Music buzz | Reviews (Jul/Aug 2023)ª

47 On Strand  Élan Parlē

(Parlemusik)

The album title references an address in Cape Town, South Africa, and a point of reflection and unique perspective for a Trinidadian wanderer there. In this instance, that explorer is the architect of 21st century kaisojazz (calypso jazz): Michael Low Chew Tung, élan parlē, himself. From his vantage point, literally in a hotel across the street, he mined the influences gained from seeing, hearing, and being there. The energy of the street, the vista of Table Mountain in the distance, the percussion and sounds of a distant Africa move his compositions towards a new centre for musical innovation. Continuing the exercise of expanding the vocabulary of kaisojazz — begun in his 2013 album, I Am Élan Parlē — the music here occupies a contemporary jazz profile. Tunes like “Load Shedding” and the title track don’t burden the listener with complex solos, but marry the sonic aesthetic of island elegance with a modern African presence for expanded possibilities.

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1. This review appears in the July/August 2023 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

© 2023, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved.

Island Jazz Chat: Episode 2 - Ming of Élan Parlē

Composer, producer and recording artist, Michael 'Ming' Low Chew Tung is called by Jazz in the Islands, "the architect of the new calypso jazz in the 21st century in Trinidad and Tobago" for his band/brand Élan Parlē. In this in-depth and revealing chat, 'Ming' gives an oral autobiography that gives clues to how he became the major influence in modern jazz fusion in Trinidad and Tobago, and puts into perspective the trials and tribulations of the native artist in the music industry in the Caribbean. With eight CDs of original music and innovative covers under his belt and a handful of important albums by others on which he is the producer and label host, Ming's position and role in the jazz music sector is secure as a high benchmark for a new generation of musicians and singers to match, if not surpass. Calypso jazz and the jazz fusion in these islands is secure in the hands of Ming.

• Programme Date: 9 January 2019
• Programme Length: 01:12:09

2014: Another Year in Music - an excerpt

"Jazz artists hold a place of special importance in my view of local music, and the continuing production of only a handful of commercially released albums—Chantal Esdelle & Moyenne, Clifford Charles, the Ming-produced TriniJazz Project, Theron Shaw, Pedro Lezama—does not create significant impact for industry growth but acts as a statistical indicator and marketing tool for a buying public of live music as well.

 

The concert and festival scene saw increased numbers at shows, increased events showcasing Caribbean jazz artists (the return of Shades of Vaughnette, an All Star tribute to Ralph MacDonald, Eat Drink Jazz), and an increase of ticket prices for the Tobago Jazz Experience coupled with the “concept of the fence.” The near-completion of the multi-seat Shaw Park Entertainment complex may ease the logistical problems that the over-subscribed beach location exhibited in April 2014. Despite these factors, jazz artistes still validly complain about the burden that the small economies of scale here has on their careers. That cabal of musicians must continue the symbiotic relationship with its audience here..."
—Excerpt from "2014: Another Year in Music. © 2015, Nigel A. Campbell. All Rights Reserved."

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Shades of Vaughnette III: Milestones - a review¹

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Resplendent, as always, in the couture of southern design team, Zadd & Eastman, Vaughnette Bigford made a successful return to her annual concert series, Shades of Vaughnette, at the Sundar Popo Theatre at the NAPA South Campus in San Fernando after a two-year break for the recency of motherhood. With a mix of local and jazz/R&B covers, Bigford reclaimed her status of the premier jazz stylist in these islands whose palette knows no geographic boundaries. She is well known for handling the American jazz songbook, international hits in many languages, and especially for her take on the local song catalogue and suffusing these tunes with the dissonant harmonic tones of jazz. And that night, Saturday November 8, she did not disappoint.

This year’s show, the third in the series and subtitled Milestones to celebrate a decade as a professional performer follows a pattern of expanding the local audiences' understanding and appreciation of a global repertoire of songs, and reinforcing the idea that the local song—whether it is calypso, soca or island pop—can become a celebratory anthem beyond a narrow Carnival season cycle that predominates the industry. Opening the show with a nod to American jazz singer Carmen Lundy with a cover of her hit “Wild Child”, Bigford soon engaged the senses with a phonetically accurate reading of French chanteuse Annick Tangorra’s “Lolita Fleur Creole.” Language is not a barrier for the appreciation of great songcraft.

Caribbean Beat Reviews – July/August 2014ª

Jazz Racine Haïti Jacques Schwarz-Bart

Guadeloupean tenor saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart, as a child heard Haitian vodou ritual songs played by his mother and celebrated author, Simone Schwarz-Bart, as a soundtrack to their life of literary idyll in the Caribbean. That memory of the music, and his own yearning to create jazz that is reflective of his French-Caribbean heritage propelled Schwarz-Bart to first perform and later, to record Jazz Racine Haïti as a document of the spiritual journey beyond Haiti all the way back to Africa. To re-arrange vodou music for this band featuring jazz musicians and two houngans (vodou priests) was an exercise to engage with the greatness of this music. “That dialogue with silence [music] creates a doorway to the unknown.” “Legba Nan Baye” fuses, in real time, ritual music and jazz, voice and tenor sax. African-Caribbean grooves that drive this music beyond spirituality achieve a synergy where modern jazz and vodou are one.

  

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TriniJazz Project Various Artists

Michael “Ming “ Low Chew Tung is the architect of 21st century jazz recording and performance in Trinidad and Tobago, following on from mentors like Clive Zanda and Mike Boothman, prolifically producing original music to add to the local canon. Now, he acts as mentor and producer for a new generation of young jazz musicians and singers with a new CD, TriniJazz Project. Polished arrangements and smooth jazz elements shouldn’t suggest any sell-out to the aesthetics of Caribbean luxe tourism or middlebrow leisure culture, but in the hands of the players, Tony Paul (sax), Rodney Alexander (bass), Modupe Onilu (percussion), Dean Williams (guitar) and smoky voiced chanteuse Vaughnette Bigford these ten tunes are a celebration of how we sing, dance and live in these islands. The reframed calypsoes of Bigford, the rhythmic pulse of Onilu, and the improvised joy by the others say “trinijazz” is the definition of accomplished.

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1. More Caribbean Playlist reviews appear in the July/August 2014 issue of Caribbean Beat magazine.

I Am Élan Parlē: A declaration of Independence

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Liner notes for élan parlē’s 2013 CD, I Am Élan Parlē

In 2000, I was living in the US capital, Washington DC, some five hours driving south on the I-95 from the mecca of Caribbean –American cultural existence, New York, and five hours flying north from Trinidad; remote, yet within reach. Howard University, Georgia Avenue, the T&T Embassy on Massachusetts Avenue: district landmarks of connectedness for a homesick soul. Caribbean musical heritage peppers the shelves of the Library of Congress, at the Smithsonian Institution, in the many book stores and those ubiquitous mementos from that age, the record & CD store. The sounds of Trinidad, the echoes of having fun were silently present in this international city.

This Is Élan Parlé: A concert review

Michael “Ming” Low Chew Tung and his band/brand Élan Parlé proved why they are a necessary force in the music industry here in Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday 28 at Queen’s Hall. A two hour performance of original instrumental tunes and arrangements interspersed with revealing conversation, interesting music lessons and funny stories made for an entertainment package that continues the high standard set by show producer, Curtain Call Productions.

Admitting that this was the first “full concert” in seven years, the band with a new line-up of players delivered on the promise of one explosive night of Caribbean jazz fusion. Culling compositions from his publishing catalogue going back to the debut CD, “Tribal Voices” in 2000, Ming commanded an ensemble of seasoned “young lion” musicians to play with the easy elegance that defines the Élan Parlé sound.