Editor’s Note: The final “A Swinging Centennial: Jackie Robinson at 100” concert takes place this Sunday at 3:00 pm at Robinson Park.
Bryon Motley and his band (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)
2019 marks the centennial of Jackie Robinson’s birth, and Sunday night in Westerbeck Recital Hall on the campus of PCC, two top-flight jazz ensembles played music inspired by and in tribute to Jackie Robinson who, among his other accomplishments, was once a ballplayer for PCC.
By Garrett Rowlan
Stealin’ Home was the name of one piece, commissioned by The Baseball Reliquary and its maestro, Terry Cannon, but considering the location one thought of the whole evening as a kind of coming home.
First up on the program was a collection of songs evoking the time and place of Robinson’s breaking the baseball color line. The set featuring Bryan Motley on vocals, backed by a tight three-piece band, and included a medley of tunes first made famous by Nat King Cole. Nothing could better evoke the fifties better than Cole’s “Unforgettable,” which could be applied to both Robinson and Nat King Cole. A video screen, behind the band, provided images of post-war baseball, a visual obbligato to Motley’s memories of his father, who died a couple of years ago and had been the last remaining umpire in the Negro leagues.
Following the intermission, Bobby Bradford’s ensemble presented the world premiere of Stealin’ Home, a jazz suite in tribute to Jackie Robinson.
Terry Cannon, who commissioned the piece, described Bradford’s work as “a dream project of mine, something to honor Jackie Robinson.” The project is not a one-off, as upcoming performances in different venues are scheduled for October 21 (KPCC studios), November 10 (Whittier College), November 17 (Boston Court), and December 15 (Robinson Park Recreation Center.)
Bobby Bradford’s ensemble presenting the world premiere of Stealin’ Home (Photo – Garrett Rowlan)
It was the first commissioned piece for the 85-year-old Bobby Bradford, a renowned musician and a teacher at PCC for many years. His band had some heavy hitters, veterans of the LA music scene like pianist Don Preston, Vinny Golia and Chuck Manning on the brass, William Roper on tuba, and a rhythm section of Henry Franklin on bass and Tina Raymond on drums.
The music, in contrast to Byron Motley’s more nightclub-like set piece (this is not a pejorative) was freewheeling, intense, and sometimes suggestive of an urban miasma like certain sections of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew.
There was a playful aspect, too, a passage where Bradford’s trumpet and Roper’s tuba seemed to “talk” to each other; another time the piano-playing of Don Preston and the drumming of Tina Raymond did a cat and mouse interplay. Later, the title piece, Stealin’ Home, a gem of Forties music, transported the audience to another time. When the set was finished, they gave a standing ovation. The crowd almost filled the 200-seat venue, and they were treated to an encore, a somewhat whimsical piece titled “0 for 3.”
All in all, a wonderful show, and fortunately one that will provide for additional performances in the next few weeks. It is not to be missed.
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