For the past decade, Chicago bandleader-composer Ernest Dawkins has been composing vast suites dealing head-on with some of the most turbulent chapters of American history.
Works such as “UnTill Emmett Till” (about the murder of its title character), and “Misconception of a Delusion and Shades of a Charade” (on the Chicago Seven trial) emerged as searing jazz dramas in clubs and concert halls alike.
Dawkins’ newest opus kicked off the 36th annual Chicago Jazz Festival on Thursday night at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and extended the composer’s perspective far beyond our shores. “Memory in the Center, an Afro Jazz Opera” was conceived as a tribute to Nelson Mandela, who died last December at age 95, and received its world premiere before a large and appreciative audience. The roughly 90-minute suite proved musically gripping and held some of Dawkins’ most ingenious writing, but its dramaturgy and production techniques were clearly in need of work.
The piece opened unconventionally, with a soliloquy performed by South African pianist Neil Gonsalves. For those who already knew that Dawkins had decided to tell Mandela’s story in reverse chronological order, it was possible to conclude that this solemn-but-serene piano solo amounted to a kind of elegy for a fallen leader. What a surprising, poetic, soft-spoken way to open an evening-length work.
Dawkins’ big band next marched onto the stage playing a buoyant, South African-tinged parade theme, suggesting that the composer was celebrating Mandela’s triumphs. Having survived 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela refused to condemn his jailers and went on to lead South Africa out of apartheid, becoming the country’s first black president at age 75. Here was one of Dawkins’ most elegantly composed pieces, a virtually seamless merger of South African dance rhythm and ebullient Chicago jazz. In effect, this jubilant music exulted in Mandela’s achievements while invoking Dawkins’ intense connection to South Africa, where he has performed prolifically through the decades.
As the evening progressed, “Memory in the Center” deepened, thanks to a clever use of the otherwise overwhelming LED screen on the stage of the Pritzker Pavilion. Instead of merely showing overly bright, Godzilla-sized images of the musicians on stage, the screen displayed black-and-white shots from Mandela’s extraordinary life. The juxtaposition of Dawkins’ oft-blues-drenched music with stark scenes of South African apartheid represented a high point in Dawkins’ career and inspired high hopes for “Memory in the Center.”
Unfortunately, the visual counterpoint was far too stingy, with too few images on view. Though Dawkins chose wisely in opting to project onto the screen the libretto that Khari B. wrote and performed, the supertitles were constantly out of sync with the poet’s recitation. This disconnect between what we saw and what we heard diminished the impact of “Memory in the Center.”
Some of Dawkins’ orchestral writing, on the other hand, startled the ear, particularly fast-flying passages in which his ace ensemble dispatched cascading triplets with remarkable precision and rhythmic impact. Incendiary solos from trumpeter Maurice Brown, profound statements from saxophonist Brent Griffin, Irvin Pierce and Rajiv Halim and explosive work from baritone saxophonist Aaron Getsug contributed greatly to the more successful passages of “Memory in the Center.”
Yet when the band was playing full tilt – which was often – the words that the great Dee Alexander sang were rendered virtually indecipherable. In effect, the reverse-chronology story line that “Memory in the Center” established at the start virtually disappeared. The work’s vivid beginnings devolved into a wash of sound without apparent narrative focus. Yes, the music was rousing, but the dramatic center of what was billed as an opera was gone.
Even calling “Memory in the Center” an opera is a stretch – it’s really more of a vocal-instrumental suite. If Dawkins can make the second half of the piece as clear and purposeful as the first, while also dealing with the production woes that cropped up early in the evening, “Memory in the Center” could stand as one of his more important creations.
But there’s work to be done.
Twitter @howardreich
What to catch
Following are some of the most promising shows at the Chicago Jazz Festival, playing at Millennium Park, near Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue. For more information, visit chicagojazzfestival.us or phone 312-744-3316.
Friday
Paul Marinaro Quintet, 2 p.m., Jazz and Heritage Pavilion
George Freeman/Mike Allemena Quartet, 5 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
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Rufus Reid, 6 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Terence Blanchard with Ravi Coltrane and Lionel Loueke, 8:30 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Saturday
John Campbell Trio, 1:10 p.m., Von Freeman Pavilion
John Wojciechowski Quartet, 2:20 p.m., Von Freeman Pavilion
Kurt Rosenwinkel, 3:30 p.m., Jazz and Heritage Pavilion
Tom Harrell’s Colors of a Dream, 7:10 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Dave Holland’s Prism, 8:30 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Sunday
Tammy McCann, 1:10 p.m., Von Freeman Pavilion
Jason Adasiewicz’s Sun Rooms, 2 p.m., Jazz and Heritage Pavilion
Bobby Broom, 5 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Magiuel Zenon Quartet, 6 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Cecile McLorin Savlant, 7:10 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion
Sun Ra Arkestra, 8:30 p.m., Pritzker Pavilion