Review: Carl Cafagna and Trio Creates Fire and Feeling
By Jeremy St.Martin
My mom once recounted to me a story of her,twenty one years old, spending her weekend hours with her friends at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit, listening to her favorite musicians (most notably, Ahmad Jamal). It was music that made you feel alive. Liberating, sensuous, sin-committing sounds that, for awhile, sparked outrage in the music world. Notes and phrases floated through time, playing grace notes and syncopation.
Often called the devil's music in the early uprising of jazz, the genre has since become an American staple; like many genres, the jazz movement has branched into multiple sub genres: acid jazz, smooth jazz, dixieland, Afro-cuban, to name a few. Each having a voice of freedom, and the echoes of volumes of history.
The first thing you notice about Carl Cafagna is he's a laid back, mild mannered, well spoken, well educated person. His enthusiasm with music is contagious, and a conversation with him can give fascinating insight into music history, technique, appreciation. He’s mellow and cool.
Then, give him a horn, give him a microphone, and unleash the beast.
Many musicians will say “I play x, but I also play y.” Usually such musicians will be proficient with one instrument and “know” the other, showing competence but not much mastery. Not the case for Carl: every instrument-Tenor and soprano sax, flute--becomes an extension of himself. He is capable of unleashing category five force with his musicianship even in his most sensitive of moments. As well as being accomplished at woodwinds, he has a velvety, effortless tenor voice.
The bonus for this evening was Carl’s choice of musicians to accompany him. Although Carl was the feature, the band had moments of their own to display musical prowess. Steven Boegehold (Drummer) showed tremendous rhythmic focus with almost mathematical aptitude..His solos were classy and skillful as opposed to overly flashy. Shannon Wade was on the bass, fingers flying, exploring the instrument, but never struggling. But the standout amongst the three was pianist Sven Anderson. In the opening tune alone he floored me with his stylings. Within his solo he broke through into a boogie woogie eight to the bar feel with a thunderous classical approach: it was equal parts Fats Waller and Franz Liszt. And, like Carl, even in Sven’s quieter moments, there was a great sense of passion to his playing. And though the musicians shined on their own, more importantly, they never took away from the main focus. They had chemistry and personality and it set the tone for a fantastic evening.
The opening number leads me back to my opening paragraph. The tune was Sonny Rollin’s, Doxy. Carl on tenor sax. The tune simmered first, taking it’s time, getting established. Then, the band went double time featuring Sven, and Carl’s masterful solos. The best part is when the band slid back into the heavy swing. It turned into the devilish sound that hit me right in the gut. It was an absolutely liberating 'sneak out of the house and hope you're parents don't find you partying' kind of sound.
The third tune--When Sunny Gets Blue--is one of my absolute favorites. Carl took to vocals on this one and captured its bittersweetness perfectly. It was all the feels and I’m not afraid to admit I got a little teary eyed.
The set ended with a kick you in the ass arrangement of Somewhere In Time. It started in its usual sweetness but soon turned into a lightning quick Latin tempo that perfectly wrapped up the evening.
The vibe of the group was one of both great professionalism but still having a laid back approachable quality, which, in my opinion, made the music just as approachable.
Brandon and I had the chance to sit with Carl and discuss his influences as well as the jazz genre, and its seemingly waning influence in American culture:
Me: Carl, stunning set this evening, I wish I could have seen more
Carl: Wow, thank you
Me: Where did you get your start?
Carl: My start with music was at age 2. I’m very fortunate that my father was a wannabe jazz musician here in Detroit in the 50’s and 60’s, who actually hung out with and was friends with a lot of the great musicians during those years. He ended up with a record collection of about 400-500 jazz records. When I was two years old my parents started playing various of the records for me, and I was hooked before I knew it. Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five was the first record I remember listening to
Me: So you would say your dad is one of your biggest influences on you getting into jazz?
Carl: Yeah, both of my parents, actually. My mom had a lot more formal music training. My mom was and still is a piano teacher and taught me piano when I was 4 years old. My dad showed me what records to listen to. I originally wanted to be a trumpet player when I was younger but my dad broke out his saxophone and took me in that direction, which was great since trumpet is a very difficult instrument to play, and saxophone is very easy.
Me: Sources nowadays say jazz is a dead or dying genre. Do you feel that is the case? And do you feel there is potential for resurrection?
Carl: Well, jazz is not dead and it never will because it is a music that is forever changing. It’s a music that is based on improvisation-- taking established materials and making them your own. As long as there are musicians, there will be jazz. The problem is, the jazz audience is dying. The jazz audience right now is primarily made up of people 60 years or older and about 5% of them leave us every year. Fortunately, at least half the people on earth seem to like jazz when they’re exposed to it, and that is a sustainable group of people. The problem is getting them exposed to [jazz music]. Because they don’t hear it on the radio, and they can’t find it easily wherever they find music anymore, and it’s not really promoted vigorously the way other things are. So the struggle is figuring out a way to expose people under the age of 60 to jazz music.
Me: Do you have any ways you are promoting this to a younger audience?
Carl: Awhile back I did an open jam session at a bar in Ferndale known as Club Bart’s. The owner was nice enough to let in minors in until 9pm and so we had people age 12 up to age 70 play music together. Several people came of age during that session, such as drummer Mike Higgins who is currently touring Amsterdam with Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. [Jazz Artist] Scott Gwinnell runs a camp every summer, of which I am pleased to be a faculty member, that is open to musicians of all ages and ability levels and exposes them to playing, studying, writing jazz. Sometimes it seems like ‘why are we teaching these kids to play jazz, ‘because it’s going to be really hard making a living playing jazz’. But then I thought to myself ‘that’s really not the point. The point is we’re trying to keep the music going by making the audience younger and sustainable.
Get yourself dressed up, treat yourself to a night on the town, and get ready to experience the fire and the feeling of a very vital genre.
Carl’s resume has in the past included Hot Club of Detroit, The Scott Gwinell Dectet, Metro Jazz Voices (of which he is currently a member) and future projects include a 2nd CD with MJV as well as an Eagles Tribute band.
Carl Cafagana continues on this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at The Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe. For more information on his performances this weekend as well as future acts click the link below:
For more info on Carl’s future projects, click here:
http://www.carlcafagnamusic.com
The first thing you notice about Carl Cafagna is he's a laid back, mild mannered, well spoken, well educated person. His enthusiasm with music is contagious, and a conversation with him can give fascinating insight into music history, technique, appreciation. He’s mellow and cool.
Comments
Post a Comment