After Brandon's subdued presentation, the emcee (there were several throughout the day, all DJ's from WFUV) announced that there would be a short break while they set up for The Mingus Big Band. It didn't take long, and soon everything was in place. Sue Mingus served as emcee for the 5-song extended set, telling lots of stories about Charles & Joni, and even dishing some dirt on Joni & Don Alias. The 14-piece band swung as they supported the following vocalists:
Andy Bey - A Chair In The Sky: Andy's chocolate-velvet voice was a perfect choice for this song. Of course, as with all of these, The Mingus Big Band has played them many times, so there was a strong professionalism present. Dana Hanchard - Sweet Sucker Dance: Dana came back after her lovely turn on 'Lindsay' and did a super job. The band played flawlessly behind her, and each song included some nice solos by saxophonists, trumpets, and behind the rhythm section was a 19-year old who played 'big band' style drume to perfection! Bonus points to Heather who recognized Randy Brecker in the band. Julien Fleischer - Edith And The Kingpin: The only non-Mingus selection, they had the arrangement from their work with Elvis Costello, and for his third appearance Julien was 3-for-3. Reminded me of seeing Jason Marsalis' set at Pazfest. Melba Joyce - The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat: As she did previously with Harlem in Havana, Melba capably sang these two with ease, grace & style, never missing a beat in terms of melody and rhythm. Singing jazz couldn't be as easy as she makes it appear. The band really bumped it up a notch for Mingus' signature tune 'Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'. When they completed, an instantaneous standing ovation resulted. From a purely musical perspective, this was by far the most amazing performance of the day. A polished gem in every sense. I would not have wanted to be the act following that, and luckily for everyone I wasn't! That unenviable chore fell on: Jenifer Jackson - That Song About The Midway, The Gallery: And she wasn't overwhelmed by it in the least. Her performance, accompanied by percussion and guitar, was as pretty as the songs she chose. Don Byron & Music For Six Musicians + 1 - The Priest, Dreamland: Does the title sound pretentious? This was one of the most pretentious performances I've ever seen, and the sad thing is that the players here were really talented. If not for "Lord" Byron lording over them, literally shouting at them onstage, while they were playing, walking around the stage, playing way too many solos on his clarinet, and allowing the excess that ruined these performances. I mean, each song was 15 minutes long! While all the musicians were very capable, they just had no restraint. At least the performance featured a knockout Brazilian vocalist whose denim skirt appeared to be painted on, and she did lots of dancing onstage, so I had a nice visual while waiting for Byron to end, which Thank God he finally did. Martha Wainwright - Roses Blue, Big Yellow Taxi: This was a real juxtaposition, because the young daughter of Loudon Wainwright & Kate McGarrigle was as UN-pretentious as they come. She was not that familiar with Joni and had just started to play her songs. You certainly wouldn't have known as she was very good playing & singing Roses Blue (not one of Joni's easiest melodies) and BYT, which she slowed down a lot because she said she was not familiar with it (!!) She was great, but I would have like to have seen a performer that WAS familiar with Joni, like maybe Bryan Thomas! Marc Anthony Thompson - Don't Interrupt The Sorrow, Hissing Of Summer Lawns: Marc's set was also very quiet...Oren Bloedow backed him on acoustic guitar, and his voice was a good match for these songs. When a baby in the audience started to pitch a hissy fit, instead of singing "wash and balance me", he sang "wash that baby, please" which got a good reaction from the audience. When he sang "a good slave loves the good book", he repeated it a couple of times and then added 'a rebel loves applause". An interesting, provocative, and satisfying set. OK, so now we've sat through practically 12 hours of Joni covers...one act to go, and it was another winner. Ute Lemper - Black Crow, Last Chance Lost, Love: Ute was backed by acoustic guitar, bass and percussion. She made some extreme facial contortions when dhe sang but she sounded great. Black Crow started off very slowly, then she kicked it in and the Crow was flyin! Last Chance Lost was beautifully done, Ute's vocal perhaps even more emotive than Joni's own on TI. I couldn't help but watch the guitarist try to negotiate what looked like some incredibly difficult chord changes. She closed out with a fairly straightforward and very pretty "Love" and when they announced that they were going to close with Joni's clip of her singing "Chelsea Morning", we JMDLer's who have seen it again & again headed out into the New York night for some food, drink and the chance to share our thoughts about the once-in-a-lifetime concert we'd experienced. Again, my thanks to all of you who helped me share this incredible day, it's not one that I'll be forgetting anytime soon! In closing...if you have a chance to hand with JMDLer's, or catch a 12-hour Joni tribute...do it. Peace, Bob NP: Broooce, "Waitin' On A Sunny Day" 12/9/02
