Photo by John Broughton
by S. Victor Aaron
Like William Parker, Anthony Braxton and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ernest Dawkins is an avant garde jazz guy who doesn’t give a damn if the music he plays is dissonant or tuneful, it’s all about if it sounds right, period. By extension, the saxophonist’s New Horizons Ensemble is that way, too: since 1978, they have been skilled practitioners of every form of jazz from swing to bebop to free bop to free form. That kind of diversity continues on their latest album The Prairie Prophet.
The title of the album refers to one of the godfathers of the modern Chicago jazz scene, the late Fred Anderson, to whom this album is dedicated. Dawkins and his crew have ruled at Anderson’s famed Velvet Lounge and their last album was even a live recording of a performance there (The Messenger: Live at the Original Velvet Lounge (2006)). Like Anderson was, Dawkins himself is a major figure in the Chicago scene, and currently serves as Chairman of the AACM. But his dedication to the local jazz hang goes much further than merely carrying titles, he’s been teaching music at Chicago’s public schools for over twenty years and spreads the message of the music to far flung corners of the world, to places like Mozambique, France and South Africa.
Last January 25 came the release of Dawkins’ fifth Delmark record, the aforementioned Prophet and the energetic, agile band smacks of a Windy City version of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers: Marquis Hill (trumpet), Shaun Johnson (trumpet), Junius Paul (bass) and Isaiah Spencer (drums) are all young stars. Trombonist Steve Berry and Tortoise guitarist Jeff Parker represent the vets in the group.
“Hymn For A Hip King,” which kicks off the proceedings, in fact, conjures up the ghost of Kirk in a lighter mood, as Dawkins, Berry and Johnson, Hill (on flugelhorn) together play the chorus that Kirk could have done by himself simultaneously. As each horn player takes a solo, it’s Dawkins himself who brings the most fire, but like those avant garde masters, never ever loses his sense of swing. The next track, though, is my favorite, as it’s also the most “out” track. “Sketches,” the other cut with both trumpet players on it, is whack jazz that—like the best of the “New Thing” music of the 60s—maintains a connection to bop. Both of the trumpeters show that they know their way around an abstract melody, but it’s Hill’s uncommon improvising that steals the show. Other high points includes the Malachi Favors/Lester Bowie tribute “Mal_Waldron” which utilizes a pulsing, human-like bass line that Favors himself most probably inspired. “Shades Of The Prairie Prophet” artfully dances on the line between advanced bop and free jazz, where the drums are unchained to time, and the soloists Dawkins, Berry and Paul fashion relevant solos from minimal melodic cues coming from Parker.
Parker’s comping, by the way, often serves as the soul regulator for a song, using his instrument to supply not only the chords, but flush out the sonic footprint with whatever is left untouched by the brass (“Hymn” and “Mal-Lester” are excellent examples). Parker is also the physical link between this record and its object of tribute; he was Anderson’s guitarist, too, and just as he did with his time with the old master, Parker plays well because he listens well to what the others are doing.
The album ends with a long form of an almost extinct art form: the protest jazz song. “Baghdad Boogie” does indeed boogie (especially Berry), but Dawkins uses dark humor toward the end to make the point of the song clear, interspersing a WWI rallying cry “Over There” and “The Old Gray Mare” with a speech and singing deriding the war in Iraq. “You have to stand up for what you believe in,” explains Dawkins, “This is it. We’re saying we’re not going to tolerate it.”
Judging from “Baghdad Boogie,” Dawkins might not be the most eloquent speaker, but his plea is sincere and direct; regardless, his message of music is very articulate, and The Prairie Prophet is yet another set of impactful musical homilies Dawkins and his New Horizons Ensemble preaches to the world. And I say, amen to that.
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