Aug. 11--It's not easy to pick up where a roaring big band left off.
But someone had to take over the Monday night slot after the mighty Chicago Jazz Orchestra ended its summertime residency last week at Andy's Jazz Club.
Nothing, of course, can match the thrill of hearing a large jazz ensemble hitting hard in a comparatively small room, the musicians producing more sound than the ear possibly could absorb.
Short of that, though, there was plenty to hear when Marques Carroll's Trumpet Summit played its first set Monday evening at Andy's, where it's performing the rest of the month. With three trumpets in the front line and a muscular rhythm section powering the music forward, this sextet had plenty to say.
At the same time, though, the Trumpet Summit clearly was not out to blast listeners into submission, Carroll and friends putting music ahead of fireworks, beauty of phrase above mere brawn. In many ways, the sextet offered a fitting transition from the epic sound of the CJO to the small-group jazz for which Andy's is best known.
Carroll opened the evening by telling the audience that the Trumpet Summit aimed to pay homage to mentors and past masters who have influenced all three horn men. For the evening's first set, the focus was on Clark Terry, the eminent trumpeter-educator who inspired generations of musicians and died last February at age 94 (his memory lives on in the moving, 2014 documentary film "Keep on Keepin' On" and in a lifetime of recordings).
Properly evoking Terry's spirit and style, of course, meant putting an emphasis on burnished tones and elegant lines, which perhaps helped explain the lack of bombast one might otherwise have expected from three dynamic trumpeters. Even so, Carroll, Justin Copeland and Quentin Coaxum seemed naturally predisposed to more lyrical forms of expression.
The Trumpet Summit launched the music-making with Terry's "Argentina," the somewhat rough ensemble playing not necessarily auguring well for the rest of the set. Each trumpeter was bursting with ideas, but they had not yet found a unified approach to rhythm or gesture.
Opening pieces can be deceiving, however, for the trumpeters essentially used "Argentina" to get their bearings and significantly improved their work with each successive song.
You could hear as much in the next tune, "Clark's Bars," and it wasn't only the title that articulated Terry's oft-whimsical approach to music and life. In tandem, the three trumpeters captured the buoyant rhythms and exuberant spirit of Terry's composition, each musician bringing a slightly different character to the corporate sound. Carroll's big-and-swaggering style, Copeland's piercing tone and Coaxum's tautly articulated rhythms made this a threesome of ample dimension. The ensemble playing may not have been perfect, but the liveliness of the reading was apparent.
Even in a Terry tribute, the resurrection of the old standard "Perdido" might have seemed a bit nostalgic, but the Trumpet Summit reconfigured the piece for modern times. Carroll's gauzy opening, Coaxum's beautifully rounded tone and Copeland's melodic urgency allowed for some of the best three-part counterpoint of the evening.
No doubt the musicians were referencing Terry's tenure in Duke Ellington's orchestra when they played Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train," an Ellington band signature. Carroll produced some of his most subtle playing here, his nuanced phrases and subtle sense of swing a pleasure to hear.
The trumpeters were supported well by the rhythm section, with characteristically strong work from drummer Isaiah Spencer, who can make the most basic swing backbeat sound fresh and propulsive at any tempo. Spencer gave structure and direction to the music-making, bassist Andrew Vogt and pianist Andrew Lawrence following his lead (though Lawrence needs to stop mercilessly pounding the piano).
Whether these trumpeters will sound the same when they're saluting another musical hero remains to be heard. But perhaps that's part of the appeal of this engagement: beholding how three trumpeters go about reflecting the triumphs of those who came before them.
Marques Carroll's Trumpet Summit plays at 5 and 7 p.m. Mondays in August at Andy's Jazz Club, 11 E. Hubbard St.; $10; 312-642-6805 or andysjazzclub.com.
Billie Holiday encore
When "Ladies Sing the Blues," a centennial tribute to Billie Holiday, played Davenport's in April, listeners heard Chicago singers young and old reconsidering the life's work of a profound jazz artist. The show attracted capacity crowds at Davenport's and for a revival at the Skokie Theatre, prompting director Daryl Nitz to expand it into two acts for a new production.
Singers Frieda Lee, Kimberly Gordon, Tecora Rogers, Jeannie Tanner, Amy Armstrong and Liz Mandeville will return to the cast, which also will include Elaine Dame and Jasondra Johnson. The remarkably versatile pianist Johnny Rodgers again will serve as music director, with Eric Schneider on saxophones and Joe Policastro playing bass.
"Ladies Sing the Blues II" will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Skokie Theatre, 7924 N. Lincoln Ave.; $32; 847-677-7761 or skokietheatre.com.
Seward Park Jazz Fest 2015
This year's edition of the Seward Park Jazz Fest continues with Tony Normand and Heart to Heart, Friday; Marquis Hill Blacktet, Aug. 21; Ari Brown Quintet, Aug. 28; all sets begin at 6:30 p.m. The series is presented by Near North Unity Program and Al Carter-Bey; admission is free; at Seward Park, 375 W. Elm St. In case of rain, concerts move to Stanton Park gym, 618 W. Scott St.; connectnearnorth.org.
"Portraits in Jazz": Howard Reich's e-book collects his exclusive interviews with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and others, plus profiles of early masters such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday. Get "Portraits in Jazz" at chicagotribune.com/ebooks.
hreich@tribpub.com
