Late John Norment’s CD to be released at annual benefit
By Roscoe Crenshaw For the St. Louis American
The 4th Annual Community Women Against Hardship (CWAH) Jazz Brunch Charity Benefit – to provide funds for the organization’s Institute for the Advancement of Jazz Study and Performance – is set for Sunday, July 8 at The Bistro at Grand Center (Jazz at the Bistro). This year’s menu has a tantalizing extra entrée: the brand new CD Just for John, an exciting blend of original compositions by the late John Norment.
This posthumous compilation is brilliantly performed by John, his longtime friend and drummer Jerome “Scrooge” Harris, young virtuoso pianist Lawrence Fields and mainstay bassist Willem von Hombracht.
A thoughtfully arranged concoction with just the right balance of laidback grooves and sudden flights, Just for John dutifully reflects the subtle passions and well-chosen bursts of fire embodied in this sensitive artist’s character. It also exposes similar personal traits of Scrooge, his buddy and musical co-conspirator since mid-‘50s high school days.
The entire group is introverted, each with considerable reserves of lyrical and harmonic explosives. Fields, a former sideman of our own saxophone giant Willie Akins, is one of the country’s most in-demand young keyboard players. Von Hombracht is an understated stalwart who flexes his contra biceps at appropriate intervals; and Jerome, although blessed with pyrotechnic trap skills, never allows his ego to spoil the stew, choosing mostly to stir rather than splatter.
Widely known for his tenor work, Norment retrieves his too-long-dormant soprano for a jaunty, mellifluous rendition of “Four Runner.” Harris and Fields tip-toe lightly behind, before the youngest in the kitchen slips his inventive fingers deliciously into the mix and Willem adds his unobtrusive flavoring. All the while, Scrooge supplies his soft rhythmic touch, as sticks and cymbals sustain the rich cuisine.
The other departure from the tenor follows immediately on “Hesitation,” as Norment’s luminous alto sax fills the soul, patiently accompanied by his cohorts, with Lawrence’s especially tender seasoning assigning an almost spiritual quality.
During the first half of the show on July 8, Jerome and Willem will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Anderson, replacing John on saxophone, and the polished, innovative John Pyatt filling in for the peripatetic Fields (whose multiple gigs around the country prevent him from appearing) on piano.
The second half will feature Jazz Brunch favorite Anita Jackson. The sparkling chanteuse, equally at ease with jazz, gospel or blues, will deliver her take on standards.
“John was concerned most of all with the furthering of the artistic and creative side of writing and composing and passing that onto those musicians who may be younger, yet gifted in music,” says the Institute’s Artistic Director Jerome Harris.
“Our focus also runs parallel to those ideas. We try to teach through spirituality. We hope that we are instilling in those we teach that, not only is music notes, chords, harmony, rhythm, but a deep sense that there is a spiritual connection.”
Here’s hoping the jazz public will embrace this opportunity to enjoy new music by a late local master while furthering the cause.
The benefit will be at The Bistro at Grand Center (Jazz at the Bistro), 3536 Washington, Sunday, July 8. Buffet: 2-3 p.m. Jazz: 3-5 p.m. Call CWAH at 314-289-7523 for more information. The Just for John CD will be on sale at the event.