Oct 18

Oct 18 Melanie Charles

Vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Melanie Charles kicked off the 2024-25 Jazz at the Logan series tonight in what turned into a rollicking good time, with people dancing at their seats by evening’s end. Accompanying the Bushwick-born headliner were her brother, Rogerst Charles, on saxophone, Jonathan Michael on both electric bass and contrabass, Zacchae’us Paul on keyboards and vocals, and Diego Ramirez on drums.

Charles, dressed in green from head to toe, opened the set with a gospel-infused number, largely unaccompanied by musical instrumentation. Immediately changing up the pace, she then launched into Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock, remaining true to the original. While Mitchell’s folk-rock paen to the great spiritual awakening in the Saugerties may initially seem out of place at a jazz concert, given Mitchell’s collaboration with bassist Charles Mingus, Charles’ choice exhibited some logic.

During her 90-minute set, Charles paid tribute to her Haitian roots, performing Damballa Wedo, which had a largely improvised feel to it. She didn’t engage in scat singing, but the vocals emphasized syllables and sounds rather than words. In an online article describing Charles’ NPR Tiny Desk concert, Nikki Birch refers to Haitian Vodou in writing about an earlier performance of the song.

During one segue, Charles described her mission “to make jazz trill again,” recognizing that jazz is not as culturally influential as it was several decades back. To achieve that, Charles relies on updated sounds, employing a mini-synthesizer to add scratches, squawks, and other DJ-inspired sounds to her vocals. During one song entitled 'Ya’ll Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women, she looped what seemed to be her just-recorded vocals into the live mix.

Although there was an acoustic piano on stage, keyboardist Paul spent his time in front of his Fender Rhodes electric piano, with some sort of electric bass clavier resting on top of it. Together, the two keyboards provided the common thread running throughout the set—a sound recalling Joe Sample and the Jazz Crusaders, as well as the slightly funky, but spatially expansive sounds heard on many of the early Seventies releases from Creed Taylor’s CTI label.

I took a similar journey back to bygone times when Charles sang, often bringing Marvin Gaye and other Motown singers to mind. She wasn’t imitating Gaye’s voice, but I did hear Gaye’s swing, vocal inflections, and stylings.

Jonathan Michael was particularly adept with both his electric and acoustic basses. Sometimes the bass gets lost in the overall mix, but not tonight. At one point, I was seated in the first row directly in front of Michael when he picked up his electric bass. Michael, with his humongous fingers, snapped and popped individual strings, adding distinct bottom to the twinkling sounds emanating from the keyboards. Nothing was lost in the mix, which Charles noted when she thanked the folks running the soundboard.

At times, Charles seemed a bit disconcerted because the audience sat statically rather than dancing in the aisles. She pointed out that she typically performs in bars and smaller concert venues, producing more visible engagement from her audience. Referring to a Sonny Rollins biography, Charles noted that Rollins believed that musicians should ‘do their thing’ without worrying about the audience’s reaction. By the end of the evening, the audience was visibly responding to the music, clapping their hands to the beat as they twirled or swayed while standing—albeit at their seats rather than in the aisles.

For two songs, Charles picked up a flute. During one, Angel Bat Dawid was introduced as a special guest. With her black clarinet, Dawid did battle with Charles, the flautist. Dawid, bobbing wildly on stage, sometimes produced shrieking notes from her clarinet, mimicking her movements. Benny Goodman most likely did a few approving spins in his grave

Toward the concert’s end, Charles sat at the acoustic piano, demonstrating her competence as both a pianist and vocalist. Throughout the evening, she danced in front of her electronic synthesizer, as she slid levels and spun knobs.

The 90-minute concert ended much too quickly. Hopefully Charles will not be a stranger to Chicago audiences. Unfortunately, the performance was poorly attended, with more than half the seats unfilled. Lots of people missed a great evening of music.

Earlier in the evening, drummer Chase Wilkins, a student at Northwestern University, brought his quintet to the Cafe Logan for a pre-concert ‘appetizer.’ The five college-age musicians played straight-ahead jazz, opening with a Junior Mance original, followed by Wayne Shorter’s Footprints, using Terence Blanchard’s arrangement of the Shorter classic that Wilkins first heard a year ago when Blanchard and Herbie Hancock were in town for a concert. Toward the end of the set, the group played September in the Rain, as interpreted by the late Hargrove. The group also worked a Bobby Watson number into their set.

Wilkins and company displayed superb craftsmanship. As a young man who is making a name for himself, Wilkins could easily take a more bombastic approach, but he prefers subtle swing and fills. He is wise beyond his years.

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