It's weird, but the plague has made the World Stage more valuable than ever. Under the guidance of Dwight Trible & Rene Fisher Mims, and with support from the Guess Foundation, the Leimert Park shoebox has showcased L.A.'s best jazz more consistently, and now online access has meant you don't have to make the drive.
A streaming concert by the Sun Ra Arkestra (directed since 1993 by saxist Marshall Allen) was the perfect instrument to raise cash for the World Stage last weekend. Every jazz fan knows the tumultuous omnipotence of the ever-evolving Ra community, because it has always toured relentlessly. Not every fan marks its connection with similar collectives in Detroit, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, the last headed by pianist-composer Horace Tapscott, who led his own Arkestra and frequented the World Stage.
Dedicating their show to World Stage stalwarts Kamau Daáood and the late Billy Higgins at the mysterious Total Luxury Spa, the Sun Ra Arkestra exuded joyful brotherhood as it romped through the past, present and future of jazz. After a whirring intergalactic lift-off from Allen's syntho-sax, the dozen or so musicians interpreted Ra mentor Fletcher Henderson's quick-walking "Queer Notions" and often nodded to Duke Ellington's modern harmonies, especially in a Cotton Club medley by bowler-hatted Wynton Marsalis pianist Farid Barron, who showed off a manly keyboard attack, a sexy rhythmic sense and a comprehensive command of jazz history. Bop, blues and swing all gained special magic from the intuitively danceable yet alien-intellectual Ra potion.
Much exotica from the Ra book flowed, including the Egyptian space-chant "Somebody Else's Idea" (soulfully sung by blue-lipsticked Tara Middleton), the prancing Sorceror's Apprentice abstraction "Strange Mathematics" and of course the Afro-rhumba "We Travel the Spaceways." Our interlocutor, Rey Scott, showed sweatback swagger on baritone sax throughout, and a tenor-alto duel between Yahya Abdul-Majio and Abshalom Ben Shlomo on a Monkish bepop number whipped our hearts up like it was 1947 on Central Avenue.
Absorbing the rooted yet eternally fresh blast of the Sun Ra Arkestra could make a slob miss what s/he doesn't always get from today's universitized legatees -- dynamism, energy, delight.
You never miss that stuff at a World Stage show, though. Watch these, for instance:
Derf Reklaw Quartet with pianist Robert Turner, drummer Don Littleton, bassist Michael Alvidrez. Flutist & drummer Reklaw, who goes way back in the South L.A. scene, begins the set with an astonishing solo on a little glass bottle and hits that Afro-Latin sweet spot via his own tunes and obscure gems by Blue Mitchell and Gigi Gryce. The hard-swinging Turner is a real find, and the always superb Littleton keeps the juices flowing. Dig the proud & wry story of how Reklaw got his name.
Mark De Clive-Lowe Quartet with drummer Brandon Combs, percussionist Carlos Niño and bassist Anna Butterss. MDCL balances the prettiness of his piano playing with nasty synth lines, spacy effects and the stone groovitude of the activist Combs and the rifflexible electric/acoustic Butterss, while Niño paints in the spaces. You might not guess the leader's Asian ancestry, but you can appreciate the dark sorcery he draws from a Japanese folk tale.
The Conjunction Five (saxist Randal Fisher, pianist Jamael Dean, bassist Corbin Jones, drummer Andres Renteria, percussionist Carlos Niño). The elevational intro, the powerful tenor arpeggios, the sometimes dissonant flow -- Coltrane's spirit lives in the younger generation of World Stage strivers. Their extended improvisations go down easy, and their individual skills run high.
Quit whining and take advantage.
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Through March 20, you can replay the Sun Ra show for $5 and up here.
Watch Reklaw, Lowe, Conjunction and more on the World Stage's YouTube channel, here.
Donate to the World Stage here.