 Return to Lonely Goat Features Archives CHASIN' ANOTHER TRANE: Sonny Fortune @ The Carrboro
ArtsCenter With all my recent talk about the changing face of modern jazz, I was delighted to see a world-class, traditional saxophone quartet thanks to the fine folks at The Artscenter in Carrboro, WNCU-FM 90.7, The Carolina Inn, The N.C. Arts Council and The Southern Arts Federation. Year after Year, these generous sponsors are instrumental in bringing the best jazz out of the boroughs of New York City and into our quaint musical haven. And this year proved no exception as the centerpiece of their three-part "Adventures in Jazz" series highlighted the saxophone prowess of Sonny Fortune in a tribute to the master of the instrument, High Point's own John Coltrane. Sonny appeared in Carrboro with an archetypal, Trane-inspired quartet rounded out with Charles Fambrough on bass, Bob Butta (as in smooth as) on piano and Steve Johns on drums. The foursome is touring in support of Sonny's latest release on Shanachie records entitled In the Spirit of John Coltrane. Fortune is widely regarded as one of the finest sax players of the post-Coltrane generation, and although he never recorded with Trane, Sonny did get to know him during the height of his brief career. However, Sonny did play and record with the two men, other than John, that shaped Coltrane's music, and in turn, the direction of modern jazz: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones. The remaining names on Sonny's recorded resume read like a veritable who's who among jazz royalty: Miles Davis, Buddy Rich, Mongo Santamaria, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderly and George Benson. So after decades of the most intense training, the sixty-one year-old senior statesman finally approached the greatest legend in jazz and possibly all of music. When asked why it took him thirty years since Coltrane's death to record a tribute to the sax master, Fortune chuckled, "When I first heard Coltrane, I didn't like him. Then I heard 'Africa' and 'My Favorite Things', and he changed my life forever." He also admitted, "I was devastated when Coltrane died, and for all these years I kept the hurt to myself." Finally, the time came for healing as longing and loss poured directly from Fortune's soul, filtered through the reed or woodwind of his choice and firmly lodged itself into the collective consciousness of his listeners. Although with all the talk about tribute, the average layperson might have been hard-pressed to recognize the music's immediate connection to Trane, even after the Artscenter performance. The concert featured no Coltrane compositions whatsoever (a few by Billy Strayhorn and one by Wayne Shorter) or none of John's signature covers. Anyone who went just to hear a modern rehashing of "Afro-Blue," "Giant Steps" or "Naima " probably walked away profoundly disappointed and somewhat befuddled (as the post-show banter led me to believe.) But Sonny explained that the compositions on his latest release were ones that he would have pictured the saxophonist performing had he still been alive, traversing musical vistas he imagined to be Coltrane terrain. As the title clearly states, the tribute represents the spirit of Coltrane, not his songs. One of the featured new compositions, "Trane and Things", did quote the Coltrane staple "My Favorite Things" as Fortune's flute work recalled Eric Dolphy's classic solos on that song during his stint with the Coltrane quintet, but that was as close as it came. And that's another oddity, Sonny spent about half of the two-and-a-half hour performance playing flute, and though Dolphy and Pharaoh Sanders delivered some memorable flute work to his music, Coltrane himself almost exclusively favored tenor sax when it came time to get down. However for the well-trained ear, there were unmistakable "Coltranisms" in the music Sonny offered up to sold-out crowd in Carrboro. For starters, there was Sonny's playing itself. Whether on tenor or flute, Fortune's wide-open, long-winded solos, circuitous melodies, seemingly endless flurries of notes and occasional atonal shrieks and honks were pure Coltrane. He favors the same kind of soft clean tone on saxophone as well as a similar otherworldly power and exploratory impetus on any instrument he plays. Equally important, Sonny's fine supporting cast, particularly Steve on drums and Bob on piano, did wonders to recreate the terse rhythm section that always supported and spurred Trane's meanderings. In the spirit of Elvin Jones, Steve Johns was more than just the keeper of the beat, accentuating a piano flurry with a timely cymbal flourish or setting up other solos with his dramatic stops. And when it comes to vision, Trane's influence on Fortune is most profoundly felt, especially in the way both saxophonists only use musical notes as a means to another end, concerned less with a song's origin than with where it can transport the listener in the here and now. The Carrboro concert offered something of a historical reprieve for fans who were too young to experience Coltrane's irrepressible spirit in a live setting, where it truly takes flight. And for those who were old enough (most of the audience that night,) it meant an opportunity to relive the magic of one of the most powerful instrumentalists of any generation without having to endure a note-by-note, and inevitably inferior, imitation of his greatness. And this fresh new perspective on Trane's enduring majesty was the richest Fortune I found waiting at the end of this musical rainbow. |