The Bird Still Flies – The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

Charlie “Bird” Parker would have been 103 years old this year (08-29-2023) and the fine people behind The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival in conjunction with New York Summerstage and The City Parks Foundation have been honoring his legacy for the last 31 years by offering up The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. The festival is now a 3 day event which brings together the legends of yesteryear combined with some of the brightest young up and comers in today’s burgeoning jazz world. With Friday evening and Saturday afternoon at Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Bandshell and Sunday afternoon in Bird’s old stomping grounds, Tompkins Square Park, New York City’s jazz aficionados were treated to a veritable smorgasbord of jazz music this past weekend. Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the whole festival is free. Over 12 full hours of amazing jazz music for nothing more than the cost of a subway token to get you to and fro.

Festivities kicked off on Friday evening right on schedule with Talib Kibwe AKA T.K. Blue and his band which was composed of T.K. on alto sax, Steve Turre on shells and trombone, Essiet Essiet on bass, Willie Martinez manning the drums, Roland Guerrero on percussion and Benito Gonzales on the piano. Having grown up in New York City with immigrant parents hailing from Trinidad and Jamaica, it should come as no surprise that TK’s music is overflowing with Afro-Caribbean influences. And of course his mild mannered yet incredibly toneful alto sax offered a perfect opportunity for the rest of the band to shine. I say this with no disrespect to TJ, as his sax work was spot on. But unlike some band leaders who sometimes keep their band on a short leash, Talib provided the space so that his musical partners could be adventurous and take risks. All of that being said, the band’s set was an ideal kick off to what would become a marvelous weekend of improvisation and musicianship.

Following T.K. to close out the festivities on Friday evening was pianist Orrin Evans and The Captain Black Big Band. Evans, a native of Philadelphia by way of Trenton, NJ got his start in big band music when he got the piano chair in The Mingus Big Band for its weekly Monday night residency at various NY jazz venues. The Mingus Big Band has been doing these Monday night gigs for almost 4 decades now and Evans was a member for 10 of those years. His tenure with the band came to a close when Evans started up his own big band, The Captain Black Big Band which has had its own residency at New York’s Smoke Club. After a handful of jumping instrumental vamps, Evans invited the first of two guest vocalists up to join the band and singer/producer Bilal came out and showed off his singing talents with a vocal range which landed all over the map. The evening’s second vocalist Diana Reeves had to cancel at the last minute due to personal issues but fortunately for all those in attendance, we were treated to a special appearance by former Rolling Stones chanteuse, Lisa Fisher. Fisher, who toured with Mick, Keith and crew for years, hit the stage and with her effervescent stage presence had the crowd eating out of her hand. She and the band ended up bringing the entire house down with a monster cover version of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac’s smash hit “Dreams”.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Day #1

Saturday turned out to be a beautiful sunny and relatively not TOO hot afternoon (by typical New York in August standards that is). Akua Allrich started the afternoon off right on time when she and her band, The Tribe took to the stage at 3 PM sharp. Having grown up in a very musical home (her father, Agyei Akoto, was a member of the jazz group Nation), Akua presented a beautiful vocal style steeped in multiple languages. She would go on to sing songs throughout her set in not only English but also Portuguese as well as Senegalese. Both of which she prefaced before commencing that if there were people in the audience who spoke either language not to point out any inaccuracies or mistakes in her presentation. A highlight of their afternoon set was their cover of Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand The Rain” which was arranged similar to the original but nonetheless transformed into what felt like Allrich’s own. Akua in general was quite affable throughout her set. With a personable and friendly stage presence, she made the afternoon almost seem like we were all just hanging out watching and listening to a friend and her band perform an intimate set of music in a friend’s backyard. Speaking of the band, The Tribe was quite good in and of itself. With Akua’s longtime collaborator Kriss Funn on bass, Samuel Prather on keyboards and Tyler Leak on drums, they put together an inspiring set.

Following up on stage was Endea Owens and The Cookout. Endea is one of those bright young jazz stars that I mentioned earlier. A native of Detroit, Owens studied music at Julliard and upon graduation landed a spot as the bassist in the Stay Human house band for Stephen Colbert’s late night talk show. From this point on, there was no turning back for this soulful bass player and composer. As many artists in today’s entertainment world claim, Endea is extremely community minded. But unlike many of her fellow artists, she not only talks the talk but she walks the walk as well. The name of her band, The Cookout actually refers to her community outreach organization, The Community Cookout “is an organization that creates inclusive spaces that are accessible to anyone no matter their race, gender, or background. The Community Cookout strives to make New York a better place through music, activism, and meals”.

But I digress. Endea’s set with The Cookout was nothing short of fascinating. The Cookout, consisting of keys, trumpet, sax, drums and of course Endea on bass along with 2 vocalists who were otherworldly are not your grandpa’s jazz band. Jazz has oft-times been criticized as too stoic, too buttoned down, too serious. But none of those adjectives would ever be used to describe what The Cookout has to offer. Putting forth a loose, fun and imaginative set of modern vocal based jazz, the band captivated most of the audience and even prompted many in the crowd to get up and dance…not the standing in place, bobby your head, shuffling your feet kind of dance but serious grab a partner and SWING kind of dance. And this is part of the beauty of The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, year in and year out we are treated to these surprise gems.

South Africa’s Nduduzo Makhathini and his trio had the unenviable task of having to take the stage following Endea and The Cookout but they nailed it barely without batting an eye. Taking the stage after a brief pre-set huddle (and I assume prayer) on the side of the stage, Nduduzo, bassist Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere and drummer Francisco Mela hit the stage and immediately took things over. The charismatic Makhathini would eventually take time from the jaw dropping music to offer up a mindful and thought provoking soliloquy encouraging everyone to be mindful of each other, our neighbors and our world in general. The beautiful thing about this little diatribe was that it wasn’t at all preachy. It was just a concerned man standing on stage talking. Talking to a mass of receptive and equally (at least on the face of it) concerned people who care about the world they will be leaving to their offspring. But as poignant as this was, it was the music which was the real story with the trio’s set. It goes without saying that Nduzuzo’s mastery of the ivory keys was/is special. But the rhythm section was equally impressive, especially the mind blowing drum solo which Francisco Mela provided was a sensory explosion to the synapses of our brains…simply amazing, and thankfully the stage crew was able to jump right into action when Mela’s kettle drum got kicked out of place.

The afternoon flew by like it was barely a momentary blip and before we in the crowd could realize it, it was time for the afternoon’s headline act to take the stage. The Cookers are a throwback to another time. Old school jazz masters, sitting in with one another, trading solos, feeding off one another’s energy and musical acumen. All of this being said, The Cookers are also masters at their craft. Each and everyone of these gentlemen have been plying their trade for decades, having played with and shared the stage with many of the masters who went before them. In a day when the words, “supergroup” are often abused and overused, The Cookers are truly just that, a supergroup.

Needless to say, the band truly cooked. Between David Weiss on trumpet and Donald “Chief” Harrison on tenor sax, two of the “young turks” in the group, these guys took our imaginations to new levels throughout their set. This is not to say that the old timers didn’t carry their weight. The virtuosity we got from Eddie Henderson and Billy Harper, likewise on trumpet and tenor was equally riveting. Then of course there was George Cables on piano who could present a masterclass on what to do with the white and black keys.

And just like that, the afternoon of incredible music and musicianship came to a close. The four hours of entertainment flew by as it often does when one is being treated to such virtuosity. Two days down and one to go. Sunday would take us down to Tompkins Square Park and going by past years, the best was yet to come.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Day #2

As the jazz gods would have it, Sunday afternoon offered up yet another perfect weather day for those of us heading downtown to Alphabet City to catch day three of the festivities. Promptly at 3 PM, Michael Mayo and his band (bass, keys and drums) took those of us who arrived on time to a swirling set of vocal jazz that encapsulated not just jazz but also a smattering of soul and R&B. Mayo, like one of his influences, Bobby McFerrin, knows how to utilize his vocals as an additional instrument to the ones which his band provides. His mastery and use of his vocal chords to take us on a musical journey was an ideal beginning to a sweet afternoon in the park.

Following Michael was none other than the ensemble Hera. Hera is a collective of young women jazz artists put together by vocalist and percussionist, Andromeda Turre. On Sunday afternoon we were blessed to have Chelsea Baratz on Sax and Ewi (an electronic woodwind instrument which I was not previously familiar with), Anne Drummond on flute, Endea Owens returning to the stage for another day on bass, drummer Shirazette Tinnin and Arco Sandoval on Piano. While Andromeda clearly served as band MC, for lack of a better term, the group was obviously leaderless. Don’t take leaderless to mean directionless either. What I mean is that the group was a collective of musicians on equal footing, each sharing the spotlight, each providing not only musicianship but also sharing in compositional duties. Their set started off with “Mantra” a tune penned by Turre, followed by Chelsea Baratz’s “Limerence Never Lasts”, Owen’s “Where Nubains Grow”. “I Am A Woman”, a song co-written by Drummand and Turre came next and the set concluded with Shirazette Tinnen’s “Money Funk” which brought the house down with its funky, almost second line vibe. It should be noted that for those unfamiliar with Greek mythology, the band is named after Hera, who is the Greek goddess of women, marriage, childbirth and all aspects of the life of women. I must say that in a weekend filled with inspirational and moving music, Hera’s set was right at the top of the list of most memorable.

In another instance of a band having the unenviable task of following the preceding act, Vincent Herring and Something Else! were next up and truth be told, they were more than up for the task. I personally was thrilled to see Randy Brecker on trumpet as it had been quite sometime since I’d had the chance to see him do what he does. But Brecker was merely a single piece in the larger machine which was Something Else! With Herring obviously on alto sax, Something Else! was composed of the aforementioned Brecker, James Carter on tenor, Paul Bollenback on guitar, drummer Jeff ‘Tain” Watts, Dave Kikoski on piano, and bassist Essiet Essiet. Needless to say, a combo with such a stellar lineup provided the crowd with numerous moments. With each of the musicians getting their own opportunity to shine at one point or another, the set from Something Else! was…well it was something else.

Closing things out for the 2023 Charlie Parker Jazz Festival was none other than legendary alto sax virtuoso, Charles McPherson. McPherson, as any alto player worth his salt does, owes everything to the Bird. McPherson is sometimes referred to as a second coming of Parker. He has dedicated a good portion of his illustrious career to paying homage to Bird and it was absolutely fitting to have him close out this year’s festival. With a crack band, including Terrel Stafford on trumpet, Randy Porter on piano, David Wong on bass and Billy Drummond backing him up, McPherson presented us with a set filled with Parker gems. And while McPherson clearly is quite adept at channeling the spirit of Bird, he also is a maestro of taking Bird’s compositions and making them his own. What we got from Charles and his quintet on Sunday afternoon was exactly that. The five amazing musicians on stage took What Parker left us in his songs and while paying a fitting and respectful homage to the man, they succeeded in spinning these songs into something new, refreshing and insightful. This is what it’s all about afterall. As any educator aspires to, one can only hope that your student can take what you offer to them and build upon it. Using your knowledge and in this case musical chops to create something familiar yet new and innovative. McPherson and crew did just that on Sunday afternoon.

And just like that the 2023 version of The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival came to a conclusion. Once again, the festival was a resounding success. Three days filled with the old and familiar mixed with a blend of new and exciting stewardship. We were once again shown that jazz is most certainly still alive and well and flourishing in places like Harlem and The East Village, places that bebop and jazz in general originally came to life. The Bird still soars like an eagle, both majestic and graceful, powerful and compassionate. I can’t wait until next year.