San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Healdsburg Jazz presents a ‘Convergence’ of jazz legends.
Nina Simone, the inimitable vocalist and pianist often billed as the High Priestess of Soul, and Mary Lou Williams, the pianist, arranger and composer who spent most of her career in jazz’s vanguard, never had the chance to hang out in real life. But in her first major project as Healdsburg Jazz’s artist in residence, San Francisco pianist Tammy L. Hall rectified this historical lapse.
A jazz and poetry recital meets backstage drama, “Convergence” premiered on Wednesday, March 31, the last night of Women’s History Month. The hourlong video production, prerecorded but for the livestreamed introduction by Healdsburg Jazz Artistic Director Marcus Shelby and Oakland Public Conservatory Founding Director Angela Wellman, effectively evoked Williams and Simone’s exceptional pianism and divergent personas, while showcasing the talents of the prodigious allfemale cast.
“Convergence” is available to stream on Healdsburg Jazz’s website, https://healdsburg jazz.org, along with nine other virtual events produced by the organization since the pandemic.
The premise is intriguing. With Hall playing Williams and Oaklandbred pianist and vocalist Victoria Theodore portraying Simone, “Convergence” imagines a backstage encounter between the two women in Paris as they wait to accept National Order of Merit awards. The year is unstated, but the conversation hints at the mid1970s.
In real life, both women were piano prodigies who made their most profound impact away from the keyboard. Simone (19332003) was an iconic singer and Bachbesotted pianist whose music fueled the struggle for civil rights and illuminated the obstacles faced by Black women, while Williams (191081) helped define the swing era with her arranging and composing. Williams later went on to mentor the budding cadre of innovators who led the 1940s bebop movement, including Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. (The legendary status of William’s Harlem digs as a jazz laboratory inspired the name of the allwomen Bay Area band Mary Lou’s Apartment).
In the production, the women are mutually admiring and prickly, delighted to finally find themselves in each other’s company. But they quickly come to loggerheads over jazz’s origins. Simone declares that the music’s home is Africa, while Williams pushes back, claiming jazz as American. “You can believe that, but it’s not true,” Simone says with finality.
Theodore, who now lives in Los Angeles and has toured as a keyboardist for Beyoncé, captures Simone’s regal selfpossession and simmering anger at her thwarted dream of becoming a concert pianist. Hall hints at Williams’ shyness, seeming genuinely moved as she thanks Simone for her work in the fight for civil rights.
“We know how outspoken Nina was and how softspoken Mary Lou was,” Hall told The Chronicle in an interview before the premiere. A devout Catholic, Williams “wanted to be a voice of illumination, running her thrift store, helping musicians suffering with addiction and their families, trying to make sure they had what they needed. It’s a moment of grace for them to come together.”
The first half of the show opens with Oakland poet RyanNicole’s exquisitely crafted verse describing the two women, an almost musical recitation that vibrates with quiet intensity. Foreshadowing the affectionate but tense encounter, she describes them as “alone together and on the same side of everything.”
But the central action of “Convergence” takes place at the piano, as Hall and Theodore alternate leading a trio with bassist Ruth Davies and drummer Sylvia Cuenca. Directed with minimal fuss by Kevin D. Johnson Jr., the performance
catches fire with Hall’s renditions of Williams’ deeply funky, bassdriven “Rosa Mae” (a tune also credited to bassist Larry Gales) and “Cancer,” a movement from her 12part “Zodiac Suite” (a masterwork recently presented online by the New York Philharmonic with pianist Aaron Diehl, available for streaming through June 6).
“Convergence” is the first installment of a work in progress. Hall plans to add two other undersung piano masters, Hazel Scott and Dorothy Donegan, into the mix. Along with other virtual presentations like a deep dive into the jazz history of the Fillmore District, it’s an auspicious start for Shelby, who took over the artistic director helm from Healdsburg Jazz founder Jessica Felix last summer.
Tapping Hall as artist in residence, a role he’s played with SFJazz and the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, shines a spotlight on a musician who often concentrates on supporting topnotch vocalists.
“The moment is right for her,” Shelby said before the premiere. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving for what she’s been doing and what she does. Tammy is very creative and always on the support side of things, helping other people sound great.”
While “Convergence” will be available for viewing on the Healdsburg Jazz website for $10, the piece was also conceived to augment the organization’s educational program. The video will be free of charge for classroom use, along with an extensive study guide focusing on the contributions of women to jazz.
Fittingly, “Convergence” concludes with a deeper dialogue at the piano as Hall and Theodore play a ripsnorting fourhanded version of Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” Percussive, playful and utterly spontaneous, the performance crackles with energy, suggesting the sparks that would have flown between Simone and Williams, two majestic Black women who’ve yet to be fully measured.