The most surprising thing Kim Richardson said last Thursday (January 15) as she shared the stage with the Orchestre National de Jazz de Montreal was also the very first thing she said. She came on after two concise renditions of Duke Ellington’s ‘What Am I Here For’ and ‘Cotton Tail’ and said straight away “Je suis absolutment terrifiée//I am absolutely terrified”. As it was, she had been dealing with issues with her vocal chords in the leadup to the concert – her first of the year, such that her ability to perform at all may have been in doubt. It was a refreshing moment of vulnerability from Richardson that would ultimately prove to be unnecessary; one wouldn’t have guessed at any point throughout the show that they were listening to a singer who was struggling with her voice.
As the concert progressed it became clear that a point had been made to highlight as much varied Ellington repertoire as possible, an endeavor that was undeniably successful. Throughout sixteen selections of this sold out concert presented at the PdA Cinquième Salle, Richardson and the orchestra managed to cover the classics like ‘Caravan’ and ‘Take the A Train’ while still making time to introduce the audience to more obscure and less conventional parts of the Ellington canon. The first song that Kim Richardson sang, for example, was a selection from the 1941 musical revue Jump For Joy Entitled ‘Bli Blip’. The song features a surprisingly sparse and angular shout chorus, not unlike the sort of sound Thad Jones would achieve decades later.
A highlight of the show was the way that Kim Richardson’s personality shone through in her singing. This was never more clear than in the Billy Strayhorn ballad ‘Something to Live For’, or in ‘Imagine My Frustration’, an arrangement by pianist Jimmy Jones. This arrangement in particular had a sound that leaned more towards classic R&B, with repetitive riffs in the horn section over a 12/8 time feel – a perfect selection for a singer with the soul and R&B background Kim has. ‘Imagine My Frustration’ was probably the point in the show where we saw her the most in her element.
For the most part, selections in the concert were kept short and succinct to allow for a greater range of repertoire. As such, there were few extended solo sections. A notable exception to this was in Perdido, which featured an absolute behemoth of a trumpet solo from David Carbonneau. It would be hard to disagree with director Marianne Trudel when she suggested that the piece could have been written for him instead of the great Clark Terry.
Last night, the ONJ set out to highlight two great musicians – Kim Richardson and Duke Ellington – in very different ways. One was onstage, while the other composed the bulk of the program. The audience, however, was left with a strong understanding of both musicians and their unique voices, with neither upstaging the other.
