[Dixielandjazz] Marsalis & Congo Square

[Steve barbone]

JAZZ REVIEW - NY TIMES - By NATE CHINEN May 6, 2006
Marsalis's 'Congo Square,' With the Lincoln Center Orchestra

Wynton Marsalis has composed a number of extended works during his tenure as
artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, usually with the stated
ambition of capturing some aspect of the African-American experience. On
Thursday night at the Rose Theater, he conducted his latest such effort,
"Congo Square," featuring the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Odadaa!, a
nine-piece Ghanaian percussion and vocal troupe.

Mr. Marsalis, who has been recovering from a lip injury, didn't touch the
trumpet during his new commission (because he conceived his role as
conductor only, according to Jazz at Lincoln Center). But even with solo
flourishes entrusted to various members of the orchestra, individual
exertions aren't the focus of "Congo Square," a tribute to the swatch of old
New Orleans that functioned as a site of ancestral dancing and drumming for
African slaves during the city's French and Spanish occupations and well
into the 19th century.

Last August, Mr. Marsalis announced plans to unveil his new work on
location, at the historic site on the outer fringe of the French Quarter in
what is now Louis Armstrong Park. Four days after the announcement,
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. In the ensuing months Mr. Marsalis,
the most recognizable living instrumentalist from New Orleans, engaged in a
flurry of recovery efforts for the city.

In the same spirit, he expanded the plans for "Congo Square": its premiere
two weeks ago was a centerpiece of the annual French Quarter Festival. And
it concluded a weeklong New Orleans residency by Mr. Marsalis and his
organization, which then took the composition on the road before bringing it
home this week. 

The band's recent time in New Orleans may have had something to do with the
power of "Ring Shout," the first of 14 movements in the suite. Its opening
was the essence of simplicity: Herlin Riley walked onstage striking a
tambourine. Then Mr. Marsalis leaned into a microphone to strike up a call
and response with members of the orchestra.

Things quickly became topical. "Oh Lord, Katrina and the water flowed," Mr.
Marsalis sang, in an unpolished but soulful voice. "Folks got to cryin' when
the levee broke." A later riff invoked the Federal Emergency Management
Agency and the Red Cross, bemoaning deception and greed.

When the vocalizing ended, and the band kicked in, there was a sense of
uplift and release. This was partly due to the arrangement, a glancing
evocation of New Orleans brass bands; it was also due to Odadaa! and its
polyrhythmic drive, illuminating the undercurrent of African rhythm in New
Orleans second-line grooves.

Yacub Addy, the leader of Odadaa!, founded the group in the early 1980's,
after moving to the United States. But he has preserved the traditional
sound of his native Ghana, which is what appealed to Mr. Marsalis; "Congo
Square" is described as a collaborative product of both artists.

Their equal partnership was clear at choice moments: on a mambolike section
called "Sunday Market," during a churning "Place Congo" and in "Logo Talk,"
which featured a steady cowbell pattern but an otherwise mercurial
arrangement. 

At other times, the two ensembles functioned independently. This was
occasionally intentional and effective ‹ Odadaa! could be entrancing on its
own, especially during vocal exchanges led by Obuamah Laud Addy ‹ but it was
often because things just didn't click.

Mr. Marsalis still takes compositional cues from Duke Ellington: there were
bursts of brass, sweeping reeds and intricate internal harmonies. But there
were also a few experiments in timbre, involving flutes, clarinets and muted
horns. The orchestra was invariably up to the task.

What was missing, notwithstanding a saccharine ballad sung by Imani Gonzalez
of Odadaa!, was a strong melody. That deficiency became more of a liability
as "Congo Square" approached and passed the two-hour mark. The suite could
be trimmed significantly and still pack a serious punch. But even then it
might feel less than suitelike: a patchwork rather than a fabric.

"Congo Square" repeats tonight at 8 at the Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose
Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway;(212) 751-6500.