essence she and her ensemble bring to the stage with African drums, flutes called gaitas and Spanish guitar.

Mixing cumbias with traditional rhythms such as porro, the energetic and powerful singer is a contemporary interpreter of a continuing tradition. She’ll testify that the lively regional genres that many pop performers only touch on in their music aren’t folklore but living art forms.

Even if you don't hear them on the radio. |♫|

When: p.m. Friday
Where: James L. Knight Center, 400 SE Second Ave., Miami
Tickets: $43-$68 through the center's box office, 305-416-5978

PHOTO – TMG

Federico Britos and the art of danzón

Swinging With Danzón
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.13.2009
It’s rare to find a musician with command of both classical music and jazz. It’s extraordinary when a virtuoso performer seamlessly moves between both with style and grace, as does Federico Britos, a master violinist who performs Friday at the Manuel Aritme Theater in Miami.

For half a century, the Uruguayan-born Britos has performed in symphonies, opera orchestras, jazz bands, conjuntos and charangas. He’s had a career that’s allowed him to collaborate with legends, among them Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Astor Piazzolla, João Gilberto, Bebo Valdés, and Israel “Cachao” López.

The concert, presented by WDNA 88.9-FM, will feature his imaginative and jazzy interpretations of danzón, the graceful music from Cuba that is a lost art. |♫|

When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Manuel Artime Theater,900 SW First Street Miami
Tickets: $15 for WDNA members, $20 for general admission, available through the station at 305-662-8889

PHOTO – Eliseo Cardona \ Chromatic Blues

Sammy's Third Take

And Sammy Walked In...
By DAVID CÁZARES
Miami | 08.13.2009
Master percussionist Sammy Figueroa, one of South Florida’s most versatile performers, has been working on a new album, his third. Figueroa and the Latin Jazz Explosion will debut tunes from it when they take the stage Friday night at The Van Dyke on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. The band will play new tunes that include selections by Silvano Monasterios and Gaby Vivas. They’ll also include numbers by Mongo Santamaria, Cal Tjader and Michel Camilo. |♫|

When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Van Dyke, 846 Lincoln Road
Tickets: No Charge. Info: info@sammyfigueroa.com

PHOTO – AFP