René Marie in Concert Athenaeum Jazz at the Neurosciences Institute San Diego California May 6, 2004
René Marie Vocals
Takana Miyamoto, Piano
Herman Burney, Bass
Quentin Baxter, Drums
It was Forrest Gump that said "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you¹re gonna get." The same might be said for a René Marie concert. René is a veteran jazz artist that has been on the scene for a while and has also had a hiatus from her art for a long period of time. Since returning, she has emerged back unto the scene with a burst of new energy, creativity and exploration. Although there are still traces of many of her influences still evident in her art, there's no doubt that she has become an individual voice much needed in the world of jazz.
In going to jazz concerts I've always come to expect to see and hear the tunes off the latest CD or the songs that have received the most airplay. Not so at a René Marie concert. The first half of her set was mainly tunes from a work in progress CD to soon be released. This takes a lot of courage by an artist to do. However, René Marie is always at the cutting edge. Opening the concert like an advent garde group the talented quartet banged, scraped, moaned, shuffled papers until;" Nature Boy" emerged from the ashes. This entry finally combined into a sensual presentation of; "Afro Blue." The remainder of the first half of the set included new material, mostly penned by René Marie. Her lyrics are lean and often poetic.
On stage, René Marie is animated and fully utilizes all of her skills and movements to emphasize her material. Backed up by a wonderful new trio, together they work as one and complement each other on every note. Throughout the concert René makes the audience a part of her family. Telling stories about the inspirations of the songs she wrote, inviting the audience to sing along are just some of the things that make up one of her concerts. To conclude the first set she told of her father's love for Revel's Bolero and how he would prance around like an African hunter to the sounds of the music. She further told of his love for Roberta Flack's rendition of "Suzanne." Following the introduction she gave an electrifying performance of the coming together of two very unlikely compositions while she pranced and gestured as she scat the lines of Bolero.
The second half of her set was a bit looser and straight ahead. Opening up with "Lover Man;" a song much related to Billie Holiday, René makes it her own with an unusual arrangement that included an infectious hold and drop to the beat that gave new life to this evergreen. An original composition of René's followed telling of the trials and ordeals of some "Red Shoes."
She really locked in on the audience with a jazz bluesy romp on the Beatles song "Hard Days Night." René, much like the late Betty Carter, has the uncanny ability to take lyrics out of tempo then fall behind or ahead of the beat and paint them unto a mural that exists solely in their heads and deliver a brand new perception on a line the rest of us perceived to always be conventional.
The thing I admire most about her performance is her strong will to be herself even at the risk of failing. She is an artist with a vision and when it connects with the audience, it becomes a major advancement for jazz.
The encore for the concert was especially memorable. Singing the standard "The Nearness of You" alone on stage she showed us that she surely has chops.
Finally, a brief word about her band: Takana Miyamoto on
Piano is a wonderful and sensitive pianist fully aware and prepared for the
sudden shifts and nuances of René's vocal changes. On her soloing I sensed an
economy of notes undulating from a strong sense of swing. Herman Burney on bass
blew me away with a Slam Stewart like, bowing and singing, bass solo on
"Hard Day's Night." Quentin Baxter on drums is strong, succinct and
can shift gears at the drop of a hat. It might have been a totally complete
concert had he soloed one time. I'm sure it would have been interesting.