Grooving and Kicking Off a Blue New Year

Put alto saxophonist Hank Crawford and Hammond organist Jimmy McGriff on the same stage and you’ll get what? Meditative New Age sounds? Just kidding. Crawford and McGriff are all about the blues--romping, driving, kick-out-the-jams blues. And their irresistibly foot-tapping, groove-oriented performances were the centerpiece of the Jazz Bakery’s weekend New Year’s celebration.

On Saturday night, before a house full of enthusiastic Y2K survivors, the pair--still wearing tuxedos--got down to business immediately with a program almost completely dominated by blues numbers.

Crawford’s soul-drenched sound and vocalized articulations have had a powerful, if largely unacknowledged, impact upon many younger players, largely via the influence he has had upon David Sanborn. And his imaginative improvising revealed why his approach has been so favored, as he moved from surprisingly soft and tender sounds to declamatory gospel shouting.

McGriff’s backing provided the perfect setting for Crawford, his rich-textured organ timbres creating a roiling undercurrent of rhythm. At climactic points they gathered to generate tsunami-like waves of energy before breaking off into sudden, dramatic moments of silence. The combination was extraordinary, an impressive display of the depth and power of the blues, further enhanced by Don Williams’ precise, powerful drumming and guitarist Wayne Boyd’s fluid lines and hard-edged rhythmic backing.

Singer Jimmy Scott, who shared the billing with Crawford and McGriff, can best be described as a specialized taste. His high, piercing countertenor, his tendency to concentrate upon ballads sung at interminably slow tempos, and his hyper-theatrical style combined to produce occasionally gripping moments. More often, however, his wobbly pitch, wide vibrato and detached phrasing simply seemed peculiar, the product of one of jazz’s most idiosyncratic performers.