Friday at North Sea Jazz 2024
So here we are again in Rotterdam for North Sea Jazz, 2024 edition. I started out with a beer of course and then went on to see Emily King, the singer who wrote and sang on two beautiful tracks on the 2012 José James album “No Beginning No End”: “Heaven On The Ground” and “Come To My Door”. Emily released her last album “Special Occasion” last year and it was highly refreshing and entertaining to witness her singing her distinctive and innovative originals with just her on vocals and guitar and Randy Runyan accompanying her on guitar and vocals. Songs like the title track or “This Year” were just a delight.
Last year, young trumpeter Milena Casado was playing in Terri Lyne Carrington‘s band. I was pretty impressed with her work so I started early to get a front row seat to see her first show here as her own headliner. Turns out that Terri was sitting right next to me. She is curating the “Darling” stage this year which also featured Irreversible Entanglements, Myra Melford, and Sanem Kalfa. Milena’s set was very diverse and included everything from tender ballads to outright free-flowing, almost avantgarde-ish pieces, her tone and embouchure always precise, both vulnerabe and fierce wherever it was needed. She incorporated a Wayne Shorter interview clip into one of her pieces. She reminded me of 70s Donald Byrd here and there. There is a lot to come from this highly talented artist. Morgan Guerin, who has his own new album out “Tales Of The Facade” (brilliant piece of work by the way) on Candid Rercords, played the EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument; Michael Brecker was playing it as well back in the day) and was prominently featured throughout the set. The combination of the EWI and trumpet made up for a pretty inimitable combination. Milena’s own debut album will come out early 2025.
Back in 2000, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Jeff Ballard went into Avatar Studios in New York to record “The Next Step”, an album of post-bop Rosenwinkel compositions which ended up on the Verve label and was highly successful. All of the group members then went their own ways, Mark for example turning to ECM where he recorded some exceptionally brilliant records. So then they decided to get back together and tour. There is also a live recording out on Kurt’s own Heartcore Rercords: “A Life Unfolds”, recorded at the New York club Smalls in 1996, just came out yesterday. The group interplay was really fascinating. Pieces like “Filters”, “Zhivago”, or “A Shifting Design”, sounded as fresh as ever and really stood the test of time. Kurt, who has lived in Berlin on and off over the years, really is a one-of-a-kind musician. I remember his brilliant album “Caipi” from 2017, which received five paws from Gina. A totally different affair, but the reason why it is always worth checking him out live. And I’ve been following Mark over the years ever since his 1998 debut “In This World”. His tone has become more robust and thicker and it’s really a joy to hear him play. As for Ben and Jeff, those two are just monsters on their respective instruments.
Meshell Ndegeocello is Artist in Residence this year. She will play her landmark 1993 album “Plantation Lullabies” on Sunday and music from her “Omnichord Realbook” today, which came out last year. Yesterday, she dedicated her set to Eugene McDaniels and NTU Troop, the mindblowing fusion group led by Gary Bartz. And of course Meshell are we familiar with Eugene McDaniels (last year I did a radio feature about him for a public radio station), the man who brought us “Feel Like Makin’ Love”, “Reverend Lee”, and so many more! Singer Justin Hicks dramatically delivered “Love Letter To America” from Eugene’s 1970 LP “Outlaw”. “The only thing you can respect is violence now”, one of the phrases in the song’s lyric, seems to be as adequate and relevant today. And of course, “Feel Like Makin’ Love” was included as well. A stripped-down version which turned into a romping piece. What was really outstanding was the use of drummer Tom Skinner and percussionist Abraham Rounds. They both made the whole set extremely funky and they both grooved their behinds off. Abe was also singing, like during the Gary Bartz classic “Uhuru Sasa” from the 1971 LP “Harlem Bush Music” with vocals by Andy Bey. And his singing really clicked. A true “diamond in the rough”, as Meshell is quoted. It’s as if we were really transported back in time to the early to mid 70s. Meshell also premiered a few tracks from her upcoming album “No More Water”, a dedication to the great novelist, essayist, and civil rights activist James Baldwin, quoting phrases from some of his work but still mentioning the fact that her new album is mostly about the importance of women and water. The album features the musicians who were on stage with her last night, like saxophonist Josh Johnson, and keyboardist Jebin Bruni. And with pieces like “Love” or “Pride”, we’re up to a very special treat when the LP comes out on August 2nd. It was also the perfect conclusion of the first night.