Jazz exploration, and more, in Chicago.
As Joe took to the mic to open the night, he described the upcoming music as a “hellfire of sexy jazz,” which got a laugh out of the crowd, but would wind up being dead-on in the way a fire burns bright before simmering.
"In and out, then in, then out. Simple, then not. Looped samples of inspiration much like I heard at The Whistler this past summer…that night’s sound leaned more into the contemporary jazz/neo-soul category, with added elements of world music as well. And Japanese RPG-esque DnB vamps."
“So when are you gonna get to the jazz?” Greene sarcastically asked himself on the mic. “People ask ‘when are you gonna play standards,’” he continued, as the audience laughed, “for god’s sake y’all act like you don’t know what I’m doing!”
Perhaps it wasn’t exactly the way the great Sonny Rollins would envision it - a typical Winfield crowd celebrating someone’s 60th birthday (give or take) does contrast with the folk songs of the 1930s Virgin Islands - but it did make everyone happy, much like that song does.
“Satellite,” the song itself, is everything you wish for a Quentin Coaxum song to be: invigorating, ascending, and irresistibly hopeful.
It’s the kind of set you’d want to bring a first-time jazz-listener, Andy’s-goer, or Chicago-visitor to every time.
Salazar declared the next tune was officially called “Make It Up As We Go, Hope You Enjoy”. This ain’t Andy’s or the Showcase, and it’s not my scene, but I would very much like it to be.
Bandleader Neil Carson described the group to the Andy’s audience as a “jazz-pop-rock” group that “can’t decide” which one they want to be. As he put it, they just “wanna rock out” while “embracing Charlie Parker and Louis Armstrong as well as The Police and Metallica.”
Alton Sterling receives two tributes in jazz form.
Roxy Coss and Sharel Cassity are two sax voices you need to look out for if you have even a slight interest in jazz music.
Blue Collar Jazz 