Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra Performs

By Broadside Staff Writer Ijeoma Nwatu

Before playing their first selection, Frank Foster’s “Blues in Hoss Flat,” Carroll encouraged the audience members to read the resolution in their programs honoring jazz “as a rare and valuable national American treasure.”

Along with the resolution, the evening’s program featured Martin Luther King, Jr.’s opening address to the 1964 Berlin Jazz Festival. In that speech, King declared, “Jazz speaks for life.” In the spirit of Black Heritage Month, King’s words ring true, “It is no wonder that so much of the search for identity among American Negroes was championed by Jazz musicians.”

With the historical documents provided in the program, Carroll and his bass jazz orchestra were able to connect the influence and effect the music and genre of jazz has had since its early beginnings in African-American culture and worldwide.

The variety of jazz music spanned many decades with important and impressive musicians. The jazz orchestra played “Daybreak Express” by Duke Ellington., a native of Washington, D.C. The 1930s song is unique in that the instruments actually capture the sound of a train with all its bells and whistles. The beginning percussive drum line with the accompanying brass instruments climaxes into “choo choo” sounds. With no technological or digital advancements, the sound was authentic, rich and fun.

One of the highlights of the first half of the show was seven-year-old Geoffrey Gallante, who plays a Bb Cornet. Gallante and Carroll had an improvisational “talking” session with their instruments. Carroll played a series of riffs on his saxophone, while Gallante mimicked them on his instruments. The boy’s pitch was very impressive for someone so young. He later performed Bart Howard’s “Fly Me To The Moon,” which was made famous by Frank Sinatra in the 1960s.

Another highlight of the show included a talented steel drum player, Victor Provost, from the U.S. Virgin Islands. He joined the jazz orchestra on “Take the A Train,” by Billy Strayhorn, a friend and collaborator of Duke Ellington. The steel drums added a touch of the islands to the otherwise soft, jazzy and piano-inspired melody. Both Gallante and Provost received lengthy applauses for their contributions to the concert.

The evening also featured a third special guest, Lynn Seaton from Oklahoma. In addition to being an experienced classical guitarist, Seaton is also a member of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. He concluded the latter half of the concert with three of his own compositions, “Patrician Commission,” “Seat-Sat” and the finale “Major’s Grand Slam.”

The Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra played jazz music that reflected well upon its history and the meaning of freedom through expression. In the spirit of the struggle jazz represented, it continues to “speak for life” and all its difficulties.

As King said, “If you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realties of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph. This is triumphant music.”