Coda show produces big memories from brief sets

Date: 05/20/03
Edition: METROPOLITAN
Credit: Special to The Star
Byline: ROBERT EISELE
Subject: Concert review

The Coda Jazz Fund Benefit Concert, with Karrin Allyson and Clark Terry
Reviewed: May 17 at the Gem Theater
Attendance: 500 (approx.)

"You have been blessed above all people on the planet," emcee Emanuel Cleaver II told the sold-out crowd assembled for the second annual Coda Jazz Fund benefit concert at the Gem Theater Saturday night.

The former mayor was referring to the jazz legends assembled to raise money for the Coda Jazz Fund, which provides financial assistance for funeral and other final costs for jazz musicians.

In musical parlance, the coda is an alternate ending to a musical composition, a term that nicely captures the essence of the charitable fund.

The cast for the second annual Coda Fund benefit was indeed a noteworthy one, including the Scamps and vocalist Geneva Price, who favored the crowd with a playful "Straighten Up and Fly Right" and a smokey "I've Got It Bad," respectively.

Saxophonist Bobby Watson, who claimed to be "writing a suite for my whole family," pitched in with "Corita," a breezy, free-floating air that showcased the Kansas City native's distinctive alto style.

Watson was joined briefly by jazz violinist Claude "Fiddler" Williams and piano man extraordinaire Jay McShann for some bluesy instrumental interludes - and all of this was before the intermission.

Kansas City's Lonnie McFadden opened the second half with a heartfelt tribute to trumpeter Clark Terry. A teen-aged McFadden was coached by Terry at a musical clinic in Kansas City, Kan., and offered tips that later allowed the youngster's career to flourish.

"I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me," McFadden said. "Without them, there would be no me."

A somewhat frail-looking Terry was perched on a stool at center stage for the mid-tempo "In a Mellow Tone," which offered samples of such jazz standards as "Tangerine."

There was also a soulful version of Duke Ellington's classic "Mood Indigo," in which Terry and Watson engaged in some dreamy flights of improvisational fancy, and a Charleston-like rag in which a two-fisted Terry alternated between muted and unmuted instruments.
Headliner Karrin Allyson's brief but memorable set ran the stylistic gamut from a lighter-than-air Brazilian samba to the torchy ballads "Too Young to Go Steady" and "All or Nothing at All."

Allyson closed the show with the poignant, live-life-to-the-fullest sentiments of "Live for Life," providing a satisfying denouement to a memorable evening of music-making.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE KANSAS CITY STAR