Since making his name as of one of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the 1980s, Jean Toussaint has never rested on his laurels.
From performing with Blakey and at New York’s jazz clubs - where he sat in on sessions with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and many more - the Caribbean-born Toussaint relocated to London in 1987, for three months teaching. Thirty one years later, and he’s still here, writing, performing, collaborating, and also encouraging the next generation of jazz stars at such establishments as Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
The tenor saxophonist’s latest album, his 11th, is Brother Raymond. Recorded over six days in London in late 2017 and released in June, it features the cream of young British talent for a collection of cuts that sees the bandleader “pay tribute” to many of his inspirations.
Prior to his Jazzlines appearance at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Eastside Jazz Club on Friday 5 October 2018, Toussaint discusses the album, Art and future plans …
What was the starting point for Brother Raymond?
I was doing an Art Blakey project entitled Roots and Herbs (2015-2017), and we did a lot of gigs, a lot of festivals, and it went down pretty well. The audience were quite into what we were doing, and I noticed that at the end of gigs, when we went to sell the CDs that we had available, that everybody was asking for CDs of the music we’d just played. I thought to myself, it’d be a bit of a mess to re-record those classic [Blakey] tunes, you know? You couldn’t do them and make better than what had already been done. But I thought it was an opportunity to write some new music and have the same band perform them. So that’s how it came about. Then one of the compositions on there I dedicated to my brother, who passed away in 2015, and that just became the title of the album - the album was a dedication to him. So it just unfolded naturally.
Alongside your late brother, you reference many other people on the album, including drummer Idris Muhammad, saxophonist Eddie Harris and former Messenger Kirk Lightsey (with three Interlude For … segments).
Yeah. There were some great musicians that I got to know during my career, like Idris Muhammad who, when he was based in London, I got to know quite well. I’d talk to him about music, and he was quite kind, imparting a lot of his knowledge onto me … so I thought I’d pay tribute to him. And also with Eddie Harris, the same thing, whenever he came to London he called me up, so I thought I’d pay tribute to him as well. And my great friend, the pianist Kirk Lightsey, who lives in Paris, we still work together quite often – two or three times a year – so I thought it was time to pay tribute to him.
It’s a stylistically diverse album - what are some of your favourite tracks?
My tribute to Barrack Obama, the first track, Amabo (I Shall Love), which is ‘Obama’ backwards, that’s one of the stand-out tracks; a track I wrote to my girlfriend, which is entitled Letters To Milena, it’s a ballad; and the second track Doc, which I wrote for my cousin, Kerwin. So almost all the tunes on there are dedicated to someone special in my life.
This release seems very much a continuation of Roots and Herbs: The Art Blakey Project.
Yeah, the band is virtually the same, with Dennis Rollins on trombone, Byron Wallen on trumpet, Jason Rebello’s on a lot of things on piano, Andrew McCormack is also on a lot of it on piano, Shane Forbes is doing drums, and also Daniel Casimir on bass. And I got a lot of my friends from the London jazz scene to do some guest spots as well, but it’s a continuation of the Roots and Herbs project, definitely, without a doubt.
You’ve stated in the past that you’d like the project to include a reunion of former Jazz Messengers – is that still something you’re keen to investigate?
Yeah, yeah, if there’s enough interest in that. Obviously, it’d be quite expensive to make it happen, but that’s one of the plans, even though there’s nothing concrete so far. But maybe we can do something in a year/ year-and-a-half from now, bring some former Jazz Messengers together … well, once a Jazz messenger, always a Jazz Messenger! … so bring on some Jazz Messengers to do it, and pay even more tribute to Art Blakey. Because the thing is, the great music that Art laid down, it’s not being played at all. It’s not like with the Mingus Dynasty band or Count Basie thing [CBO] or the ‘Duke’ Ellington thing, which are still continuing, with a lot of new musicians going through. That doesn’t happen for the Blakey legacy. I just wanted to do whatever little bit I could do to help move that forward, you know?
‘Once a Jazz Messenger, always a Jazz Messenger!’ Do you still see yourself as a Jazz Messenger, even now? Is that who you are?
Yeah, that’s right! It is who I am. I mean I joined The Messengers in my formative years, my whole concept has derived from the things I learnt from Art, you know? Art taught all of us, through the music, he wasn’t verbal at all, it was all through the way he played, the sort of musical cues he passed on. As soon as you joined the band you picked up on those right away and it just informed your playing. The support he gave you was invaluable! You couldn’t pay for that kind of education.
Are you planning to do any further recordings with your current live band?
Hopefully we’ll be able to. Once we have a few gigs under our belts, we’ll record some of the live shows and hopefully get something nice enough to release. I’m also working on quartet and quintet recordings as well, which should come out later on, in 2019, and further. I’m always thinking ahead, trying to put different projects together to record. I just hope to continue … as long as I have my health, I’m going to keep doing it.
Brother Raymond, by the Jean Toussaint Allstar 6tet, is out now via Lyte Records.
The Jean Toussaint Quintet play Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, BCU, Jennens Road, Birmingham B4 7XR on Friday 5 October 2018. Admission £13.
For tickets and more information, call 0121 780 3333 or see: www.thsh.co.uk
Since making his name as of one of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the 1980s, Jean Toussaint has never rested on his laurels.
From performing with Blakey and at New York’s jazz clubs - where he sat in on sessions with Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, and many more - the Caribbean-born Toussaint relocated to London in 1987, for three months teaching. Thirty one years later, and he’s still here, writing, performing, collaborating, and also encouraging the next generation of jazz stars at such establishments as Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
The tenor saxophonist’s latest album, his 11th, is Brother Raymond. Recorded over six days in London in late 2017 and released in June, it features the cream of young British talent for a collection of cuts that sees the bandleader “pay tribute” to many of his inspirations.
Prior to his Jazzlines appearance at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s Eastside Jazz Club on Friday 5 October 2018, Toussaint discusses the album, Art and future plans …
What was the starting point for Brother Raymond?
I was doing an Art Blakey project entitled Roots and Herbs (2015-2017), and we did a lot of gigs, a lot of festivals, and it went down pretty well. The audience were quite into what we were doing, and I noticed that at the end of gigs, when we went to sell the CDs that we had available, that everybody was asking for CDs of the music we’d just played. I thought to myself, it’d be a bit of a mess to re-record those classic [Blakey] tunes, you know? You couldn’t do them and make better than what had already been done. But I thought it was an opportunity to write some new music and have the same band perform them. So that’s how it came about. Then one of the compositions on there I dedicated to my brother, who passed away in 2015, and that just became the title of the album - the album was a dedication to him. So it just unfolded naturally.
Alongside your late brother, you reference many other people on the album, including drummer Idris Muhammad, saxophonist Eddie Harris and former Messenger Kirk Lightsey (with three Interlude For … segments).
Yeah. There were some great musicians that I got to know during my career, like Idris Muhammad who, when he was based in London, I got to know quite well. I’d talk to him about music, and he was quite kind, imparting a lot of his knowledge onto me … so I thought I’d pay tribute to him. And also with Eddie Harris, the same thing, whenever he came to London he called me up, so I thought I’d pay tribute to him as well. And my great friend, the pianist Kirk Lightsey, who lives in Paris, we still work together quite often – two or three times a year – so I thought it was time to pay tribute to him.
It’s a stylistically diverse album - what are some of your favourite tracks?
My tribute to Barrack Obama, the first track, Amabo (I Shall Love), which is ‘Obama’ backwards, that’s one of the stand-out tracks; a track I wrote to my girlfriend, which is entitled Letters To Milena, it’s a ballad; and the second track Doc, which I wrote for my cousin, Kerwin. So almost all the tunes on there are dedicated to someone special in my life.
This release seems very much a continuation of Roots and Herbs: The Art Blakey Project.
Yeah, the band is virtually the same, with Dennis Rollins on trombone, Byron Wallen on trumpet, Jason Rebello’s on a lot of things on piano, Andrew McCormack is also on a lot of it on piano, Shane Forbes is doing drums, and also Daniel Casimir on bass. And I got a lot of my friends from the London jazz scene to do some guest spots as well, but it’s a continuation of the Roots and Herbs project, definitely, without a doubt.
You’ve stated in the past that you’d like the project to include a reunion of former Jazz Messengers – is that still something you’re keen to investigate?
Yeah, yeah, if there’s enough interest in that. Obviously, it’d be quite expensive to make it happen, but that’s one of the plans, even though there’s nothing concrete so far. But maybe we can do something in a year/ year-and-a-half from now, bring some former Jazz Messengers together … well, once a Jazz messenger, always a Jazz Messenger! … so bring on some Jazz Messengers to do it, and pay even more tribute to Art Blakey. Because the thing is, the great music that Art laid down, it’s not being played at all. It’s not like with the Mingus Dynasty band or Count Basie thing [CBO] or the ‘Duke’ Ellington thing, which are still continuing, with a lot of new musicians going through. That doesn’t happen for the Blakey legacy. I just wanted to do whatever little bit I could do to help move that forward, you know?
‘Once a Jazz Messenger, always a Jazz Messenger!’ Do you still see yourself as a Jazz Messenger, even now? Is that who you are?
Yeah, that’s right! It is who I am. I mean I joined The Messengers in my formative years, my whole concept has derived from the things I learnt from Art, you know? Art taught all of us, through the music, he wasn’t verbal at all, it was all through the way he played, the sort of musical cues he passed on. As soon as you joined the band you picked up on those right away and it just informed your playing. The support he gave you was invaluable! You couldn’t pay for that kind of education.
Are you planning to do any further recordings with your current live band?
Hopefully we’ll be able to. Once we have a few gigs under our belts, we’ll record some of the live shows and hopefully get something nice enough to release. I’m also working on quartet and quintet recordings as well, which should come out later on, in 2019, and further. I’m always thinking ahead, trying to put different projects together to record. I just hope to continue … as long as I have my health, I’m going to keep doing it.
Brother Raymond, by the Jean Toussaint Allstar 6tet, is out now via Lyte Records.
The Jean Toussaint Quintet play Eastside Jazz Club, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, BCU, Jennens Road, Birmingham B4 7XR on Friday 5 October 2018. Admission £13.
For tickets and more information, call 0121 780 3333 or see: www.thsh.co.uk
By Dave Freak