Recent Recordings by Area Jazz Artists
The Planet D Nonet is one of the prominent and prolific jazz ensembles around, with a remarkable band book that covers much of the history of jazz, from Bennie Moten down to the interplanetary explorations of Sun Ra. Its most recent CD is a collaboration with Leonard King, Jr., best known for his drumming skills in the Lyman Woodard Organization, more recently as a globetrotter with saxophonist James Carter, with Ron English, with Alberto Nacif’s Latin combo Aguankó, but also as a leader of his own groups of various sizes. For his Joe Williams project, King left his drum set home and focused on his prodigious vocal abilities, channeling Williams but also marking the proceedings with his own distinct inflections.
Williams is today best remembered for his relatively short time with the Count Basie Orchestra, when he took over for Jimmy Rushing, and hence taking on a specific role, but, as Mark Stryker wrote a few years ago, “Williams’ expansive wheelhouse encompassed romantic ballads, songs of heartbreak, swinging standards, bossa novas, and boogaloo beats…. Williams could do more things as well or better than just about any other post-war male jazz singer.” With a similar perspective in mind, King, according to the liner notes, wanted to focus on “the life of Joe Williams AFTER his departure from the Count Basie Orchestra, with one exception — The Comeback.” For the most part this was followed on the eleven-tune set recorded in performance at the Detroit Institute of Art, but one earlier tune and another by Basie managed to creep in for good measure.
The CD, Planet D Nonet Presents Doctor Professor Leonard King in Tribute to Joe Williams, was recorded in performance in the summer of 2024 at the Rivera Court of the Detroit Institute of Arts, featuring King’s vocals with Alex Colista, alto sax, Christopher Tabaczynski, tenor sax, Tre Smith, baritone sax, Charlie Miller, second trumpet, flugelhorn, John “Tbone” Paxton, trombone, Michael Zaporski, piano, Matt LoRusso, guitar, Trevor Lamb, double bass, and Sean Perlmutter, drums, the band co-led by James O’Donnell, first trumpet, and RJ Spangler, congas, tambourine, with arrangements by King, Jeff Cuny, and Ryan Bills.
The set began with two exuberant blues numbers and then settled down with the one ballad of the evening, “Detour Ahead,” recorded in 1953 by Williams with Red Saunders band in Chicago, in an arrangement by none other than Sun Ra. The Planet D(etroit) musicians are no strangers to Ra’s works, and here they got a chance to play what may be the earliest product of his pen in their repertoire. King’s deep baritone is splendid here, as he took his time and dug deeply into the clever pensive lyrics, as are the atmospheric solos by Colista and Miller. The mood changed again to the boogaloo “Sad Song,” from an album Williams made with an expanded version of Cannonball Adderley’s combo. Ryan Bill’s arrangement expands the original arrangement to feature a series of fine compact solos by all the horns.
It is back to the blues with “Nighttime is the Right Time,” recorded in 1966 on a wonderful album with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra. The vibe is very much the same here as on the original, but Planet D wisely does not try to take the place of the Vanguard musicians. Paxton’s soulful plunger trombone takes on that role at one spot, followed by exuberant solos by Miller and O’Donnell more than making up for the larger ensemble, but when the Nonet does blow fully towards the end you could well think you were in the presence of a full big band. The waltz time “Young Man on the Way Up” was recorded by Williams with Thad and Mel’s band with a string section two years later, in a somewhat pedestrian short version. This interpretation is in many ways more successful, with King clearly inspired by the Nonet, as the tune was expanded by exuberant solos, first by Tabaczynski, who shines throughout but really lets go here, followed by Lamb on bass, and Zaporski’s piano. As the recital winds down, it is back again to the basics with “Don’t Push, Don’t Pull,” and a swinger it is with the Nonet heartily channeling the Basie vibe with an apposite trombone solo by Paxton added in. King is in very fine form here and digs in with fervor.
By their very nature, jazz tribute recordings are often disappointing, lacking the punctual set in time elements of originality, but this one succeeds because King exudes a spirit of love and admiration for Williams. The Nonet displays the coherence that only a band that plays together often can achieve and all of its members are wonderful soloists, as was well on offer that summer day in the glorious setting of the Rivera Court. Those who have listened to music there will recognize the reverberate acoustics, but this by no means distracts from this document of fine music-making.