Held by the Louisiana Humanities Center located at 938 Lafayette St., the "Professors" series is going to focus on the New Orleans Piano Tradition.
Torkanowsky opened with what he said was one of the oldest jazz songs around. A tune by Buddy Bolden. I need to remember the exact title and will update when I do. It was a great opener and the little upright that Torkanowsky was playing sounded great so I knew we were in for a treat.
Next up was a beautiful rendition of Fats Waller's Jitterbug Waltz. Torkanowsky introduced the song by reminiscing about the first time he heard it performed. It first entered his ears through the playing of Ellis Marsailis whose influences were apparent. This may be the first time I heard the tune performed in this setting.
In honor of the Proffesor, Torkanowsky recounted a short memory of Proffessor Longhair which was followed by a wonderful tune that he believed was influenced by the 'Fess's love of Carribean music. Apparently 'Fess was a big time Tonk player and would hung out with Carribean musicians on the docks. The title of the track was not announced and even though it was vey familiar, I am not sure of the name. Guess I need to listen to some more 'Fess!
Ending the short(way!) was Sunny Side Of The Street a la James Carroll Booker III. The song was done as Booker did it. The real treat was the story. Apparently on one of Booker's studio sessions, he was giving the engineer or the producer a hard time(surprise!) and they ended up having touse the takes they had. If one listens closely there is apparently a click during a piano take. Not a glitch but the sound of Booker's false teeth hitting the ivories!
Only Booker.
The interview portion which followed was nothing new to my ears. If you want to know what was said, look around for any online interview of Torkanowsky and you will hear it all.
There was a question posed however that has piqued my interest. An audience member mentioned a New Orleans pianist by the name of Ed Frank. With a little research, I realize that I actually own an lp of his but have never listened to it! Here it is:
I'll have to check it out soon. Hope I can find it!
To close the night, Torkanowsky chose two songs that have no relation to New Orleans whatsover. He performed a medley of John Coltrane's Naima and Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most. I heard a lot of Dave Burrell in the former and a lot of Don Pullen in the latter. Torkanowsky didn't use their techniques and perhaps I my ears heard Burrell in Naima because of my appreciation for his renditions of the song with David Murray. Pullen's gorgeous treatment of ballads came to my head during the end of the medley.
No mention of Fats Domino the entire evening.
Not sure what was going on but the evening seemed to be cut short by a commitment to a gig at Snug Harbor that Torkanowsky seemed to be itching to get to.
Here is a link to a James Booker video that I enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment