By Cliff Rhys James
To the casual bystander Monty Alexander and Al Sikes make for an unlikely duo – or as Cream, that seminal blues rock trio once sang, a “strange brew.” Successful businessman, lawyer and former FCC Chairman under President Bush (the elder), Al comes across as a solidly unpretentious, what you see is what you get gentleman of unfailing courtesy and mid-Western rectitude. From his small town Missouri beginnings to the halls of power in New York and the nation’s Capitol, and always without affectation, he made his mark in public service alongside political heavyweights like Kit Bond, John Danforth, and two former presidents. Now able to pursue his love of fly fishing, hunting, hiking, canoeing and bee keeping, he and his wife Marty have called Easton, MD, home for six years. And for four of those years he’s indulged his other great love, that of jazz, through his pivotal work behind the scenes of the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival, held on Labor Day weekend each year in Easton.
The other member of this improbable duet is the festival’s namesake, Artistic Director and celebrated headliner – Monty Alexander. Monty is a protean talent whose life-force glows with a buoyant enthusiasm born of creative joy and powered by an energy that would leave men half his age gasping. Indeed, over 50 years and 70 albums on from the genesis of his Jamaican debut, when he distilled his early exposure to Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole to fuel the rhythms of his native roots into a fusion all his own, this man’s light yet burns bright. Monty helped catapult that island nation’s music to world recognition as an original member of the Skatalites – Bob Marley’s first backing band.
But friends and collaborators, Al and Monty are inspired by the mystical muse of musical rhythm, united in common cause, and driven by the kind of shared passion that animates true believers everywhere. So origins aside, notwithstanding strikingly dissimilar temperaments, and much to the great fortune of Mid Atlantic jazz lovers, the paths of their separate lives are converging yet again in Easton, MD for the fourth annual Monty Alexander Jazz Festival. With performances of this classic American art-form promised by renowned luminaries as well as emerging artists, the festivities run this Labor Day weekend from August 29th through September 1st. And if past is prologue jazz lovers better strap themselves in for what promises to be a melodious tour de force defying easy categorization.
Jazz guitar great Bucky Pizzarelli leads off on August 29th with a night – club style concert at Easton’s Academy Art Museum. Then on Friday, August 30th, the festival showcases one of the brightest new talents in the firmament of jazz stars when alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity leads her quartet’s performance at the Avalon Theater. Saturday’s salute to Dizzy Gillespie includes Avalon Theater shows by bassist John Lee and percussionist Chuck Redd, both of whom played and toured with the jazz legend throughout America, Europe and Africa. All of which should whet jazz lovers’ appetites for Saturday night’s headliner concert by artistic director and festival namesake Monty Alexander, whose infectious style has been celebrated by audiences world-wide for five decades. And while there will be an appropriate change of pace and mood for the Sunday finale performances, there will not be a change in quality as international jazz, blues and gospel vocalist Dee Daniels pours out her silky smooth, velvety textured tones at the Avalon – all four octaves worth. Accompanied this year by a local choral group, she returns to deliver the kind of uplifting performance that has become her signature.
Monty, who one year flew directly from Moscow to keep his Easton promise, reflects on the festival he has helped to create, saying, “I love playing at that wonderful venue the Avalon, and I’m flattered that the good people involved wanted to put my name on the festival. Those folks are doing it right and I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.” Pointing out to Monty that his life story is an inspiration to musicians and non-musicians alike stirs yet another expression of genuine humility, “If I’m any kind of example of achieving anything good and I guess my story is a good story, it’s one of a million versions and I still find it hard to encapsulate because I didn’t choose this – it chose me, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.”
And so, by way of parting, as I leave these two very different men from different worlds with their shared passion for jazz and this united labor of love now fully blossomed into the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival. The Festival is presented by Jazz on the Chesapeake, a program of Chesapeake Chamber Music, and will be held at Easton’s historic Avalon Theatre. The Avalon Theatre’s intimate setting and the lineup of world class artists make The Monty Alexander Jazz Festival an Eastern Shore destination for Labor Day weekend.
For further information or to purchase tickets for the Festival visit www.chesapeakejazz.org or call the CCM office at 410-819-0380.
Weekend packages are available at Easton’s Tidewater Inn and the Tidewater Inn will once again join in the festivities by offering a Jazz Brunch on Saturday, August 31 at 11 a.m. (https://www.tidewaterinn.com/). The brunch will feature jazz percussionist Isabelle DeLeon and her trio. DeLeon captured the hearts of guests at last year’s Festival while playing barefoot on stage. In addition to DeLeon on drums, the trio includes Mark Meadows on piano and Steve Synk on bass. Playing a mix of their compositions and arrangements, they present a modern yet tasteful interpretation of Jazz with rhythmic drive and harmonic complexity that serve to highlight pure melody.
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