Ellen Rowe Trio at Kerrytown Concert House
On Sunday, April 19, on a sunny but cold day, Ellen Rowe and her musicians played to a packed house. It was a “themed” concert, with six takes on the evolution of the jazz standard “But Not for Me,” written by George and Ira Gershwin for the musical Girl Crazy in 1930. She arranged the pieces not in chronological order, but in order of increasing complexity. It was a Trout Quintet (Schubert) for jazz! Rowe played the piano, Paul Keller was on bass, Pete Siers was on drums, Sunny Wilkinson did vocals, Justin Walter played trumpet, Cary Kocher played vibraphone and Kenji Lee wailed on tenor sax. It was an afternoon to remember, full of surprises and interesting history.
This song, about unrequited love, begins “They’re writing songs of love, but not for me.” It was sung in the slow, melodic style of Ella Fitzgerald’s 1959 version by Wilkinson, whose bright orange shirt was a perfect match for the art on the walls. She sang with emotion, tinged by the song’s refrain that fate is a myth, that love is for others.
She was followed by Walter, who sang the 1956 Chet Baker version and accompanied himself on the trumpet. He’s a great trumpeter with a mellow tone. He is a graduate of Ann Arbor Community High School and called out his mentors on stage, especially Kenji Lee whose playing he described as ‘effortless liquid geometry.’ The song is somewhat difficult to sing as it moves from one octave to another and has notes moving up and down the scale which gives it a kind of sing-song quality.
Rowe discussed the chord changes in her intro to the 1958 Ahmad Jamal Trio’s version as having “symphonic moments.” It was a much bouncier version than Fitzgerald and Baker, with definite bebop vibes. It had the audience tapping their feet.
This led to an even quirkier version by the Modern Jazz Quartet from 1953. Rowe felt that John Lewis in this version was healing the rift between older jazz versions and younger ones. He was a faculty member at Berklee, and major jazz musicians were both faculty and students, like Don Cherry, Ornette Colemen, Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie! Milt Jackson from Michigan also played with the MJQ. Kocher was stunning on the vibes, eventually improvising on just the first four notes. With its classical and jazz references, this version illustrates the Third Stream Movement which tried to combine classical and jazz—music Keller commented that eventually became movie music.
John Coltrane’s 1960 version altered the melody quite a bit. Lee spoke of encountering Coltrane and not liking him at first. Then he got it, that he was using thirds. Lee’s solos were muscular and powerful and showed what a talented musician he is.
Lastly, Jeff Hamilton’s 2007 version was played by Rowe, with a piano style reminiscent of Oscar Peterson. Keller’s bass was a wonderful compliment to her playing and Siers’ drum solo really wowed the audience.
For the finale, all the musicians performed together on the stage. They were really jamming with Wilkinson and Kocher scat singing together. Everyone went away with a smile on their face — another lovely afternoon at the Kerrytown Concert House.
ABOVE: Sunny Wilkinson