Illegal Crowns Make Their U.S. Debut

Two years removed from our original concert date, music lovers in western Massachusetts finally got to see Illegal Crowns perform in person on June 19, 2022. The cooperative quartet: Taylor Ho Bynum, cornet, flugelhorn, Mary Halvorson, guitar, Benoit Delbecq, piano and Tomas Fujiwara, drums, captivated an audience of 50 at the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity in Florence, MA on Father’s Day and Juneteenth.

Illegal Crowns pairs long-time collaborators Ho Bynum, Halvorson and Fujiwara, with the esteemed French pianist and composer, Benoit Delbecq. They received a French-American Cultural Exchange grant to cover expenses for their five-city tour.

The concert was twice delayed by the pandemic. COVID-19, along with exceedingly strict immigration restrictions placed upon artists during the last administration, meant that the $1,800 budgeted for Delbecq’s visa and legal services almost tripled. Despite the obstacles, the musicians and producers persevered, and we were the beneficiaries.

Sunday’s Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares event, an afternoon affair, was the last gig in tour that included stops in Washington, Pittsburgh, New York and Boston. These were their first live performances in the United States. After the show, the band headed to Firehouse 12 in New Haven to record their third album.

What sublime music we witnessed. Everyone in the band contributed compositions, and the consistent variety of sounds and moods meant that an hour flew by without me noticing I was sitting on a wooden pew. Swing, funk and ballads mingled naturally with abstract elements to produce, in Ho Bynum’s words, “a hybridized and willfully corrupted musical vocabulary.”

We hardly noticed the absence of a bass instrument, as Halvorson and Delbecq provided the rhythmic bottom, while simultaneously creating swirling beds of sparks and momentum. Despite liberties taken with harmony and meter, lyricism and form ruled the day.

Writing about the band in Point of Departure, Ed Hazell summed it up: “Their every gesture is defined, specific, and placed within the flow of music so it harmonizes with what surrounds it. Sure there’s tension and release and dissonance and noise, but there’s never a clash or an element out of place.”

Halvorson has been through these parts multiple times since she first performed at UMass with Jessica Pavone 10 years ago, but I have never heard her sound more tuneful. Of course, she employed her usual arsenal of note-bending pedals and piquant ideas, but these elements were folded beautifully into an organic ensemble sound.

Delbecq also exerted a consonance over the proceedings that made the avant-garde accessible. On occasion, he inserted twigs between the piano strings, producing a kalimba-like buzz. After the concert, he showed me his bag of bark-less sticks, some of which had thumb tacks attached. He knew the wood type for each of his devices, as well as the location of each tree. The technique gave things a world-music vibe that added depth and dimension to the music. Incidentally,Delbecq’s solo record, The Weight of Light (2021, Pyroclastic), is a gem.

The tour and the forthcoming record were supported by the French-American Cultural Exchange Foundation, a program of the French embassy in the U.S.. Their mandate: to foster meaningful interaction between French and American musicians, results in some fascinating collaborations. I still remember vocalist Emilie LesBros’ performance with Darius Jones at the 2015 Vision Festival, supported by FACE.

It’s always interesting when a new person enters an established group. Ho Bynum, Halvorson and Fujiwara have known each other for half their lives, and appear frequently in each other’s bands. Ho Bynum told me afterwards he loves the influence Delbecq exerts on the ensemble. Perhaps that’s why the cornetist sounded especially sweet at Bombyx. His smeared sounds and tattered phrases sounded very good alongside his chugging bandmates. Ho Bynum is becoming a master of mutes, using a bowler hat and funnel, among other devices, to provide texture and humor.

Fujiwara was his usual dynamic self, playing precise rhythms on every part of his drum kit and at all volumes. He articulately framed each piece, making it easier for us to follow the composer’s intent. The breadth of the compositions gave us a chance to hear his incredible range as a drummer.

It’s been great to have Ho Bynum, Halvorson and Fujiwara, who all grew up in the Boston area, make regular visits to western Massachusetts. Thanks to them for introducing us to Benoit Delbecq, and expanding our known circle of talented pianists and composers.

More Than Notes On a Page: Music Follows Fellowship

Because the music is largely improvised, and depends heavily on the listening skills and collective decision making of its participants, jazz is a relationship-based art. Those relationships extend to listeners and producers, as well as musicians. Collectively, we shape the music and dictate its outcomes.

The importance of relationship was highlighted as the Jessica Pavone String Trio came to the bucolic grounds of the Institute for the Musical Arts (IMA) in Goshen, MA on June 9, as part of Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares’ 10thseason. The point was also underscored by a week-long residency by Terry Jenoure’s Sextet that included work at IMA, the Shea Theater and the Northampton Center for the Arts.

Pavone’s trio: Aimée Niemann, violin, Abby Swidler, violin and viola and Pavone, viola, are on an extended tour in support of their new release, …Of Late (Astral Spirits). Sandwiched between dates in Chicago and New Haven, the Trio provided 20 local listeners with a glimpse into the unique sound world of Jessica Pavone, who composed and arranged an hour of dense, sometimes unsettling music.

Although the music was scripted, the musicians retained the latitude to choose notes, determine entrances, and create sounds within compositional parameters. The pieces, drawn mostly from the new recording, all had distinct points of view. There were the long, bended notes played in unison on the disquieting, “Done and Dusted”, for instance. Or a composition that summoned some ancient, from-the-gut country music. The band decided against electric lights in the barn, save for the tiny lamps on their music stands. By the finale, “Hidden Voices,” which slowly introduced vocals into the mix, the evening’s natural light had faded, and we sat in stunned silence as this mysterious, otherworldly music washed over us and the darkened space we occupied.

Reviews are typically confined to what transpires on stage, but the music evolves as the musicians grow, and much of that growth takes place off the bandstand. The opportunity to share meals, stories, and histories creates a web that holds the music. We introduced Jessica, Aimée and Abby to IMA and two early champions of elevating women in music: Ann Hackler and June Millington. We talked about Leroy Jenkins, the great violinist, who mentored both Pavone and our dear friend, Terry Jenoure. We discovered that Jessica’s parents graduated from the same high school I did: WC Bryant, in Astoria, Queens. In a jazz world of meager financial returns, evenings like this are priceless.

Meanwhile, from June 5-11, the violinist and vocalist Terry Jenoure invited five musical friends to spend the week in western Massachusetts to create music. Using funds provided by a South Arts’ Jazz Road Residency grant, Jenoure brought together Anglica Sanchez (piano), Joe Fonda (bass), Avery Sharpe (bass), Wayne Smith (cello) and Reggie Nicholson (drums) to perform at the Jazz Shares annual meeting/party at IMA, rehearse and interact with area artists at the Shea Theater, and give a culminating concert at 33 Hawley St, in Northampton.

For the Jazz Shares event, Jenoure divided the musicians into three groups of two, each improvising for about 15 minutes. The duo of Jenoure and Fonda segued seamlessly to Sanchez and Smith, before giving way to Sharpe and Nicholson. The pairings were inspired, and the music they produced unfolded spontaneously, but with an inevitability that seemed preordained.

Jenoure’s concert at the Northampton Center for the Arts had all six musicians on stage and featured a piece dedicated to Jenoure’s father, Maurice, who recently passed. Developed during the residency, the piece, “Letters From Papa”, included excerpts of her grandfather’s letters sent from Canada to her grandmother in Jamaica.

It was instructive to see the music grow as the group cohered. The six musicians had varying levels of familiarity with each other. Jenoure has known Sharpe, Fonda and Nicholson for decades, while Sanchez and Smith are newer colleagues. As they shared meals, made music together, and relaxed in the country, the group cohered. That’s how bands are formed. For me and my wife Priscilla Page, the chance to spend time with our out-of-town friends (Fonda, Sanchez, Nicholson), was a joy.

On a side note, Jenoure is also a superb visual artist. She has curated, “Syncopate: Homage to Jazz”, up through July 2 at Gallery A3 in Amherst.

On another side note, Felipe Salles and Lois Ahrens produced a fantastic concert, “Tiyo’s Songs of Love” with Zaccai Curtis, Avery Sharpe, and Jonathan Barber on June 12 at Bombyx in Florence, which we were also privileged to witness.

I titled a small book marking the 25th anniversary of my Magic Triangle Jazz Series, “Close to the Music.” That’s been my life’s ambition, to stay close to the music and help nurture it any way I can. Strengthening the web by spending time with creative friends and engaging with their music, is what it’s all about.

Producing Ups and Downs: Caroline Davis Quintet and Then Some

A fabulous April 22 concert by the Caroline Davis Quintet concluded an eventful two-week sojourn for this writer. On April 10, for the first time in my career, I missed a concert I produced. Home recovering from a mild bout of COVID, with the equally ill Priscilla Page by my side, producing duties fell to Jason Robinson and other members of the Jazz Shares board of directors. By all accounts, the concert by bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck and pianist Wayne Horvitz was thoroughly enjoyed by the 55 folks who filled the barn at the Institute for the Musical Arts. After multiple postponements because of the pandemic, it was ironic that the virus prevented me from experiencing it.

Then on, April 21, the final curtain came down on the Magic Triangle Jazz Series, the upstart annual event I helped found in 1990. The Series was a collaboration between the then-vibrant student and community radio station, WMUA-FM, and the University’s Fine Arts Center. It’s first home was Hampden Theater, a professionally staffed, jewel of a black box theater in the southwest residential area of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, shuttered in 1998. The Magic Triangle (and its sister program, the Solos & Duos Series) produced 151 concerts in its lifetime, the last one on Thursday at Bowker Auditorium with a performance by Adam Rudolph’s GO: Organic Orchestra and Brooklyn Raga Massive. I was moved by the outpouring of appreciation for all the music we have brought to Amherst over the years, and we were rewarded with a transcendent performance by Rudolph’s band of 30, which included large percussion, flute and string sections. With assurance and a sense of adventure, Rudolph’s ensemble pointed us toward a musical future influenced by Indian, Latin and jazz improvising traditions.

Which brings us to Friday’s concert at the Community Music School of Springfield, featuring alto saxophonist and composer Caroline Davis. Her group: Jonathan Finlayson, trumpet, Julian Shore, piano, Chris Tordini, bass and Alan Mednard, drums, stopped in Springfield on their way home from a residency at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.

Their performance featured material from last year’s release, Portals, Volume 1: Mourning (Sunnyside), dedicated to Davis’ late father. The music was dense, but not heavy, the compositions complex, but lyrical. Modern harmonies and precise rhythmic shifts were everywhere, leavened by a focus on melody and form. The young veteran, Jonathan Finlayson replaced Marquis Hill for our Jazz Shares concert; the rest of the band is on the record. (The recording also includes a well-utilized string quartet.)

Despite the exacting nature of the compositions, the band was relaxed on the bandstand and off. Over a homecooked meal before the show, Tordini recounted a tough early gig at the Newark Airport, which necessitated a subway ride, to a PATH train, to a car ride, all for the pleasure of playing for a distracted airport restaurant audience. Not to be outdone, Shore reminisced about a gig that required a plane ride from New York to Cleveland for an annual gathering honoring police who died in the line of duty. In a giant arena, thousands of under-rehearsed amateur bagpipers and snare drummers (along with twirling young girls in identical dress and wigs), created such a din that Shore and the rest of his rhythm section spent the performance with their hands over their ears. Nobody seemed to notice they weren’t playing.

The storytelling continued on stage, as Davis shared her experiences creating this beautiful body of work from her loss. The music was full of drama, with a soaring quality that was taut, expressive and profound. This was my first opportunity to hear Mednard, a young drummer who plays with Jeremy Pelt and Ben Allison, among others. He read down the heads with the skill of a classical percussionist, then proceeded to fill and accent his way through the evening with riveting clarity. He never got a chance to solo, but was so on point all evening, it hardly mattered.

Caroline Davis gives me confidence about the future of our music. She is well prepared and serious about her craft. Before the gig I saw her off to the side meditating, her way of “getting right” before engaging in a vital activity. The facility in her playing, the emotional impact of her compositions, and her easy command as a bandleader, all point to a musician poised to make a real contribution in the decades ahead.