Green wins hearts with Soul
June 17, 2007
Green wins hearts with soul
By David Lindquist
david.lindquist@indystar.com
The two sides of the Rev. Al Green brought a unified message to Indy Jazz Fest on Saturday night.
Whether singing gospel or mainstream R&B, Green's bullet points of peace, love and happiness remained front and center.
Early on, the Memphis, Tenn.-based pastor rotated from the spiritual-minded "He's Coming Back" to "Amazing Grace" to a Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers cover to his own secular smash "Let's Stay Together."
In terms of sentiment, the four-song journey was a short one.
Green last played Indy Jazz Fest on a rainy night in 2000. This year's conditions are absolutely dry, but the soul icon hasn't altered his routine of passing out countless roses to female audience members.
Roughly 40 years into his career, Green roams free above an accomplished show band. While he doesn't hesitate to sacrifice vocal perfection for having a good time, his falsetto remains true.
And when dialing in the gritty emotion heard during Saturday's rendition of "Let's Get Married," he reinforced his reputation for igniting romance.
A sprawling audience covered much of Military Park, swallowing up the new Hoagy Carmichael statue that seemed so far away from the festival's main stage a night earlier.
Saturday's early-evening visit from Spyro Gyra marked a crowd-pleasing return of smooth jazz to the festival.
If any audience members were merely waiting for Green's appearance, Scott Ambush's sneak-attack bass solo within the Spyro set made it worth hanging around.
Touring to promote new album "Good to Go-Go," Spyro Gyra brought a big, bold Caribbean flair to its entirely professional performance.
Listeners expecting a refreshing summer breeze from vocalist Somi may have been disappointed by her mellow -- if not sleepy -- performance.
A pulse eventually arrived during Somi's "Mbabazi" -- a tune that closed with interpretive dance and husky scat by the Illinois native who's lived part of her life in Africa.
Indianapolis-based Ori may have been the day's most pleasant surprise. The sextet applied a percolating, polyrhythmic twist to Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" and Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower."
The group's steel pan drum added an exotic flavor, while side-stepping a potential tourist-y trap.
Straightforward blues-rock act Mike Milligan & Steam Shovel opened Saturday's schedule at the Jazz Central Stage.
Guitarist Milligan delivered an appropriate Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired crunch to a song titled "Going to Austin."
The three-day festival ends today with a Father's Day program headlined by pianist Chick Corea and banjo player Bela Fleck.
Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404.