Charlottesville is blessed to have jazz frontrunner Karl Denson at Starr Hill Music Hall Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m. Denson, and his touring band "Karl Denson's Tiny Universe," is one of the few bands that recently has pushed the envelope of jazz and brought it back into the relative mainstream.
Denson's newest album, "Dance Lesson #2," is an impressive mix of jazz, funk, bebop and even hip-hop. Denson recruited prominent scratcher DJ Logic to provide backgrounds on many of the most progressive jazz pieces heard to date. This eclectic mix of grooves is held together by R&B guitarist Melvin Sparks, renowned bassist Chris Wood and drummer Zak Najor.
Adding flavor to the already thick sound are the scratches from DJ Logic, the organ vamps from Leon Spencer Jr. and Ron Levy and the eight-string guitar of Charlie Hunter. Denson says that although he considers this album fairly simple, he wrote the melody and let his support write their own groove for it. The solos are original to their players, with Denson only outlining the path that the thick jam follows.
"The groove is inspirational from the melody, and then I let them figure it out from what they heard," Denson said in a phone interview Wednesday. Denson himself is omnipresent on this album, playing tenor sax, alto sax and flute, yet he knows just when to back off and let his ensemble do what they do best: Groove.
However good the record is, Denson assures us that the real thing on Tuesday will be on a totally separate plane. "It's completely different, the record was just a step away from the band. The live thing is a lot more excitable," he said. Tuesday might see something shocking that Karl Denson has been interested in all along. People might actually be able to dance to jazz music (gasp!).
While we may not see a complete reincarnation of the Lindy Hop, Denson has said repeatedly that it is his true ambition to create not just jazz, but true dance music: "I would like to have a couple of tunes playing in the clubs. It will fulfill a part of my dream to hear my music in dance clubs."
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Karl Denson's Tiny Universe's composition is slightly different from the makeup of his album group. With Brian Jordan on electric guitar, Andy Cleaves wailing on trumpet, Ron Johnson on electric bass, David Veith on keys and Eric Bolivar on drums and vocals, the Tiny Universe promises a completely individual sound from that of "Dance Lesson #2." The sound will be more conventional than the radical hip-hop-inspired jazz that has been flowing through Denson's veins of late.
It always is intriguing to find what has inspired an artist to take whatever art form it may be into his personal realm of influence. Art by nature is radical but also evolutionary and Denson's own experience is quite varied.
When questioned about his unique blend of styles, Denson stated it simply "that's how I've always been about music. I've always been a jazz guy that likes funk and dance." And how!
Those influences, from James Brown and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, have put a very audible inclination to soul and funk in every note of Denson's warm sound. When queried on if there was ever a conscious decision to become a musician, Denson said that during his second or third year in college he realized how fun music was and decided that music was it. He never really considered the safe route of teaching even though at the time of his graduation jazz was deep underground: "It's not really about teaching for me, it's about writing tunes and making music."
From the Greyboy Allstars to his Tiny Universe, Denson has done just that, although he admits that finding a true direction for his music has been one of his greatest challenges. Through his many eclectic styles of playing, including the straight-up jazz of Charlie Parker, the landmark acid-jazz collaboration with DJ Greyboy "Freestylin'," and his most recent hip-hop influenced genre, Denson has never failed to deliver a concrete direction. Although his newest album's genre still is trying to stand on its own legs, he promises that his next will be a lot more written, and thus a lot more complex and evolved. It is going to be a very unique sight indeed to witness the infantile genre known loosely as 'Soul Jazz' mature into a widely recognized art form.
Another treat will be watching a man such as Denson emerge as the godfathers of this neo-classical genre. Denson says that he plays in order to connect with his jazz heroes, but for most of us, we can only show up at Starr Hill Tuesday to hear a hero in the making.
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe will be playing Starr Hill Music Hall Tuesday, Oct. 16. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Doors open at 8 p.m.
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