March 15, 2019I traveled to Chicago with my student Logan Moore and his Dad. Part of our plan was to see and hear my dear friend Greg Rockingham. (drums) In addition to attending the Interlochen Arts Academy together Greg and I have performed in numerous groups over the years. What a gift it was to play with Greg and his new band the “Soul Message Band” … http://www.soulmessageband.com/schedule/. As always Greg, organist Chris Foremen, and the band were incredible. I often have a difficult time describing the hard driving, swinging, soulful style of music they play but I can tell you the energy, intensity, and feel of the band captivates the audience. If you get a chance to hear them don’t miss the opportunity!
This blog is about personal experiences but it is also my desire to offer an educational component that should give you some insight into jazz and the performers. Here is a definition/description of this style of “Chicago Soul/Jazz” music the “Soul Message Band” plays from Wikipedia web site: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_jazz
Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop.[1][2][3] Mark C. Gridley, writing for the All Music Guide to Jazz, explains that soul jazz more specifically refers to music with "an earthy, bluesy melodic concept" and "repetitive, dance-like rhythms.... Note that some listeners make no distinction between 'soul-jazz" and 'funky hard bop,' and many musicians don't consider 'soul-jazz' to be continuous with 'hard bop.'"[1] Roy Carr describes soul jazz as an outgrowth of hard bop, with the terms "funk" and "soul" appearing in a jazz context as early as the mid-1950s to describe "gospel-informed, down-home, call-and-response blues."[3]Carr also notes the acknowledged influence of Ray Charles' small group recordings (which included saxophonists David "Fathead" Newman and Hank Crawford) with Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley[3] and Milt Jackson.
Soul jazz developed in the late 1950s, reaching public awareness with the release of The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco.[4][5] Cannonball Adderley noted: "We were pressured quite heavily by Riverside Records when they discovered there was a word called 'soul'. We became, from an image point of view, soul jazz artists. They kept promoting us that way and I kept deliberately fighting it, to the extent that it became a game."[6] While soul jazz was most popular during the mid-to-late 1960s, many soul jazz performers, and elements of the music, remain popular. The Jazz Crusaders, for example, evolved from soul jazz to soul music, becoming The Crusaders in the process.[3] Carr places David Sanborn and Maceo Parker in a line of alto saxophonists that includes Earl Bosticand Tab Smith, with Adderley, followed by Lou Donaldson, as the strongest links in the chain.
There are more pictures form our performance on the gallery page.