Roy Haynes

[robviti]

roy haynes is coming to town in a few weeks. does anyone know who is in the quartet he's currently touring with? thanks in advance.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Unless there have been changes, it is: Marcus Strickland (ts), Martin Bejarano (p) and John Sullivan (b).

Mike

[bertrand]

However, on 3/12 (the 50th anniversary of Charlie Parker's murder by Art Blakey), Roy will bring a quintet including Christian McBride and Kenny Garrett to the Kennedy Center in D.C. to celebrate Bird.

I need to remember to get a ticket. Anyone else from D.C. going?

Bertrand.

[pryan]

Haynes is bringing his group to the Jazz Winnipeg Festival in June. Can't wait!!!

[HWright]

I'm thinking about going to the KC show. Haven't bought a ticket yet though.

[relyles]

Unless there have been changes, it is: Marcus Strickland (ts), Martin Bejarano (p) and John Sullivan (b).

Mike

That is a great group.

[jazzmessenger]

I'm thinking about going to the KC show. Haven't bought a ticket yet though.

Are you talking about the Charlie Parker Memorial Concert in KC? I am thinking about going.

[HWright]

Did anyone end up going to the Kennedy Center Show on Saturday? Haynes appeared with Kenny Garrett on alto, David Kikoski on piano, Christian McBride on bass. Everyone in the group was great but I was especially impressed by Kikoski. I'd only heard him on recordings before.

I don't know what they played exactly although "Green Chimneys" by Monk was announced and Kikoski did a solo of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square." Some of the other tunes were no doubt from Haynes' "Birds of a Feather" album (I think that is the name of it) tribute to Charlie Parker.

Edited March 14, 2005 by HWright

[bertrand]

I went other 9:30 show, but I have to say, I was very disappointed. The soloists were excellent of course (although I find Garrett too garrulous), but the music had no substance, it was all flash. Of course, the audience was ecstatic.

Bertrand.

[HWright]

Here's the blurb on the concert from today's Washington Post:

Monday, March 14, 2005; Page C05

Roy Haynes

Roy Haynes led a remarkable quartet at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater Saturday in a tribute to Charlie Parker, but the sold-out concert could have been billed as a salute to Haynes, who turned 80 yesterday. Drummer (and Parker collaborator) Haynes still swings with great power and finesse.

The program, titled "Birds of a Feather: A Tribute to Charlie Parker," began on an exhilarating note -- the first of many. Alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, who has a habit of opening his own concerts at full bore, ripped through the quartet's arrangement of Parker's "Diverse," feverishly reworking the theme, then improvising with a combination of headlong drive and harmonic ingenuity. The tune also showcased pianist David Kikoski, who engaged Garrett in a series of quick-witted exchanges, and bassist Christian McBride, who contributed a typically elegant and soulful interlude.

Haynes wasn't always happy with the way his drums sounded -- he retuned the heads at one point -- but he was nevertheless in vibrant form, whether animating Thelonious Monk's "Green Chimneys" with tumbling commotion and sudden rhythmic displacements or using his mallets to create calms before the frequent, bop-inspired storms. Kikoski, a sorely underrated pianist, happily obliged the drummer's birthday request: a solo rendering of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square," imaginatively re-harmonized.

Part of the Kennedy Center's ongoing series on the 1940s and the arts, the concert ended with a deservedly long standing ovation. The band couldn't return for an encore -- there was a late show scheduled -- but Haynes left the stage beaming -- and looking even younger than when he arrived.

-- Mike Joyce