The jazzfest in 10 songs: 2025
Cedar Walton, EWF, traditional blues, Bacharach, Spanish & Brazilian pieces, Sly Stone, jamming with Joel Ross, and more
These ten pieces of repertoire come from performances I heard at the 2025 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. They're not the artists' original pieces, rather compositions they chose for their shows. I bring them to you here in reverse chronological order:
1
"Simple Pleasure" (Cedar Walton)
Played by the John Lee Trio & Ralph Moore, June 28
That's English saxophonist Ralph Moore on the left of the cover photo, in his mid-thirties, for the Eastern Rebellion album Simple Pleasure recorded in 1992. Moore plays the melody of the Cedar Walton tune with Walton on piano, David Williams on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums. He called "Simple Pleasure" during a weekend at Frankie's as a special guest with the John Lee Trio, consisting of Lee on drums with pianist Sean Fyfe and bassist Sean Drabitt. Fyfe is a killing interpreter of Walton, so he shined bright. Lee also wowed the room with an extended drum solo in tribute to Higgins. Moore later played his own tune "Hopscotch" and invited up his onetime student, our own Ardeshir Pourkeramati, for a two-tenor hit.
2
"Can't Hide Love" (Skip Scarborough)
Played by the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, June 26
I got a burger between shows at Ocean Artworks and Performance Works, and in front of me was a guy ordering a brisket and garlic fries, joking in an animated voice about making a mess all over his white tracksuit. A couple hours later, he used that same voice to entertain a sold-out house while he grooved away on B3, spotless, telling them how "Can't Hide Love" wasn't actually written by Maurice White. Though Lamarr's trio – according to his own stage banter, he recently hired guitarist Brice Calvin and drummer Ashley Ickes off of TikTok – didn't always lock into full verve and chemistry, their 10-plus-minute cover of the Earth, Wind, & Fire hit was a highlight.
3
"Ain' Goin' Down to the Well No Mo" (Lead Belly)
Played by Tony Wilson's Hellhound On My Trail, June 25
Tony Wilson continues to find ways to make new things happen year after year. For his Hellhound On My Trail group, the new collaborator was saxophonist Dominic Conway, playing alongside Wilson and violinist Josh Zubot, bassist Russell Sholberg, and drummer Kai Basanta. (When this band debuted at Tyrant in May, it was JP Carter in the horn chair.) The first two tunes at Ocean Artworks were a concise summary of his musical direction for the project: Ornette Coleman's "Zig Zag" and then this blues song, which he delivered himself on distorted guitar up-front.
