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Concert: G.A.M.E. (The Great American Music Ensemble) Chameleon in the House What a night! It's not every concert that one gets to hear Ray Nance, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Clark Terry and Dizzy Gillespie, all on the same stage. But when the guest artist is Jon Faddis, and it's the 100th anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth, AND it's
Backed by the superb Great American Music Ensemble (GAME), Jon Faddis lit up the overflowing Jepson Theater as he was featured in arrangements and compositions by GAME leader Doug Richards. Preceding Faddis, GAME played arrangements by Doug Richards, whom ITG Conference host Mike Davison considers to be one of the "greatest arrangers alive today." Richards has made Ellington something of a specialty. He has transcribed numerous Ellington pieces, including "The Tattooed Bride" and "The Queen's Suite." One hears the Ellington influence in Richards' use of his musicians' individual talents to create unusual, interesting, and effective sonorities. In "Embraceable You," Richards had two flugelhorn players literally sitting in the reed section, which consisted of bass clarinet and baritone sax, while two alto players stood in the trumpet section, emulating the pairing of Dizzy and Bird. Skip Gailes played melody using soprano sax, and it was buckets all around for the trombone section! "Cherokee"
The waltz "My Wonderful One" passed the melody from instrument to instrument, while a contrasting instrument played obbligato under the melody. Here, Richards paired bass clarinet and flute, baritone sax and trumpet, trombone and tenor sax. This arrangement featured keyboardist Weldon Hill on celeste. A trombone player switched to baritone horn for this piece, but unfortunately, the effect wasn't audible in the ensemble. Thelonius Monk's "Mysterioso" brought the first laugh of the evening, as there were two false starts before the bass trombonist turned to the right page. This caused the band to laugh so hard, Richards was momentarily unable to give the downbeat! Once everybody was on the same page, the tune proceeded at a walking tempo, replete with the obligatory clusters featured in the section writing, and in Hill's piano solo. Clarinetist John Winn and trumpeter John D'Earth were featured in melodies and solos.
D'Earth, a Charlottesville, VA-based musician, has an individual voice--it seems he never plays the same thing twice. The trombone section used plungers with pixie mutes to great effect. Richards gave that hoary big band classic "In the Mood" the "blockbuster treatment," as he picked up the tempo and let the bass and bass clarinet deconstruct the melody. In place of the traditional bluesy trumpet solo, D'Earth executed a fine post-bop chorus. Richards had the trumpet section turn the finale inside out as the band ended on a screaming 7#9 chord. The whirring at the end of the piece was the sound of Glen Miller spinning. The next laugh of the evening came as Richards announced "Stardust Variations," and called Jon Faddis to the stage. There was a wait of several moments before Faddis came out, saying, "I expected a longer intro!" Weldon Hill gave the Bb concert tuning note as Faddis played concert A, and while everybody laughed, signaled he was ready to play. This arrangement, Richards' tribute to Louis Armstrong and Roy Eldridge, began as a bossa, and featured Faddis on muted trumpet. As the song moved into a double-time feel, Faddis played shiny Eldridge-like lines.
The next three songs were Ellington-band arrangements featuring trumpet players. Faddis was obviously in good humor , as he announced the first song a la Lawrence Welk, "Our next number will be `Take A Train'." Doug Richards and GAME perfectly recreated the Ellington sound, as Faddis played the Ray Nance solos with appropriate swagger and sass."Boy Meets Horn" featured Faddis in the Rex Stewart part. Faddis showed complete mastery over the famous Stewart half-valve style. Although listed in the program, "Black and Tan Fantasy" was omitted. The last of these homages had Faddis using a plunger mute, playing the Cootie Williams part to a "T" in "Concerto for Cootie" (better known as "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me"). Mike Davison commissioned Richards to write a piece for the ITG Conference. "Dukal Bugles," funded by the Richmond Jazz Festival Committee, was the centerpiece for this concert. The pairing of GAME and Faddis goes back nine years, when Faddis was featured in a Dizzy Gillespie/Louis Armstrong tribute in a composition by Richards. While the previous three tunes were Duke Ellington recreations, right down to the trumpet solos, "Dukal Bugles" only hints at Ellington, using chord changes suggestive of "A Train" and "It Don't Mean A Thing." Before playing, Jon Faddis thanked ITG host Mike Davison for the loan of his flugelhorn, a gorgeous UMI prototype (designed by Fred Powell) with a satin-brass finish, and wood-tipped 3rd valve trigger. He also joked about seeing the 14-page score for the first time today. Richards said the last time he wrote a piece for him, he sent Faddis the score weeks ahead, only to have Faddis tell Richards he didn't look at it. Richards said Faddis then played the piece "beyond perfection!" Faddis opened "Dukal Bugles" on flugel, achieving a light, yet rich and warm sound in the ballad-tempo beginning. The piece moved into an up-tempo reworking of "A Train" themes, with GAME's trumpet section playing double-tongued Ellington-esque fanfares in the upper register. This segued into a samba section, where, for the first time, it looked as if Faddis had a written part. (To this point, most of his playing was solo.) Harmon-muted, he played an exciting half-valved hocket exchange with the GAME trumpets. This section gave way to an un-muted jazz waltz, with Faddis playing at his most Dizzy-like of the evening. Faddis' nod to the various Ellington trumpeters credited in the composer side of the program had been subtle in this piece, but in the next section, there was no question but that Faddis had Clark Terry in mind. John D'Earth stepped out front with Faddis, and engaged him in a long and very humorous musical conversation as they traded plunger-muted quips and quotes (by the way, Faddis used the Tru-Value heavy-weight plunger, while D'Earth favored a lighter model). GAME's trumpet section was featured next in a minor 32-bar form. Each of the trumpeters participated in a solo chase, showing them all in fine form: D'Earth, Roy Muth, Bob Ransome, and Rob Dedominick. The piece ended with another re-working of the "A Train" changes. Here Faddis let loose in his best high-note style, suggesting Cat Anderson. Faddis' control and huge sound in all registers is awesome. I don't think trumpet players in the audience were disappointed! Apropos to the ITG Conference, this concert ended with the Mary Lou Williams arrangement for the Duke Ellington trumpet section titled "Trumpets No End" (maybe better known as "Blue Skies"). This piece featured the trumpets in high-note section work, playing with and against soloist Faddis.
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