At Shubert Night Out, Jazz Torch Passes

My dad leaned over from the left and pointed to the stage, where Jamaican Jazz pianist Monty Alexander was holding down his piano keys on particular notes and chords to emphasize them.

“Jazz is made up of accents,” my dad informed me.

To my right side my I heard my stepmother hum the words to a Bob Marley tune. 

It was my first jazz experience, and besides enjoying the tunes, I was receiving an education while seated at the Shubert Theatre.

Monty Alexander was performing, while my dad, Albert McFadden Jr,. and stepmother, Griselle McFadden, schooled me in all things jazz and Caribbean music. 

The Saturday concert drew in jazz lovers like my dad and some wide-eyed newbies like me, someone who more typically listens to R&B and hip-hop. 

Our night began by circling around the downtown area, passing one full-garage sign after another and double-parkers galore. After a lap or two we found a spot at the corner of George and York streets at 7:30 p.m.

After the brief walk over to the theater, we presented the security with our vaccination cards and picked up our tickets at the box office. Dozens entered the theatre along with us, dressed far more ​“jazz sophisticated” than I was. 

By 7:40 p.m we were seated and settled with the essentials: peanut M&Ms, Twizzlers, waters and a 7 and 7 cocktail for my dad. 

Before the show started, I talked with my dad about his experience with jazz music and how he defines it.

“What immediately comes to mind is creativity and improvisation,” he said. 

My dad grew up on Dewitt and Ann Streets in the Hill listening to his father’s Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong recordings. He fell in love with the musicians’ abilities, while in a group, to each play their own song. 

As he grew older, he gravitated to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dave Brubeck. 

When he was 13, his parents bought him his first drum set for Christmas, and that was the first instrument he learned to play. Recently he has taught himself the bass guitar and next wants to learn the keyboard. 

On two separate occasions he has performed at the Shubert as a drummer in a local band, a side gig he always had on top of his day job. For the past 15 years Albert has attended the Capital Jazz Fest in Maryland. Griselle was introduced to jazz from Albert. She most often listens to gospel music and enjoys Caribbean music. 

On Saturday evening, the three of us looked forward to hearing how exactly Alexander was going to marry Caribbean and jazz music.

“I’ve never heard of Jamaican and jazz in the same sentence,” my dad said.

At 8 p.m. the theater lights dimmed, and the trio of musicians stepped on stage.

Alexander started the concert by dedicating his performance to comedian/actor Chris Rock. He performed alongside drummer Jason Brown and bassist Luke Sellick. 

As Sellick played the stand-up bass, my dad pointed out one technique called the ​“walking bass.”

“He’s keeping the rhythm with the same three beats over and over,” he said. 

As I watched I immediately could understand what my dad meant when he said each musician practically played their own song. When honing into the drummer, I could tune out the others and hear one part of the song, then the bass, then the piano; then eventually hear them all synchronize. 

Song after song, Alexander not only played the piano but directed the group to pause for solos or get quieter or louder. 

Alexander dedicated his second song to the late Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey. He also told the crowd about his theory behind merging of Caribbean music with jazz. 

“I merge music together because that’s what music is about — different worlds together,” he said. 

For one number Alexander merged Burning Spear’s ​“Marcus Garvey” with ​“someone that I think he would appreciate, Miles Davis,” he said. 

Before playing a jazz rendition of Marvin Gaye’s ​“What’s Going On,” Alexander called out the crowd: ​“Wha gwaan!” — which means ​“What’s going on,” in Jamaican slang. 

His head bobbing, my dad leaned over, recalling the dozens of times he played that Gaye number on the drums.

Alexander also played jazz-infused versions of Bob Marley’s ​“Redemption Song” and ​“No Woman No Cry,” both pointed out by Griselle, a big Marley fan. During the latter song, Griselle led the crowd in a rhythmic clap along with the musicians while also softly singing along.

“Now I’m going to go home and listen to all my Bob Marley,” she said. 

In between songs, Alexander told the crowd stories about migrating to Miami from Kingston, Jamaica. He described playing piano in clubs all over Miami until he was discovered by Frank Sinatra, who invited him to begin playing in New York. ​“I like your keys,” he recalled Sinatra telling him. 

Alexander told a story about seeing a James Bond movie for the first time after moving to New York and being inspired to write the song ​“Regulator aka Reggae Later,” which incorporated the Bond theme song softly in the background of an upbeat Caribbean flow. 

This was my personal favorite. 

“It’s crazy how there’s only three instruments up there,” Griselle remarked throughout the performance.

During the two-hour show Alexander brought on more performers, including saxophonists Wayne Escoffery and T.K Blue, Jamaican storyteller and vocalist Ms. Matty Lou, drummer Carl Wright, and electric bassist Joshua Thomas. 

By the end Alexander and the musicians brought the theater’s full house to their feet until they returned for an encore. Alexander and Lou sang ​“Day‑O” by Harry Belafonte to end out the night.

We were invited to the after-show reception, but my dad and Griselle instead decided to end the night early. They wanted to make sure they would wake up on time Sunday morning for church.

But first, for a final debriefing of the concert, we stopped at Midpoint Coffee Brewers at 248 Crown St. The spot serves freshly brewed coffee and tea and homemade pastries.

While waiting for owner Mahoud Ali and his daughter Noroor Ali to brew my dad a regular black coffee and a hot chocolate for me and pack up a cheese danish for Griselle, we reflected on the night. And the coffee.

“I’m a coffee professional, and this is a great coffee,” my dad said. 

“I’m very impressed,” my dad said of the concert this time, rather than the coffee. ​“I didn’t think you could marry a island beat with jazz.” 

“He created a whole new sound,” he added, ​“while also keeping the tradition there.”