Newport Jazz All-Stars at the Carpenter Center in Richmond 2/16/04

by Alan Greenblatt

As the second half of the Newport Jazz All-Stars concert got underway last week at the Carpenter Center in Richmond, Virginia, James Carter stood smiling as fellow tenor sax wizard James Moody bounced along through the melody of the old Ellington tune "C-Jam Blues." As Moody was finishing, the younger Carter approached the mike territorially. He kicked off his solo by playing the exact phrase that Moody had finished. In contrast to Moody, who plays with a lovely tone but never strayed too far from the written melody, Carter began tricking out the tune immediately, throwing in some rasping blues phrases and quoting Moody's ideas in a much higher register.

Moody rose to the bait. As the two traded fours, as we say (swapping solos for four measures or so in turn), Moody became much more adventurous than he had been in order to show the young showoff what he had when he was challenged. It was terrific fun.

And just about the only time the individual members of the group actually played off of one another. The soloing throughout the night was brilliant, but it was just that -- soloing. The concert provided an illustration of why some people have a problem with post-World War II jazz, which has become such a soloist's art that the original jazz sense of collective improvisation has pretty much been lost.

But what soloing! Moody is one of the most pleasurable players to listen to. He's a real showman, never afraid to yodel when singing or make a really bad joke when introducing a song. Moody came along a little too late to be part of the original bebop mainstream and so he's always been seen as just a follower of his "father" Dizzy Gillespie. Nowadays, though, he's a beloved veteran, particularly when doing his famous tune "Moody's Mood for Love," a classic example of vocalese*, in this case done partially as a rap tune.

James Carter has always been too cool for school, on this night wearing a subtly striped, metallic-looking suit. I have been writing about him in this space for many years and truly his evolution has been fascinating to watch. He is clearly the most impressive technician of his generation. In the early days, he seemed to get bored playing with lesser mortals, leading his various saxes off to explore every popping and clicking noise in the galaxy, sometimes fairly incoherently.

Nowadays, he does his explorations through many different genres (Gypsy swing, organ trios, lush old standards). He'll still pop and click, but as part of a set of improvisational ideas that an audience can follow. Many of his tricks, at least on this night, were audience-friendly -- circular breathing to sustain a note for minutes, seemingly; throwing in quotes from tunes such as "Over the Rainbow" and the theme from "The Odd Couple." He simply plays with more intensity than other musicians, which makes his explorations more exciting than in his 20s.

The other musicians, although each had their chance to shine, never shone as brightly. Randy Brecker is an impressive trumpeter and played interesting imitations of Miles Davis and others but you remember more the power of his brassy sound than any of his ideas. Guitarist Howard Alden, a personal favorite, had little to do but strum along rhythmically, although he did play an impressive medley of the Monk tunes "Crepuscule with Nellie" and "I Mean You."

Pianist Cedar Walton, solid as always as an accompanist, took the brilliant tack of playing soft ballads as his spotlight numbers, showing how careful attention to melody and a certain mood can be more enriching than a thousand notes. Bassist Peter Washington was unusually melodic also in support. Drummer Lewis Nash was always tasteful and soft behind the big guns. On his solo number, dominating a revved-up "Caravan," he played everything from Gene Krupa tom-toms to slapping the drums with his hands like they had done wrong. Hitting drums with your hands is the most natural thing in the world but now that mainstream drummers have discovered the trick, audiences always respond as if this were the most clever joke.

I liked the show's format. Rather than each musician taking a solo on "Con Alma, or "'A' Train," you got to hear different couplings on each tune -- Moody and Washington on "'A' Train," Brecker on "Con Alma." Having the guys wander on and off stage in different combinations made things seem to move along faster than letting all of them belabor the same tune.

Still, it was a long show and a terrific showcase. The guys are touring in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival. (A second all-star group will take over the second half of the tour.) I like that they are playing sort of second-tier cities -- Richmond rather than Washington, Vacaville rather than Sacramento, Berkeley rather than San Francisco. Bring the music to the people!

*vocalese -- as in "Moody's Mood for Love," a new song is created when lyrics are set to a famous improvisation on an old tune (in this case, Moody's recording of "I'm in the Mood for Love"). Well-known vocalese specialists include King Pleasure, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and the Manhattan Transfer