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Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN SEMJA UPDATE is published monthly.  It is edited by Lars Björn and Piotr Michalowski with additional assistance from Barton Polot (production editor and Webmaster), Judy Alcock, Margot Campos, Lynn Hobbs, and Marcel Niemiec. Contact: update@semja.org

Hank Jones at the Firefly

BY LARS BJORN AND PIOTR MICHALOWSKI

Hank Jones, now in his eighth decade, has played with just about every important musician in jazz. He has experienced most of the history of the art form, and his playing reflects the great transition from swing to bop. Raised in Pontiac many moons ago in a musical family together with his brothers, drummer Elvin and trumpeter/composer Thad, he continues to play all over the world and this month he returned to Michigan. He taught and performed at the University of Michigan jazz festival and found time for a last-minute trio gig at the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor on February 12. We were privileged to be able to attend the last set, plus most of the first set.

In the company of Marion Hayden on bass and Bert Myrick on drums, Jones offered an evening of classic piano jazz, filled with musical delights. The repertoire consisted primarily of show tunes and bop standards and the night was topped off with a blues. He romped through "Scrapple from the Apple," which he played with Charlie Parker decades ago, and it was as fresh as if he had just discovered the tune. Varying moods and tempos, he showed everyone how to pace a set, offering variety and a few surprises along the way. Everything was done with elegance, drive, and passion, and although Jones has an impeccable technique, he never succumbed to dazzling the audience with technical exhibitions.

He knows innumerable tunes and he obviously enjoyed quotes from some of them in his solos; he also knows how to recast and reharmonize familiar tunes, so that even "Satin Doll" came to life anew. It would be impossible to list all the pleasures of these two sets, and everyone will have a different favorite, but we were most touched by his ballad performances, especially by "Body and Soul." Here his Art Tatum roots showed quite clearly, as he worked his way with ease through the difficult changes. After a delicate statement of the melody the trio went into double time, and yet the pianist maintained a delicate ballad feeling throughout. Hayden's apposite bass solo was just the right icing on the cake.

Indeed, Jones was very generous with his companions, offering them numerous solos, which he obviously enjoyed. Pianist and singer Alma Smith, with whom we shared a table, said it best when she noted with pride and joy that her three Detroit friends sounded like they had had been together for ten years.

Hank Jones on the stage of the Firefly (top); with Marion Hayden and Bert Myrick (above); with Bess Bonnier (left)

photographs by Lars Bjorn

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1. HANK JONES AT THE FIREFLY