FIJM | Marcus Strickland and The Black Fusion Following

On Friday night at Studio TD, the impetuous tenorman Marcus Strickland (Bilal, Roy Haynes, Robert Gasper, Dave Douglas, etc.) brought us back to a very Brooklyn vibe with an all-black band: beefy drummer perfect in heavy funk and contemporary jazz, bassist perfect in this aesthetic and multi-keyboardist just as typical of this contemporary jazz fused with the groove jazz of the 70s and 80s.

Back in those increasingly distant days, we couldn’t have imagined a cover as groovy and electric as “Pinnochio,” composed by Wayne Shorter for the Miles Davis quintet—on the legendary Nefertiti album. We were delighted to hear it. Super version!

The forty-something saxophonist’s quartet is heavy, seasoned, sandpaper-like and rough despite the finesse and high virtuosity of these performances typical of black American and New York jazz. Because it’s not all about polyrhythmic grooves or heavy funk-jazz, there’s also plenty of room for swing, binary/ternary alternations, Great American Songbook ballads and soul/R&B. What’s more, Marcus Strickland is inspired by bird song, the planet Jupiter (thank you, Sun Ra), and the pentatonic chants of West African griots. But first and foremost, the saxophonist relies on the spirits of jazz.

Marcus Strickland’s brand of jazz may have run out of steam for a while, and we’ve lost interest … but we’re coming back to it, as we’re seeing more and more signs of a comeback. Ever since hip-hop sampled its predecessors, new practitioners have been emerging and driving the form forward from the very beginnings of their careers.

And who, it seems, are becoming cool again, winning over a young public fascinated by such musicianship, such compositions, such improvisations, such culture, such groove. A good deal!