Saxophonist Frank Morgan has played the Jazz Showcase regularly through the years, but he may never have ventured so far from the jazz mainstream as he did Tuesday night.
With every piece he performed, Morgan seemed intent on sabotaging musical expectations, and he succeeded. So those who have become accustomed to hearing the serene side of Morgan’s art–which emphasizes sublimely long lines that often transcend a rhythmic pulse–were in for a few surprises.
Even in his opening number, Charlie Parker’s “Now’s the Time,” Morgan took a slower tempo than this listener has encountered in the venerable be-bop anthem. This was an idiosyncratic rethinking of Parker that dispensed with the usual virtuosity and offered, instead, a deep blues sensibility. The approach not only shed light on the underlying impulses of Parker’s music but foreshadowed Morgan experiments yet to come.
It’s a fair bet that if Morgan had not told the crowd he was going to play Jerome Kern’s “All the Things You Are,” few in the audience could have named the tune. The man went out of his way to produce intricate phrases that thoroughly avoided the original melody line.
Yet the complex riffs and advanced harmonies that defined Morgan’s solos rendered the original melody quite beside the point. In profound ways, Morgan was finding new material within the melodic structure of Kern’s original and developing it with considerable sophistication.
The heart of Morgan’s performance, though, was his bold treatment of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints.” Here Morgan very nearly pushed into avant-garde territory, offering a piercing tone, stratospheric high notes, restless rhythms, unexpected pauses and lamenting, post-Coltrane lines.
With pianist Willie Pickens, bassist Larry Gray and drummer Robert Shy providing plenty of sound and fury, this ranked as one of the more audacious sets Morgan has given Chicago.
Frank Morgan performs through Sunday at the Jazz Showcase, 59 W. Grand Ave. Phone 312-670-BIRD.
Jazz note: Details are in for the Jazz at Ravinia festival. The lineup includes:
June 25: Willie Pickens and Bethany Pickens, 6 p.m., Martin Theatre; Eddie Daniels’ “Salute to Benny Goodman” (with Sir Roland Hanna and Ed Shaughnessy) and the Count Basie Orchestra with Joe Williams, 8 p.m., Pavilion; Laurence Hobgood Trio, late show, Martin Theatre.
June 26: Wynton Marsalis master class, 4 p.m., Martin Theatre; Regina Carter Quintet, 6 p.m., Martin Theatre; Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, 8 p.m., Pavilion; Kahil El’Zabar Quartet, late show, Martin Theatre.
June 27: Regina Carter master class, 4 p.m. Saturday; Ravinia Jazz Mentors and students, 6 p.m., Martin Theatre; Oscar Peterson Quartet, 8 p.m., Pavilion; Audrey Morris Trio, late show, Martin Theatre.
June 28: Ramsey Lewis master class, 3 p.m., Martin Theatre; George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, 5 p.m., Martin Theatre; Carnegie Hall Jazz Band “Tribute to John Coltrane,” with Jon Faddis, Kevin Mahogany and Michael Brecker, 7 p.m., Pavilion.
For details, phone 847-266-5100.
