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Review

Jean Toussaint

Jean Toussaint - Roots and Herbs, The Blakey Project, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton, 05/02/2016.

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Photography: Photograph of Jean Toussaint, Percy Pursglove and Dennis Rollins by John Watson. Photo copyright John Watson/jazzcamera.co.uk

by Ian Mann

February 08, 2016

/ LIVE

An evening that breathed new life into old material, primarily through the sheer quality, freshness and enthusiasm of the playing.

Jean Toussaint, “Roots And Herbs, The Blakey Project”, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton. 05/02/2016.


The great drummer and bandleader Art Blakey (born 1919) died in 1990. In 1954, together with pianist Horace Silver, he assembled the first edition of the group that was to become known as the Jazz Messengers, the band that Blakey would continue to lead for the rest of his life.

Effectively the Messengers became a franchise, headed by Blakey, that went through a myriad of line up changes and acted as a kind of ‘finishing school’ for the best young jazz talent in America. Several generations of outstanding musicians passed through the Messengers ranks, many of them becoming successful band leaders in their own right. The roll call includes;
trumpets – Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd Lee Morgan,  Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard
saxophones – Lou Donaldson, Hank Mobley, Johnny Griffin, Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Watson, Branford Marsalis Donald Harrison, Javon Jackson
piano- Bobby Timmons, Walter Bishop Jr., Cedar Walton, Keith Jarrett, Mulgrew Miller, Geoff Keezer
trombone – Curtis Fuller, Robin Eubanks, Frank Lacy
double bass – Curley Russell, Doug Watkins, Jymie Merritt, Lonnie Plaxico, Peter Washington.

The above list is by no means exhaustive but it’s undeniably impressive and to it should be added the name of tenor saxophonist Jean Toussaint, born in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, who eventually moved to New York and was a Messenger from 1982-85, appearing on three albums alongside Blakey, Blanchard, Harrison, Miller and Plaxico.

In 1986 Toussaint relocated to London and for the past thirty years has been a leading presence on the UK jazz scene, collaborating with many of Britain’s leading jazz musicians both as a leader and a sideman. Like his one time mentor Blakey he has been particularly supportive of emerging jazz musicians, among them the young alto saxophonist Tom Harrison. In April 2012 I reviewed a performance by Harrison’s DAGDA group featuring Toussaint as guest soloist at the Gateway Arts Centre in Shrewsbury.

In 2015 Toussaint assembled an all star British sextet with the intention of commemorating the 25th anniversary of Blakey’s death. Dubbed “Roots And Herbs, The Blakey Project” the group’s repertoire was strongly influenced by the 1961 Messengers album for Blue Note Records “Roots And Herbs”. This featured the classic line up of Blakey, Morgan, Shorter and Merritt with piano duties being shared by Timmons and Bishop Jr. All of the pieces on the album were written by Shorter who was beginning to establish himself as a composer of some stature by this time, and understandably the two sets performed by the Toussaint sextet tonight were dominated by Wayne Shorter tunes. 

The stellar sextet put together by Toussaint to celebrate Blakey comprised of trumpeter Byron Wallen, trombonist Dennis Rollins, pianist Julian Joseph, bassist Daniel Casimir and drummer Shaney Forbes. This line made its début in 2015 to considerable critical acclaim and is is still touring. For the Wolverhampton gig Wallen was replaced on trumpet and flugel by local hero Percy Pursglove who is also an accomplished bassist. Pursglove had never played with the full group before and rehearsals had been limited to a couple of ‘one on one’ sessions between him and Toussaint at Birmingham Conservatoire where both musicians hold teaching posts. It was a credit to Pursglove’s skill and versatility that he fitted in seamlessly, soloing with the fluency and confidence that has made him an increasingly influential presence on the UK jazz scene.

I have to admit to being somewhat surprised that the Arena wasn’t sold out for this performance. Around 100 of the 150 seats were filled and those present gave the sextet a tremendous reception. In mitigation to the stay aways the weather was less than clement, the band had already performed a show in Birmingham in December 2015 and the £20 ticket price was rather more than the usual £15 charged for Jazz at the Arena events - however this stellar line up was never likely to come cheap. The general consensus after the show seemed to be that the quality of the music more than justified the increase.

The band set their stall out with Shorter’s title track from the “Roots & Herbs” album, the punchy sound of the three horn front line immediately striking the listener. But in defiance of jazz convention it was bassist Casimir who took the first solo, a virtuoso display of dexterity and musicality that included strumming and slapping techniques. Elsewhere Casimir’s sound was immense, giving a tremendous rhythmic propulsion to the group, particularly when allied to Forbes’ crisp, hard hitting drumming. I was particularly impressed by the young bassist, the youngest member of the band and a recent graduate of the Jazz Course at Birmingham Conservatoire. I remember seeing him as part of a student ensemble at the 2012 Cheltenham Jazz Festival backing the great American saxophonist Chris Potter. Then in 2014 he was part of drummer Clark Tracey’s quintet at The Hive at Shrewsbury, a great gig by a very young band led by the man who has come to be regarded as the “British Art Blakey”. Casimir returned to Shrewsbury later in 2014 as a ‘dep’ for Max Luthert in guitarist Leo Appleyard’s quintet and did a great job with the leader praising his colleague’s sight reading skills. Since those days Casimir seems to have kicked on again, he was absolutely terrific tonight, more than justifying his place in this heavyweight line up and staking his claim to be considered as one of the UK’s best up and coming bassists. In this unconventional opener he shared the soling with his rhythm partner Forbes, the Empirical drummer also impressing throughout as he tackled the unenviable task of filling Blakey’s shoes with considerable aplomb.

“Crisis”, written by Freddie Hubbard, was relatively more conventional. That man Casimir introduced it on the bass and was subsequently joined by Joseph and Forbes with Joseph’s piano motif driving the tune. However the first solo came from Pursglove who immediately impressed with his sense of purpose and purity of tone. Toussaint followed on tenor, his fluent playing managing to be both probing and exuberant. Rollins and Joseph came next as the tune adhered to a more orthodox trajectory, finally resolving itself through a combination of bright horn interplay, with Pursglove hitting some impressive high register notes, and hard driving drumming - before ending as it began with the sound of Casimir’s unaccompanied bass.

The Messengers line up that recorded “Roots And Herbs” also made “The Freedom Rider” from which was sourced the Shorter tune “Tell It Like It Is”. Written at the dawn of the Civil Rights era this was music that still sounded edgy, urgent and surprisingly contemporary with Toussaint’s declamatory tenor leading off the solos followed by similarly rousing contributions from Pursglove on trumpet and Rollins on trombone. Joseph at the piano and Casimir on bass proved to be equally purposeful and the piece concluded with the sound of the three horns interacting with Forbes’ whiplash drumming.

Shorter was a particularly versatile and inventive composer and Pursglove switched to flugel horn for the ballad “Sleeping Dancer, Sleep On” from the 1960 Messengers album “Like Someone In Love”. This revealed a gentler side of the band with its warm toned horn chorales, brushed drums and eloquently lyrical solos from Rollins on trombone, Pursglove on flugel and Toussaint on tenor, the latter squeezing in a quote from “Fly Me To The Moon”. Joseph followed on piano, increasing the momentum as Forbes moved to sticks but with the music remaining tasteful and relatively restrained throughout.

The first set concluded on a more energetic note as the sextet played one of the Messengers’ “greatest hits”, Bobby Timmons’ enduringly popular “Moanin’”. This was introduced by Joseph at the piano, his intriguing extemporisations finally culminating in that famous and familiar motif, the jumping off point for bravura solos from Pursglove on trumpet, doing his best Lee Morgan impersonation, and Rollins on trombone in the role of Curtis Fuller. Toussaint on tenor could justifiably claim to be playing himself and Joseph’s second piano excursion was his most expansive of the set. During the 1980s jazz boom the young Joseph was regarded as something of a ‘teenage prodigy’, but he’s since developed into one of the pillars of the British jazz community in his joint role as a musician and broadcaster. Casimir rounded off the solos here, on this evidence his career may well follow a similar trajectory.

An exciting and admirably varied first half was very well received by the Wolverhampton audience and it’s fair to say that individually and collectively the members of the sextet were in terrific form throughout, something that continued into the equally impressive second set.

This began with Shorter’s “One For Albert”, the composer’s dedication to the troubled genius that was pianist Bud Powell (1924-66). They say you learn something new every day, even I didn’t knew that Powell’s given name was ‘Albert’.
Introduced by Casimir the piece featured some delightful unison horn lines plus effective solos from Toussaint on tenor, Rollins on trombone and Pursglove on trumpet. As this was a dedication to a pianist it was perhaps appropriate that Joseph should steal the show with a solo that was a veritable outpouring of ideas, the big man just got better and better throughout the evening. It was left to Casimir to round off the solos before the triumvirate of horns coalesced again on a final restatement of the the theme.

Jospeh was at his exuberant best on a Cedar Walton arrangement of the standard “That Old Feeling” which included a lengthy passage in piano trio mode plus a final drum flourish from Forbes.

Shorter’s ballad “Contemplation” was a feature for Toussaint who demonstrated the gentler side of his playing, sympathetically supported by his front line colleagues plus Forbes on brushed drums. The other soloist was Joseph who also displayed an admirable tenderness and lyricism.

The title of Shorter’s “The Summit” related to the political events of the sixties. “It’s something we could do with right now” commented Toussaint before the band launched into an urgent, surging intro featuring sax, trumpet and trombone working in tandem before each embarked on their individual solos. Pursglove went first and dazzled with some virtuoso high register trumpeting. Rollins, a respected bandleader in his own right, followed, his trombone rasping fruitily above the ferocious swing generated by Forbes and Casimir, these two aided and abetted by Joseph. Toussaint on tenor and Joseph on piano were next, maintaining the energy levels on this powerful but eloquent statement of intent.

The evening finished with the Messengers’ second best known tune, another “greatest hit” if you will. This was, of course, saxophonist Benny Golson’s “Blues March” which began with a colourful drum introduction from Forbes, eventually culminating in the familiar martial drum roll and triggering the triple pronged theme statement from tenor, trumpet and trombone. The concluding solos from the individual musicians were suitable flamboyant, Pursglove going first followed by Rollins, Toussaint and Joseph. Casimir’s virtuoso bass solo over the patter of Forbes’ hand drumming included some genuine blues elements and Forbes as Blakey rounded off the solos with some appropriately volcanic drumming before the horns returned for a final statement of the theme.

The performance elicited a standing ovation, still something rarely seen at Jazz at the Arena events despite the obvious success of the series. However there was to be no encore, how could you top the popular and familiar “Blues March”.

But nobody was complaining, this had been an evening that had breathed new life into old material , primarily through the sheer quality, freshness and enthusiasm of the playing. Yes, many of the pieces were in the head/solos/head format yet it never felt clichéd, laboured or boring, a tribute not only to the musicians but also to the quality of the writing and particularly that of Shorter. 

Those who stayed away missed an absolute treat.


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