NYC’s Winter Jazzfest may be best known for its Marathon nights – multi-venue evenings of parallel programming that go on into the small hour – but its showcases events are just as valuable. Both formats can squeeze in a diverse set of genres into a short space of time, and – like all good compilations – they are an education, combining a few things you know well with a whole curated range of things that you don’t know but probably should. Le Poisson Rouge has been a favourite location for the WJF showcases over the years, and after last year’s WJF Verve records showcase, this year we were treated to a showcase from its Universal Music Group stablemate Impulse!
Harpist Brandee Younger is the musical link across the two years, and leads a trio through a set in large part honouring Alice Coltrane and her groundbreaking role in dragging the harp into the jazz sphere. Younger has a precise style, and switches from moments that sounds more like a minimal piano trio – plucking sparse carefully constructed chords from the strings – to the more dazzling runs and flourishes which are more familiar to classical harp. For Turiya, a Charlie Haden harp/double bass composition written for Alice Coltrane, gave her a spotlight to cement her claim as the jazz harp standard bearer of her generation.
Irreversible Entanglements was certainly a sonic pivot, following Younger with a series of pieces from their latest album Protect Your Light. On this record the group had sounded more musically controlled – and less outraged – than before, and I had mused (in this review) on whether this was an artifact of the recording process, or a conscious change of direction. It was a little of both. The vocal interjections from the band across the stage brough contemporary political injustice to the fore, and the evils of empire and flaws in our democracies were spelled out with an invigorating intensity. And live, Irreversible Entanglements really do move – a propulsive drum line and active bass, with screaming punctuation from the two horns. The rendition of Soundness is mesmerizing in its intensity, a blistering interplay between Keir Nuringer on alto sax and Camae Ayewa’s spoken word. There was also evidence of a softening of some of the stage craft: the crowd were still sworn at, but we were also invited on numerous occasions to sing along, and even graced with some complimentary stage patter. Swoon!
The showcase finale of the evening placed Shabaka on stage for the last set of his artist-in-residence at the festival along with a star-studded cast, including two (yes, two! Brandee Younger joined by Charles Overton) as well as Esperanza Spalding on double bass and vocals. We were being invited to see “Something that’s never been done before”, and it was a dreamy journey. While the stage was packed, the set often felt like a series of one-to-one conversations: flute with double bass, flute with drums, flute with live samples and playback, flute with harps. The variation in musical partner added novelty and variation, but it didn’t quite meet the depths of meaning and vigour that Shabaka reached during his full set last devoted to building a profound dialogue with Joe Lovano (review here). His moment returning to one of his first instruments, the clarinet, brought a real warmth and empathy.
Slightly surprisingly, it may have been the opening act, the Messthetics, who stole the showcase. Built around the rhythm section of punk rockers Fugazi, to me they were both a surprise and a genuine joy. Hitting the same sweet spots of furious energy as Acoustic Ladyland or Led Bib, with a sprinkling of some of London’s old Loop Collective bands, this was the a set that demanded all your attention, but didn’t let you do anything else – the sort of music that you can’t dance to, but just sort of twitch and stare. This magic was driven by the regular Messthetics, but the inclusion of James Brandon Lewis on tenor seems totally essential. At the end of the first song Lewis stopped, took a quick breath as he shared an intense look with co-conspirator Anthony Pirog on guitar. We may have been lucky that Lewis was a guest tonight, but I couldn’t imagine the set without him. This is the mark of a truly successful showcase event: leaving with an unexpected gift like this.
