We haven’t forgotten, jazz virtuoso Charlie Young told Daily News Egypt. “We know the importance of Africa in the world.
A regular member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra since 1988, Young is also a professor of saxophone at the Howard University in Washington DC.
“When we say the word African-American, the African part is a loud word to us.
Thus it was no wonder that when Charlie Young Jazz Quartet commenced their performance at the Cairo Opera House on Saturday, the opening song was none other than John Coltrane’s “Africa – a “strong and powerful song dedicated to a “strong and powerful place.
Punctuated by Young’s introductions, the quartet performed a selection of jazz and blues melodies that went alongside “an abbreviated journey of African Americans’ rights through the United States.
“The development of blues provided African Americans the opportunity to express themselves, Young told the audience as Bob Butta smoothly complemented him on the piano.
Already between the first and second numbers the audience realized they were in a place not much different from Humphrey Bogart’s famous parlor in “Casablanca where a beautiful, melancholic lady once famously said, “Play it, Sam.
Jazz emerged into the American scene with Scott Joplins’ classic “The Maple Leaf Rag; a ragtime number pre-dating the blues whose influence lasted for a dozen years before the jazz fever swept the nation.
In the more familiar “St. Louis Blues, Young tooted his saxophone at Butta, causing the pianist to laugh, as they played at each other.
At another point, James King on contra bass had a simmering musical dialogue with Harold Summey performing drums.
Several classic jazz tunes underscored important moments in African-American history. “Take the ‘A’ Train, the Duke Ellington Orchestra’s signature tune, and now the official song of New York City, for example, got its title originally from the train car Duke rented for the band members when they passed through segregated towns to eat and sleep in, should they been refused checking in hotels.
Another song that pointed to a historic moment was Charles Lingus’ “Fables of Faubus, named after the governor of Arkansas who enforced segregation in schools. The song was written in protest against the governor’s use of national guards to ensure segregation.
Trilling “silly sounds on his saxophone, Young illustrated how Lingus intended to protest the silliness of Faubus’ policy.
Describing it as “shouting out loud about protest, Young introduced one of the most poignant numbers of the performance: Louis Armstrong’s “(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue?
Some of these song lyrics, Young said, could bring you to tears, confessing an intimate understanding of the psyche of “black men ashamed of themselves.
“I knew that white was better than black, said Young about growing up in America, “I knew that straight hair was better than nappy hair.
To be a black president even in his time was considered “impossible, said Young. “You may as well tell me I could grow wings.
The otherwise eloquent multi-instrumentalist Young found himself at a loss for words to describe what Barack Obama’s election means.
It means that nothing is impossible. “Now we know, he said, and “children will grow up knowing that limitations have been removed.
Yet even in the time of someone like the luminary 50s composer Billy Taylor when discrimination and segregation was felt and seen everywhere in America, there was an awareness that the day would come when all this would end. While the title of the song may sound bemoaning, “I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free, Taylor provided a “visionary song, with lyrics that are hopeful and forward-looking.
“I Wish sounds a lot like the gospel songs sung in churches. Music does not operate independently but within and through these communities, said Young. As he provides a private lesson on the trajectory of jazz music, he punctuates it with sound effects – boo-bops and taps included.
Jazz and blues provided that freedom for all, says Young, “not belittling anyone, but knowing who you are and be willing to express it.
The appreciation of jazz, said Young, required an enlightened sensibility. Mozart, for example, was easy, Stravinsky not so.
“I don’t know what direction it will take, Young said about the future of jazz, “but I know that the youth of today are already envisioning it.
“Nothing remains constant, said the musician, adding he could not even claim what music the quartet drummer Harold Summey’s will be playing in the future.
Returning to the black continent, and the performances, was drummer Summey’s solo interpretation of “Africa, which drew an equally booming applause from the audience.
As the finale of the “Negro National Anthem played, some members in the audience sang along. Entitled “Lift Every Voice and Sing, the song was adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1919 as their official anthem, Young said.
Originally a poem by James Weldon Johnson, the song belies an emphasis on the American half in African-American.
“Everybody knows it, said Young about the national anthem. It may as well be true about what it means to be black, and to be blue about it. “All black folks know that one.
