Michele Henderson at Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012…

…good to the last drop

Michele Henderson with Ming and Friends, Act 4 – The Grand Finale

Michele: vocals, flute

Michael Low Chew Tung (Ming): keys

Richard Joseph: drums

Modupe Folasade Onilu: percussion

Kevon La Fleur: bass

Dean Williams: guitar

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

DOMINICA

The saying goes, “You never know what you’re gonna get till you get it.” Actually, that’s no saying; I am just saying … whatever I want. But it’s true, isn’t it?

Look at it this way: You love Jazz. There is something going on at Farm Road, St. Joseph, Trinidad called Jazz Artists on the Greens. It is your understanding that some female artist from the Commonwealth of Dominica called Michele Henderson is headlining. That name sounds familiar, you think, but that doesn’t matter. At least, you have somewhere to go on Saturday, March 24, 2012.

You get to The Greens on time. The booths form an arc and inside of it, white chairs are lined up in rows and columns. The J-Fans, die-hard and casual alike, are streaming in. The atmosphere seems good.

You are a bit distracted; there are old friends to get reacquainted to and new alliances to forge. There is a stir on stage. Thanks to the artistry of opening acts, Carlton “Zanda” Alexander & The Coalpot Band, Llettesha Sylvester and Clifford Charles Quintet, the show is chugging along quite nicely, building up to the headliner.

Michele Henderson at JAOTG (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

Then Michele Henderson walks on and Ming and Friends strike up with “Agua de Beber” (Antonio Carlos Jobim). Richard Joseph fleshes out the bossa nova beat and the atmosphere changes for you. Didn’t it? The Greens become electrically charged … up. And all those of you who might have been absent-minded for some reason over the previous three hours, sit up (at first) and take notice for the Lady in Red is dancing … with you. Fatal attraction! Smitten!! Mind-blowing!!!

Not letting up on the tempo, Michele re-acquaints us with the well-worn but evergreen Errol Garner classic “Misty” in intoxicating fashion, her pipes flowing notes with fluidity, power and passion.

That’s the word, “Passion!” For it is passion that connects the artist to the essence of a song … and her audience … our soul. Michele has this attribute, Passion, in abundance here.

This characteristic feature becomes more evident on her next delivery, the sappy Rogers and Hammerstein pop song turned Jazz standard that becomes so because of the improvisational and harmonic possibilities it lends itself to. Michele calls on lead guitarist Dean Williams to act as a foil to her immeasurable vocalizations.

One could be excused for hazarding a guess that Ming and Friends is Michele’s longtime backup outfit. They are not of course. However, in witnessing how confident and seamless the players are matching wits with her, one wouldn’t know it. By the end of the command performance, the band will have kept pace with their leader, locking horns with her no matter what she threw at them – Classic Jazz, Latin, Bossa, Zouk, Pop and Reggae.

This brings me to the dawning realization that Bob Marley is after all a staple on the Jazz circuit, eliciting all sorts of interpretations. For the most part, a Marley is played straight, a solo or two passing for Jazz interpretation, which in some instances is hardly credible and boring.

On the night of March 24, Ming and Friends added themselves to the short list that is balking that trend, the easy way out. On “Waiting in Vain,” Richie’s drums and Kevon La Fleur’s bass handle the one drop rhythmic formula, leaving it to Ming on keys and Dean to inject stylistic Jazz sensibilities that set Michele’s cover apart from the rest.

Michele with Ming and Friends at JAOTG (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

I  argued in this series of JAOTG reviews that a critical hallmark of a musician is a repertoire that does not exceed her limitations. Michele does not have to worry about that. She can pull a rabbit out of a hat and turn it into vocal gold.

For the purpose of this critique, I have to say that it is one thing for a Caribbean singer rooted in a French Antillean culture to deliver a Martinican call to arms in “Fo Daw Leve,” and a Groovy-Zouk original called “Pani Pawol.” It is an entirely different kettle of fish to pull off Chic Corea’s, “500 Miles,” “Armando’s Rhumba” and especially “Spain” (Concerto de Aranguez).

“Spain,” a staccato adaptation by Corea of the Joaquin Rodrigo adagio for an Al Jarreau collaboration must not, under any circumstances, be attempted at home without professional or parental supervision. Yet, Michele nails it to the door frame and pins it down like a WWF wrestler – the epitome of true and unfettered talent.

Michele does not, however, hug all the glory for herself. She lets Richie and percussionist Modupe Onilu in on the action via “500 miles,” letting them trade for a bit and then giving Modupe room to squeak the inside of his bongo drum while straddling his signature congas to reach the mic.

Modupe squeaks (courtesy Production One)

With all this drama taking place on The Greens, riveting and transfixing “all and sun-dry,” as one notable politician once put it, the best was still one song away. I speak of Stevie Wonder’s “Do I Do.” Michele had the folks on The Greens abandon their chairs and charge to the front of the stage to occupy an area that remained largely unoccupied throughout the previous four hours of the show.

Pumped up by this reaction, the band took its game up another notch, unbelievably so. Zen Master Ming got off his haunches, a wide grin on his face. Priceless! Dean, surged forward, leaned back and threatened to shred his six-string axe as Michele hovered over him, demanding more.

Then it was all over, though not quite. Michele had earned a standing ovation – although it could be said that everyone was already on their feet. “The Diva,” quoting a member of my party, graciously offered a reprise to end the pandemonium on Farm Road.

Surprisingly, no one saw it fit to call the Fire Brigade. Maybe Production One Ltd. would be wise to have a tender on standby if ever Michele’s craft lands on The Greens again. 

Most Memorable Moment in technicolour (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

Legendary Caribbean-Jazz pianist Raf Robertson wraps it up best. “This is the first time that I have experienced Michele and what an experience! And she plays the flute. This girl serious.” Do I Do, Raf…Do I Do.

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• Pannist Annise Hadeed closes Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012 on a question mark (woodshedec.wordpress.com)
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Pannist Annise Hadeed closes Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012 on a question mark

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012, March 24: Act 5

Annise Hadeed with Richard Bailey, Theron Shaw & Douglas Redon

Hadeed: steelpan

Bailey: drums

Shaw: guitar

Redon: bass

I am putting this out there: it is uncommon, in my personal experience, for the pan to be utilized as a lead instrument on a strictly straightahead set in the context of a Jazz Festival. All the more reason why I was taken aback – and pleasantly so I might add – by pannist Annise Hadeed’s offering at Jazz Artists on the Greens on Saturday, March 24.

Annise Hadeed (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

One may query the wisdom of scheduling a guy like Annise as the final act, after Michele Henderson and her band of Trinidad and Tobago’s finest musicians led by Michael Low Chew Tung aka Ming. We could complain about the quality and dynamics of the sound of Annise’s pan, and that his choice of instrument from the family of steel drums was not quite suited to The Greens. No one would be wrong either in citing Annise for not engaging an audience already on a musical high from having died and gone to musical heaven, thanks to Michele. Frankly, I am not sure if any of the acts on the bill could have topped Michele. Truth be told, none could!

Given this context, I will take Annise Hadeed for what he was worth, a highly skilled practitioner of the pan who presented a remarkable set that included a couple of bona fide Jazz Standards, a Calypso-Jazz standard by a Trinidadian pianist of note and several originals by the leader. That was, however, a blessing and a curse for Annise.

Here is the problem Annise faced: For a pan soloist playing contrapuntal arrangements calling for heavy syncopation and, very critically, more than casual interplay between the instrumentalists, Annise adopted an unacceptable role of (what should I call it?) guest soloist. The guest soloist takes a few choruses here and there and then slinks to the side of the stage, letting the band play on.

This is important. As lead soloist, Annise does not have the luxury of stepping away from his instrument and laying out as much. His job is to bind himself to his instrument like, say, a pianist would, suggesting ideas and patterns to his cohort thus remaining in the fray, ever-ready to take or retake the spotlight to restate or extend the melody and add flavours in harmony. Annise does not do that, opting to play the head, expand the theme some and then side-step to give his band free reign. Whereas Clifford Charles and Llettesha Sylvester could get away with that because of the character of their sets and set lists, Annise could not for reasons now very obvious.

But all that is not to say that the band dynamics are not considerable. I mean, give drummer Richard Bailey his due, pinging the ride cymbals on “How High The Moon” (Morgan Lewis) and “Someday My Prince Will Come” (Frank Churchill), cracking the snare on Brother Valentino’s “Dis Place Nice” and Clive Zanda’s Calypso-Jazz standard “Fancy Sailor” while Douglas Redon keeps the beat and pulse like a buoy marker. Annise, for his part, plays the changes deftly on his originals, “Spur of the Moment” and “Square Up.” And guitarist Theron Shaw gets all abstract on the tail ender, “Cornertalk,” another Hadeed original.

Bailey, Shaw, Hadeed & Redon (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

As usual, the crowd began to trickle out of the WASA grounds as Annise Hadeed drew his set to a close and the curtains began to come down on Jazz Artists on the Greens. That was entirely expected, which is precisely why the producers put on Michele Henderson as the penultimate act.

In spite of the pros and cons I have expressed, there is no coming away believing that Annise was not an the act to help the fans warm down after the blistering show put on by Michele Henderson with Ming and Friends.

My feeling though is there is more to Annise playing live than what I saw between 09:00 and 10:00 pm on Saturday, March 24. Annise whet my appetite; and I would go on a limb to say that the rest of The Greens salivated as well.

 

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• Carlton “Zanda” Alexander stirred the Coalpot at JAOTG, Trinidad, March 24 2012 (woodshedec.wordpress.com)
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Clifford Charles heats up Jazz Artists on the Greens 2012

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Jazz Artists on the Greens, March 25 2012: Act 3

Clifford Charles Quintet

Charles: guitar

Sean Friday: bass

David Richards: drums

Deryck Cadogan and Rodney Harris: keys

The Jazz crowd had thickened over the past two hours during which time Carlton “Zanda” Alexander & The Coalpot Band had dished out a menu of Calypso-Jazz and Llettesha Sylvester’s Nu-Jazz had tempered the good souls as a fitting prep for headliner Michele Henderson, Cultural Ambassador of the Commonwealth of Dominica. But as the evening skies darkened, it was about time to smooth out the proceedings.

A Calypso-Jazz set followed by a dose of Nu-Jazz…then Smooth Jazz. A little bit of everything thing for a diverse audience, don’t you think?

Clifford Charles at JAOTG 2012 (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

After years of doing what Trinidadian musicians do, groomed and weaned on Calypso-Jazz and soca music as they are, Smooth Jazz guitarist Clifford Charles is said to be ready to take on the world. Well, the world is a very big place when you think of it. So step one would be to conquer the local Trini audience settled on The Greens in St. Joseph on March 24, 2012.

By song number three, Clifford had successfully achieved that initial goal, grabbing our attention with “Strollin” from his debut CD “Just in Time”  but more so Stevie Wonder’s “That Girl” and the title track from his brand new CD, “Songs From Deep Within.” And Clifford knew it too. You saw the change in his body language; he strutted comfortably on stage interacting with his keyboardist Deryck Cadogan, his fleet-fingering ringing true to these ears.

At the other end of the pleasure spectrum, Charles brought forth the age-old Dave Brubeck classic, “Take Five” towards the end of his set. Now, there are some tunes that ought not to be experimented with too much. “Take Five” is one such. Thus, it was difficult for me to appreciate the odd key changes Clifford wrapped around the synthesizer strings layered on this one. Not even the likes of drummer David Richards or bassist Sean Friday could save it.

Clifford Charles Quintet (courtesy Puretrinbago.com)

Charles bounced back from that dip immediately with another original from Songs, rightfully entitled “Bounce.” The third original of his set (the first being “Strollin” reprised as “Strollin’ Again” on his second CD, Downtown Scarborough), “Bounce” was the forerunner to a string of two songs that were essentially an all-out rave, “Dance With Me” by Machel Montano, which also came off Downtown Scarborough and the climax, Sherwin Dubois’ party favourite, “Bachanalist.”

Totally uninhibited, Charles invited the fans to the bachanal fête under the tall stage and many responded without reservation.

de bachanal in effect (courtesy Production One Ltd.)

Clifford had sufficiently lightened the mood and released the spirits on The Greens. The stage was now set for Michele Henderson’s introduction to the Farm Road crowd.  His job well done, it would be up to Michele to take them up like the helium balloons they had become.

Would she do it, would she not? We’ll see about that next.

Clifford Charles JAOTG 2012 profile

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