VOL 5: #7: Mickey Hanson, The Lost Riddim, The Peacemaker's Chauffeur & more

In this Issue:

* 'Re-animating' J'can live music with Mickey Hanson;

* Canadian reggae-jazz man Jason Wilson & more form Jazz on the Green;

* CD reviews: A 'double take with Italian maestro Roberto Magris

* Ernie Ranglin & Co. seek the 'Lost Riddim' in NYC

* Jazz Routes: Upcoming events


TRUMPETER MICKEY HANSON: THE RE-ANIMATOR

For 2009, Hanson is going all out to reanimate and revitalize live improvised music, through initiativesIn what was the final week of events for 2008 in the Live Music nation series, trumpeter Mickey Hanson will lead his band in the popular Tuesday Night jazz showcase at Christopher's Jazz Cafe inside the Quad in New Kingston. No stranger to live gigs or to the Griot Music-produced LMN series, Hanson's lyrical voicings on the horn, and his wide knowledge of contemporary music and easygoing rapport have endeared him to audiences far and wide. Hanson has been one of the principal persons involved in the resurgence of live music in small venues through the successful series “Live Thursdays at the Deck.”

The Live music nation series, which began with the lone Tuesday night engagement over two years ago, has grown to encompass three nights: A Thursday Singer's Night at Christopher's is also popular, while the recently added Wednesday Night Rocks has seen growing interest form aficionados of the the 'rock/alternative' scenes.

Among the other artistes that have been featured are pianists Kathy Brown, Kamla Hamilton and Dennis Rushton, saxophonist Nicholas Laraque, vocalists Janine Cunningham, Bijean Gayle, Katrina Harley, Hezron and Mario Evon. The 2008 series will close out with performances from Althea 'di Chic' Hewitt on Thursday night and, before that, a special Wednesday concert headlined by Tessanne Chin at Backyaad on Constant Spring Road. Opening for Chin will be rockers Gas Money and Crimson Heart Replica.

Mickey Hanson’s accomplished music career spans the past four decades. A self-taught musician, he learned to play the trumpet at the age of 16, and soon attracted the attention of the popular bands that were playing the live music circuit during the sixties. Hanson took to the stage with the Presidents (1963-67) and the Cascades (1967-70) before spending several years (1973-1977) under the tutelage of the great American composer, arranger and trombone player Melba Liston at the Jamaica School of Music. His talent earned him a place by her side as a colleague on her tour of schools, colleges and university music departments in Pennsylvania and New York in 1975.
On his return to Jamaica, Hanson took a five-year stint at Kingston’s New Kingston hotel which he credits as the genesis of his solo career. Between 1979 and 1984, he and the Caribs band kept the city’s nigh crowd jumping at the Johnkanoo Lounge, then Kingston’s premier night club. As his success with the public grew, his fans called for recordings from the much-loved trumpet player and Hanson’s recording career began. His first venture into the studio in 1985 produced a popular single release, Kyu Sakamoto’s Sukiyaki. This was followed by releases of Stevie Wonder’s Harmor Love, Prez Prado’s Mambo classic Patricia and fellow Jamaican Glen Brownie’s Love Song. All enjoyed respectable success on the charts and served to establish Hanson as a name on the Jamaican music scene.
He has performed and recorded with Jamaica’s own legend Bob Marley, at a time when the 'Gong' was just beginning to surface as a force in the music world.
The occasion was the only Jamaican appearance by Michael Jackson, who at the time was still performing as a member of the Jackson Five. Hanson also became a regular in the recording sessions of other established artists; Bob Marley, (Survival album); Myrna Hague, (Send in the Clowns); Louise Bennett, (Miss Lou); Skatalites, (Last of the Great Guns); Fabulous Five (On the album Yu Safe!, which won a Jammy in 1986, the top award in Jamaica’s music industry). He was featured on the re-banding CD of the legendary Skatalites, although he was not an original member. Other bands included the Caribs, the Sonny Bradshaw Seven, the Big Band, the Mutual Life Players, Cedric Brooks’ Divine Light of Saba and the Ritz All Star Group.
His concert work includes appearances with the Shortwood 30 voice choir. Hanson’s career took another leap forward with the completion of his first album “For The Love of It”, which features his own distinctive interpretation of Jamaican Standards. “For the Love of It” enjoyed success both locally and overseas, and won two Jammy awards for best produced and arranged album. The album also encouraged a wide cross section of instrumentalists locally to produce albums as a result of its success.
His talent and standard of excellence were recognised as he was a specially invited guest on the Prime Ministers’ Independence Gala at Jamaica House. In 2004, his peers recognised his achievement by awarding him with the Jamaica Federation of Musicians Union Special Award in 2004 for “Outstanding contribution to the development of the Jamaican Music Industry.”


CD Review
Kansas City Outbound
Restless Spirits

Artist: Roberto Magris (piano); OTHERS AS LISTED


KEEPING GREAT COMPANY
Italian pianist/composer/all-round student of music Roberto Magris has built a career around consistently identifying and bonding with great talent, whether known, or just discovered. His Check-In CD under the banner of his Europlane band presented a great saxophonist in the person of Tony Lakatos, and magris continued the streak on the follow-up CD, Il Bello Di Jazz, that time with acknowledged maestro Herb Geller.

Now, Magris has made available two excellent recordings that again match him with peerless players. On Kansas City Outbound he hooks up with late, great bassist Art Davis, as well as "Junebug" Jackson, vetern sideman (drummer) to organ legend Jimmy Smith and local drum hero Zack Albetta.

The Restless Spirits CD is a different kind of match. Magris joins the Verona, Italy-based Big Band Ritmo Sinfonica Citta, a 43-piece outfit that is quickly establishing itself as one of Europe's finest. The music on this disc is more exuberant (especially with guest soloist Massimo Greco on trumpet and flugelhorn), and - to these ears - immediately likeable, but he Kansas City CD definitely rewards repeated listens, especially withthe group's take on the Billy Strayhorn ballad "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing" and the title track, with Davis' super-rich bass expositions giving justthe right oomph.

You can't go wrong with either CD, but why not double your pleasure and get them both. Go to www.myspace.com/robertomagrisjazz


Yard Party Uptown, - Ranglin et al in NYC

The party vibe was strong at this one-off concert put together by Jamaican historian Herbie Miller for Harlem Stage at Aaron Davis Hall. It was an oldschool massive, and it was as if everybody pretty much knew everybody else, friends of the seven musicians shouting out to their countrymen and getting a shout back from the stage. A strong case could be made for the contention that for the past several decades, no other country has had more talented musicians per square mile than little Jamaica, and this casual yet dazzling display of three generations of island jazz talent only bolstered that argument. Serving as bandleader was iconic, ageless guitarist Ernest Ranglin, who in his six-decade career has played with just about every legendary Jamaican musician in calypso, jazz, ska and reggae. Former Sun Ra sideman Cedric “Im” Brooks and Douglas Ewart on sax joined in representing the older generation, with pianist Orville Hammond and longtime Gil Scott-Heron percussionist Larry McDonald filling in the middle and a young-gun rhythm section of Wayne Batchelor on bass and frequent Jimmy Cliff and Monty Alexander sideman Desmond Jones on drums. Running through a set heavily stacked with old mento standards, the group were loose and conversational but buckled down when they had to, with often exhilarating results.

Jazz from Jamaica tends to be especially melodically oriented, and tonight it was Hammond holding it down with the rhythm section pushing along on the basic, soul- or blues-based changes. Often Brooks would ham it up, opening the set with an amusing if ill-advised turn on vocals, serving as a foil to Ranglin’s counterintuitive sophistication. Now 76, Ranglin has never played better: given a chance to take center stage, he chose his spots and then wailed through some strikingly intense, even piercing solos, generally eschewing the fluttery Les Paul-inflected chordal style that’s been his trademark for so long. Hammond had fewer chances to cut loose, but made the best of them, bringing a masterfully eerie noir lounge touch to the few minor-key songs in the set. Brooks and Ewart were remarkably similar, each showing off a soulful, slowly crescendoing, thoughtful style that gave their cohorts ample opportunity to contribute or, in the case of Ranglin, echo and bend a phrase into a completely unexpected shape.

At their most boisterous, Jones would get out from behind his kit and pummel a big bass drum, McDonald coming over from his congas, joined by both Ewart and Brooks, creating a free-for-all that would eventually drown out the rest of the band. There were also a couple of perhaps expected, perhaps surprise special guests, namely a couple of older gentlemen who took the stage in front of the band and got the crowd roaring with their impressively agile dance moves while the security guards looked on bemusedly from the edge of the stage. Before the encore, Miller explained to the crowd that they had been ripping up the yard since way back in the day. And then the less frenetic of the two grabbed the mic and indulged in a long exhortation to the Rastas in the crowd, ending with a fervent suggestion to read Isaiah, Chapter 43 (a passage which doesn’t make much sense other than to say that God will mess with you if you don’t behave). And nobody stopped him or shut off the mic: no problem, mon. For about an hour and a half, it was like being in Montego Bay - or Ogetnom, as one of the night’s most beautifully haunting numbers was playfully titled.

-Lucid Culture


Jazz Routes: Upcoming events near & far

Apr 3-4: Capetown Int'l jazz fest; Robert Glasper, Maceo Parker, Mos Def, magic malik, Zaki Ibrahim, Capetown, S Africa; www.capetownjazzfest.com

May 2-10: St Lucia jazz; Amy Winehouse, Kassav, Angelique Kidjo, Michael McDonald
various venues, St Lucia; www.stluciajazz.com

May 23 – 25,: Various Locations throughout Atlanta, Georgia venues including: Woodruff Park, Centennial Olympic Park, Underground Atlanta, Churchill Grounds, Piedmont and more; AtlantaFestivals.com.

June 14-21: Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival - various venues; "Straight Ahead Jazz & Beyond" www.ochoriosjazz.com


Soul, Ska and More on the Green
Fab 5, Canadian jazz-reggae man score

We're not exactly sure why keyboardist vocalist jason Wilson chose to call his latest CD The Peacemaker's Chauffeur, but on witnessing his combo's great performance at Sunday's Jazz on the Green, we can say he and his crew were definitely in the driver's seat.

They were one of the highlights of the show's fifth renewal - this time in a new venue, the lawns of Jamaica House, the others including Fab Five - who closed with a rip-roaring ska revival - drummer Desi Jones & the Greenhouse Effect, and Charmaine Limonious, who partnered brilliantly with another keyboard ace, Chris McDonald. whilst the staging could have been reconfigured to be more intimate, there was nothing wrong with the musical offerings (nor with the amenities provided by Wray & Nephew, Kraft et al).
Wilson injected some energy into the proceedings with, well-crafted and heartily played gems from his oeuvre, including Your Love Shines A Light For Me and Icarus' Lament (Don't Look Down). Also gracing the proceedings were guitar maestro Ernest Ranglin (see Lost Riddim review this issue) who shows no signs of age in his technique and dexterity, and always with a soulful ear, and also James Brown veteran Pee Wee Ellis (based in London) who generally delivered a classic 'big' Texas Tenor sound, but who seemed just slightly out of sorts.

All in all a good package, one on which the Rotary organisers can look with some degree of pride.