prez sez June 2026 Edition
By Terry Rogers
Well, there are certainly different ways to play this wonderful music from the first part of the last century. What we heard from Black Swan on Sunday was a polished, driven, exciting version of traditional jazz, played by outstanding musicians. You may have seen music stands and charts...charts which laid out the arrangement and specifics of how the tune was going to unfold. This organization allows for specific introductions, details when solos occur, when the vocalist (OK, not just any vocalist, but the wonderful Marilyn Keller) participates, signals when any key change might occur, and lays out an organized ending. Such endings often are the signal that the band cares enough to let the audience know that it has actually planned how the song should end. In other words, the band has practiced and wants to present a polished product. In addition to the written parts of the song, there are plenty of opportunities for each member of the band to take solos within the context of the song, as appropriate. And wonderful soloists they all are, clearly following the written chord structure of the song but adding their own take on the song as they improvise and become inventive, creative musical artists. For my money, Black Swan excels at this combination of ordered, written chart-driven music and openings for individual creative improvisation. Well done by all.
I was perusing the CD table (you should check it out; there are some really good ones from recent contributions) and ran across a CD that I hadn’t known about. The reason to bring it up now is related to the paragraph above; there are many ways to play and present this wonderful music. As opposed to the full on, brassy (not a criticism) style of Black Swan, this CD displays the subtle, quiet interplay of three seasoned musicians on piano, string bass, and reeds.
The reed player is the late Ham Carson, who played for many years with the Great Excelsior Jazz Band, which had a Sunday night gig at the old Owl Café in Ballard back in the day. Ham was a unique individual who played clarinet and baritone sax, which was his preferred instrument. Interestingly, he played two clarinets with different fingering formats, Boehm and Albert systems, the latter used by the early New Orleans clarinetists. The reason to mention all of this is to comment on how lovely it is to hear the gentle but sincere interpretation of early traditional jazz music by this trio, and how it can hold its own with the more usual band format of seven players. It is really enjoyable to listen to, and, as a musician, to be reminded that soft and gentle can be as powerful and compelling as playing louder. Lesson learned.
I hope to see you all on June 21 for Mike Davis and the New Wonders. Mike is a great trumpet player and it should be a terrific session. Bring a friend!
