ARTURO TAPPIN at BVI’s Caribbean Jazz Showcase, October 19 2009

Barbados

by Derry Etkins

I had just seen Arturo Tappin in Guyana at the “Sidewalk Café” when I happened upon a poster in a bakery in Road Town, Tortola, announcing his upcoming performance at the H. Lavity Stout Community College, being “twinned”, as it were, with Alison Hinds’ “Soca Unplugged.”

I construct this opening remark in this manner to say that the advertising for this year’s 15th Performing Arts Series has not been as vibrant as it usually is.  It may be said that the Arts Series is one of “The BVI’s Little Secrets”. This may have contributed to the late arrival of many patrons who could be seen and heard entering the HLSCC auditorium during the performance.

The Tappin line-up included Nicholas Brancker (piano), Julian Griffith (bass), Melvin Alec (drums), and Terry “Mexican” Arthur (tenor pan).

The show got under way at approximately 2020hrs and as Arturo had promised another reviewer, he wasted no time in getting into the “Caribbean Ting” with a piece akin to Ole Time Kaiso in “C”.

This was done in a way that the melody danced on top of the arpeggios of the I-IV-I-V chord progression. It had a non-specific melody, I thought, very characteristic of Calypso in the 1930s.  Arturo gave a twist to this idiom by adding a “Rhythm bridge” (III-VI-II-V).

Afterwards, Arturo informed me that the song was actually a Blue Mitchell composition “Fungi Mama.”  I must take my hat off to Mr. Mitchell because, as generic as the melody is, he captured the “Kaiso feel” quite convincingly.  Not bad for someone born in Miami!  Note too that the “Rhythm Bridge” mentioned above is part of the original composition.

As drummer Melvin Alec “got into the feel” of this piece, there was a sudden explosion of sound as the bass drum burst through the noise gate in the sound booth.  Quick reflexes on the part of Sound Engineer, Sheldon Harris, remedied this situation.   More on the sound later.

The second piece, All The Things You Are, was given the traditional “Swing feel”.  For a brief moment though, I thought this was a multi-media piece, because I saw an image projected on the screen behind the band.  My hopes were dashed a few seconds later when I read the words, “Please wait” – an obvious computer glitch.

There was an interesting juxtaposition of styles here, as a strong R&B influence came through in Nicholas Brancker’s piano solo.  All through this performance, there was a sensitive interplay between the musicians as they listened to and “felt” each other.

Arturo prefaced his next offering with the story of how he met Roberta Flack. He was performing in a club in Barbados, he said, when Ms. Flack walked in.  He immediately changed his set to include Feel Like Making Love. For this piece, he went into his quiver and pulled out the Flute.

The “lick” Arturo chose as the intro was strikingly reminiscent of “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”.  After soulfully establishing the melody, he gave way for Nicholas Brancker to treat us to a “bluesy” piano solo out of the Ramsey Lewis school.  Brancker’s Classical training (Grade Eight under the ABRSM) provided him with the facility for the general sensitivity of touch that he projected in his accompaniment.

Terry “Mexican” Arthur made his first contribution to the evening’s fare with a Tenor Pan solo towards the end of the piece.  The band jammed on the opening chord then returned to the song’s verse-form for a calming end.  And the audience loved it.

Piece number four was the Herbie Hancock composition, Dolphin Dance (Maiden Voyage 1965). This is a relatively obscure piece with an elusive melody and an exotic chord progression.  Considering Melvin Alec’s tasteful, sensitive drumming, he showed surprising maturity for his age.  Bassist Julian Griffith was content to lay back and provide the canvas for Brancker to splash his piano colours.

A tribute to the late Michael Jackson rounded out the first half of the show.  In Can’t Help It the group’s Achilles heel showed a bit.  It became more evident in this one that the group was not totally comfortable playing together. Conversations I had later confirmed my suspicions, that while both Nicholas and Arturo travel extensively with Roberta Flack, they do not play often in the quintet configuration with steel pan.  Nicholas plays bass when on tour with Ms. Flack.

During his solo on Can’t Help It, Arturo displayed his ability to extend the upper range of the Tenor Sax, making notes as he went along that did not belong in the natural range of the instrument.  Drummer Melvin showed his ability to shift the pulse.  He displayed those chops when he was joined by the Sax for a romp, to return to the main “chorus motif” for the end.

Surprise!  Anti-climax!  It didn’t end there.  Arturo gave us an impromptu display of “circular breathing” in a virtuoso “cadenza” while Nicholas plucked the strings of the piano as per the harp.  Julian and Melvin then joined them to return once more to the main “chorus-motif” that led to the Intermission.

INTERMISSION

The second half of the show opened with the 1930s standard, Body And Soul. Alas, the “youth” of the ensemble showed again in his piece. Nevertheless, they got to the end without major mishap.

Mia Amour, a Brancker/Tappin collaboration off Arturo’s album  Inside Out, was the second tribute to a lady for the night.  Pannist “Mexican” joined the fray in this one.  However, he seemed reluctant to venture outside the realm of triadic harmony during his solo.  There was just some sensitive interplay etween bass and piano.

Robert Nestor Marley’s Redemption Song was given third place.  Arturo’s reflective interpretation of the melody was given a semi-classical underpinning by the piano that segued to a “two chord jam”, then “one drop” reggae that culminated in a collage with Marley’s No Woman No Cry, with the bass and drums providing the impetus for a deviation to very soulful medley.

Putting the cap on the second half was Nicalypso from the pen of Nicholas Brancker.  This “high life” flavoured, witty string of R&B/Blues licks flowed smoothly like a child sliding down a banister.

Solo by Sax and piano followed each other into Ole Time Road March and the Nicholas Brancker production of Edwin Yearwood’s Pump Me Up.

Nicholas had by then switched to bass for this part of the medley.  By this time the audience was giving the furniture its “stress test”, swaying, or rocking to and fro. Lusty applause greeted this finalé.

POST SCRIPT

As stated at the beginning of this article, I had seen Arturo in Guyana just weeks prior to this performance, and I noted then that he had added “Hip-Hop”, complete with samples and effects, to his palette of styles.  He had promised a colleague that tonight’s performance would include some of the same.  When I asked about it, Arturo told me that he “did not want to risk it” because they were not hearing themselves clearly in the stage monitors.

I then remembered seeing bassist Julian, Nicholas and Arturo himself motioning to the sound booth at different times asking for more of this, more of that in the monitors.  On further investigation, I discovered that the monitor amplifier had been off for the entire evening.

In all fairness to staff engineers Sheldon Harris and Abreu Penn, they were not the only ones on duty for this performance, so we cannot be sure from where the faux pas would have sprung.  On the other hand, the responsibility ultimately falls on the shoulders of the HLSCC.

All in all, it was quite an enjoyable evening.

Derry Etkins is a Musician/Educator and Woodshed Scribe whose career spans three decades.  He has been a Radio Presenter and Music Commentator in Guyana and Barbados. Currently, he teaches music at at the St. George’s High School in the British Virgin Islands.

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