Sly and the Family Stone meets Miles Davis
SFJazz Collective pays tribute to 50th anniversary of epochal albums
Released just eight weeks apart in 1969, Sly and the Family Stone’s definitive album “Stand!” and Miles Davis’ game-changing “In a Silent Way” might seem like an odd pairing for the SFJazz Collective.
With its optimistic East Bay funk and succession of hits such as “I Want to Take You Higher,” “Everyday People” and “Sing a Simple Song,” Sly and the Family Stone’s fourth album features concise pop craftsmanship, crisp horn lines and celebratory melodic hooks that embed themselves mercilessly in the ear canal.
“In a Silent Way” is also entrancing, but in an entirely different way. While sometimes described as the transitional album that ushered Davis into his first electric phase, the record is a universe unto itself, with ethereal extended compositions defined by the lapidary electric piano work of Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinul.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the two epochal albums represents a sea change for the Collective, which has spent the past month honing new arrangements of the disparate material. Introducing the reimagined tracks at the SFJazz Center’s Miner Auditorium today through Sunday, the Collective is not only plugging in with Matt Brewer on electric bass, Ed Simon and Warren Wolf on keyboards and guest guitarist Adam Rogers, “We’re bringing the funk, something the Collective has never done,” says Wolf, who’s serving as this season’s music director.
With the departure of trombonist Robin Eubanks and alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón, Simon is the longest serving member of the Collective, which launched as an octet in 2004 under the nominal leadership of Joshua Redman. Simon took over the piano chair in 2010 from founding member Renee Rosnes, still the only woman who’s ever been a member of the Collective. Puerto Rican saxophonist David Sanchez, Trinidadian-born trumpeter-percussionist Etienne
Charles and Haitian American drummer Obed Calvaire round out the Collective.
For most of the ensemble’s history, it has functioned with some autonomy as the members selected the composer they’re going to focus on for the season. But the group seems to have entered a more topdown phase with the Sly Stone/Miles Davis assignment, which was presented to the group by SFJazz. Joni Mitchell has already been selected as the subject for next season.
Over the years, the Collective has earned international renown while featuring a succession of the music’s most important players. The change in direction has major implications for the group’s mission, which balanced commissioning original pieces and reimagining canonical compositions.
“I think we were all surprised, to be honest, and it seems like there are more surprises in store,” says Venezuelan-born Simon, who also performs Nov. 13 at Berkeley’s Freight & Salvage and Nov. 14 at Santa Cruz’s Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Steel House, a collective trio with bass maestro Scott Colley and protean drummer Brian Blade (a founding member of the SFJazz Collective).
“With any change comes opportunity,” Simon continues. “In 1969, Miles was really starting to experiment with electric instruments and that’s not something we’ve really explored in the Collective before. Warren is actually playing more keyboards than vibes so we can approximate the dynamics happening on ‘In a Silent Way.’ ”
The biggest change is the presence of Martin Luther McCoy, the San Francisco vocalist and songwriter best known for his work with the Roots and for playing the Jimi Hendrix-like character Jo-Jo in Julie Taymor’s 2007 Beatles jukebox musical “Across the Universe.” The first vocalist to work with the Collective, he’s been working his way into the SFJazz fold over the last two years with tributes to Otis Redding and Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers.
Those were shows he developed on his own. With the Collective, McCoy is reveling in the intensive collaborative process as the pieces come together via daylong rehearsals. “It’s amazing to hear this music every day,” he says. “That’s never happened in my performing and recording career. With the Roots we didn’t rehearse at all, and in my bands we’ll drill a couple of songs and then work it out onstage. With the Collective, we’re developing this show together and people trust each other’s opinions. Warren sets the cool tone.”
While the albums couldn’t be more different, there’s some fascinating overlap in the careers of Davis and Stone, circa 1969. The year before, the trumpeter married Betty Mabry (aka Betty Davis), an innovative funk and soul singer two decades younger who introduced him to the music of Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone.
According to Davis’ autobiography, he and Stone didn’t hang out much, but he lavished unprintable praise on his music. In bringing them back together, the SFJazz Collective delves into a turbulent era when music seemed to evolve as quickly as the daily headlines.