Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave walked out onstage last Friday and surprised many in the audience who never saw him before – he is small in stature. Then further surprises came when he started to play – the man is a maestro.
The show, billed Twilight Jazz:?The Detroit-Barbados Jazz Connection, was held at the Walcott Warner Theatre at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination (EBCCI) and “accommodated” by the United States Embassy.
Belgrave informed the audience that the talented local musicians accompanying him – the Barbados Community College (BCC) big band and small ensemble – had met him only that week.
So Belgrave and the band were trying to establish a musical connection in front of a rapt audience – and in difficult, unfamiliar music. Not exactly a formula for success.
Given these circumstances, the musicians did a delightful job except for the tepid, ragged playing, interrupted periodically (and mercifully) by some solid solo work.
And at one point they had to restart a song but the audience was very tolerant because where else can you get a free concert with a surviving member of Ray Charles’ band?
Amid this, however, there were some moments of relief, most notably in the form of Bajan trumpeter Kweku Jelani, vocalist and wife of Marcus, Joan Belgrave; and Marcus himself.
The BCC?small ensemble started off the proceedings – Jelani, Mylon Clarke on alto sax, Steve Sobers on trombone, Rafael Hinds on piano, Darren Massiah on guitar, David Haynes on bass and Richard Welch on drums. First up was an offering of Enchantment, then they gave the audience the blues with Cape Verdean Blues which had three changes to the arrangement, and then the calypso tune Wilhelmina that Joan did justice.
Jelani did not compromise on his solos and his playing was a joy to hear. He could almost match Belgrave in enthusiasm too.
Brownie’s Town, a lyrical tribute to trumpet master Clifford Brown, who died tragically in a car accident at age 25 in 1956, was a piece that suited the light and lithe tone of Belgrave’s playing. He invited two tutors from BCC, Richard Evans on bass and David Carnegie on drums, to join Detroit Jazz Development Workshop trio – alto saxophonist Kasan Belgrave, pianist Ian Finkelstein and Marcus Elliott on saxophone.
Baghdad Blues though long was impactful with the horns.
G-Syndicate’s Derek Marshall’s baritone was a nice touch to Senor Blues and he returned with three other vocalists from BCC for It Don’t Mean A Thing.
Vocalist Belgrave deserved the standing ovation in her tribute to Ray Charles with You Don’t Know Me, transporting patrons to a smoky nightclub with her soulful voice.
After intermission, the musicians started off with the jazz standard Stella By Starlight. Though short, this was sweetly rendered by Marshall. Krista Walker and Ramon Harris, from the BCC music programme, put their voices to On A Clear Day and both voices complemented the content of the arrangement.
To cap off the night, the BCC big band, with too many names to mention, was joined by the Detroit group for In A Mellow Mood, Jumpin’ At The Woodside and Confessing The Blues with Joan Belgrave.
The audience’s calls for encores was met with bows on the stage and many photo opportunities.