Lawrence B. Johnson
New Festival Orchestra makes an upbeat bow
A bountiful day at the festival wound up Sunday night in a freshening breeze and an exhilarating debut. On display at the Carhartt Stage was the newly minted Detroit Jazz Festival Orchestra under the direction of Basie Band veteran Dennis Wilson.
Give it a couple of years, Wilson has said, and this assemblage of top Detroit jazz musicians will cook. It sounded pretty tight coming out of the gate in a program laced with blazing Basie classics and a notably sweet performance of Thad Jones' "A Child Is Born."
The band also spotlighted guest vocalist Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer as well as the imperishable saxophonist Jimmy Heath.
Siegle immediately showed her smart way of stretching and meshing lyrics with phrases in a lively take on "The Tender Trap." Among other high points were a scat, a la Ella Fitzgerald, through "Like Love" and a wonderfully reflective version of Sarah Vaughn's "I Have Waited So Long."
Heath, 82, sounded still very much in command of tone and phrase, especially in an expansive turn through "Fools Rush In."
