Jazz musicians and jazz music contain many worlds, but almost every player and every show provides a moment that makes you want to shake your hip and let your backbone slip.
Those moments are the Crunch Berries in your bowl of Cap’n Crunch. But why quit at just a handful of berries? Vincent Herring likes the idea of jazz that’s 100% Crunch Berries, Oops! All Berries.
“I remember when they came out with that cereal that’s just Crunch Berries,” said the alto saxophonist, “and I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’ve got to have that.’”
Herring’s ensemble Something Else! is all Crunch Berries. The soul-jazz septet, dedicated to the danceable beats of the hard bop era, headlines the first day of the three-day Atlanta Jazz Festival which takes place Saturday-Monday, May 25-27 at Piedmont Park and is one of the largest free jazz festivals in the country. Herring’s group appears 9 p.m. Saturday, May 25.
The name Something Else! comes from a deeply groovy 1958 Cannonball Adderley LP on Blue Note, and betrays Herring’s appreciation for Adderley and for the music that puts the crunch in Herring’s breakfast.
Jazz started out a hundred years ago as dance music, Herring points out, and in the 1950s it was the churchy, funky sounds of players such as Adderley, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Bobby Timmons and Lee Morgan that got club crowds back on their feet.
The tunes played in that era — “The Chicken,” by Pee Wee Ellis, “Work Song,” by Nat Adderley, “Moaning” by Bobby Timmons and even later soul jazz such as 1969′s “Cold Duck Time” by Eddie Harris — are the main course in the Something Else! repertoire.
Herring, 59, grew up in northern California and moved to New York City in the 1980s. His soulful sound on alto saxophone was influenced by Cannonball Adderley, who had died in 1975 at age 46. The similarity drew the attention of Cannonball’s brother and music partner, cornetist Nat Adderley, and Nat Adderley worked with Herring for nine years and nine albums. Herring also played with pianist Cedar Walton for more than 20 years.
A professor of music at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey (he also taught at the Manhattan School of Music), Herring said one of his responsibilities is to broaden the frame of reference for his jazz students. And sometimes that means injecting a little soul jazz.
“I’ve got to shape their listening diet because I already know, nine times out of 10, their listening diet is incomplete,” he said. The students have all spun John Coltrane records but few have heard Earl Bostic, a major influence on players such as Coltrane and Charlie Parker.
“Not many have paid attention to Eddie Harris,” said Herring, “who, though he isn’t considered an innovator, had immense musical talent.”
Prizing innovation over feeling and style can lead to an unbalanced student. Rather than seek some unique niche, the greatest players have immersed themselves in the music of their forerunners, said Herring. “Look at Coltrane, who tried as hard as he could, as a young musician, to sound like Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon,” before developing his own unmistakable approach.
The way to seek one’s own vice, said Herring, is to know the legacy of the music, and then to evolve into what you can.
In Atlanta, the rotating ensemble of musicians in Something Else! will include Vincent Herring, alto saxophone; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; James Carter, tenor saxophone; Paul Bollenback, guitar; Dave Kikoski, piano; Essiet Okon Essiet, bass; and Lewis Nash, drums.
The 47th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival is presented by the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, funded by corporate donations and by the nonprofit organization, Atlanta Jazz Festival Inc. It caps a month of events around the city also presented by Atlanta Jazz Festival Inc. called 31 Days of Jazz.
Among other artists appearing at Piedmont Park during the three-day Jazz Festival weekend are:
Credit: Peter Lueders
Credit: Peter Lueders
New Jazz Underground: This trio of young Julliard graduates — Abdias Armenteros, saxophone; Sebastian Rios, bass; and TJ Reddick, drums — have learned their craft performing with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Their reverence for the masters is tempered with an irreverent streak (considering song titles such as “they can hate but we still swinging” and “Modern Jazz, but it’s good”). 1 p.m. Saturday, May 25.
Credit: Karolis Kaminskas
Credit: Karolis Kaminskas
Cecile McLorin Salvant: Vocalist Salvant performs in several languages, including French, Occitan, English and Haitian Kreyòl. She explores vaudeville, blues, folk traditions, theater, jazz and baroque music. 7 p.m. Saturday, May 25.
Credit: Ksenija Hotic
Credit: Ksenija Hotic
OKAN: Led by the Cuban-born violinist and vocalist Elizabeth Rodriguez and percussionist and vocalist Magdelys Savigne, Okan has been nominated for Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards. It takes its name from the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria. 1 p.m. Sunday, May 26.
Credit: Laetitia Mace
Credit: Laetitia Mace
Jacques Schwarz-Bart: Born in Guadeloupe, raised in France, Schwarz-Bart pioneers two new approaches in jazz: one, Gwoka, invoking the Guadeloupean tradition of responsive singing and the rhythms of the ka drums; and the other he calls Voodoo jazz, reuniting jazz music with its Afro-Caribbean and spiritual origins: 5 p.m. Sunday, May 26.
Credit: Lane Pederson
Credit: Lane Pederson
Paquito D’Rivera: Born in Havana, D’Rivera was a featured soloist with the Cuban National Symphony and was a founding member of the Orquesta Cubana de Musica Moderna, and of the United Nation Orchestra, founded by Dizzy Gillespie. 9 p.m. Sunday, May 26.
Credit: KELS
Credit: KELS
KELS: A Pittsburgh native, KELS has been based in Atlanta for two years, and recently held her first headlining show at Smith’s Olde Bar. 3 p.m. Monday, May 27.
Credit: Courtesy photo/Dexter Navy
Credit: Courtesy photo/Dexter Navy
Andre 3000: Also known as André Lauren Benjamin, this hip-hop star surprised his fans last year by releasing an album of ambient flute music, which went on to moderate success. 7 p.m. Monday, May 27.
Credit: Hollis King
Credit: Hollis King
Lizz Wright: The Georgia native’s voice has been described by the New York Times as “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather.” Metaphors aside, Wright has, in fact, augmented her singing career with a venture in fine dining, opening Carver 47 Food & Wellness Market on the South Side of Chicago, a cafe and market, in 2020. 9 p.m. Monday, May 27.
MUSIC PREVIEW
Atlanta Jazz Festival
Saturday, May 25, through Monday, May 27, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day, at Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta. Free. In addition, there will be a ticketed celebration of jazz radio station WCLK at 8 p.m. Friday, May 24, $25-$50, at Atlanta Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St.; and a late-night performance by vocalist Lauren Henderson at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 25, $50, Park Tavern, 500 10th St. NE. For the full schedule: atljazzfest.com.
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