Through his music, the Michigan-based musician is doing a lot to teach us about ourselves and our culture.
His latest work, San Jose Suite, explores the histories, cultures and musical traditions of three Western settlements that share a name: San Jose, Costa Rica; San Jose, California; and Charles' native St Joseph, Trinidad (known as San Jose during the era of Spanish colonisation). Sunday's performance was the third time it's been played live in its entirety.
Music reviewer Nigel Campbell has said of San Jose Suite, that it "dares to magnify the idea of the wider Americas as a crucible for the continuing assimilation and transformation of disparate musical influences. It is a space where the Naipaulian idea of 'small places with simple economies bred small people with simple destinies' is turned on its head forever."
As someone who enjoys jazz for leisure, Etienne Charles is an easy go to because his music is cerebral but accessible. Unfortunately, getting to the concert a bit late (family commitments) meant that I missed a couple of songs in the first half that exclusively featured the music of the San Jose Suite.
Charles is best known as a trumpeter but he's also a damn good percussionist. He showed this to full effect in the piece Revolt, where he had an extended foray on the congas, cajon and djembe drums alongside his band's drummer John Davis. The drumming really captured the sense of resistance in Daaga's revolt of 1837, a key point of reference in San Jose Suite.
In Muwekma, he played a love song for the Native Americans of California, the people who asked him to "write a song, tell a story, remember our people." Between each piece, Charles engaged the audience by explaining the motivation and inspiration for each piece. Like the hip professor he is, we got tidbits of useful information, like the fact that the San Francisco 49ers got their name from the gold rush of 1849.
This was the segue way for Song for Minh and Gold Rush 2.0, pieces that reflect on the greed of the modern day gold rush in Silicon Valley, California. I don't know what greed sounds like, but the Gold Rush 2.0 certainly had the feeling of a hustle-bustle in parts.
As the first half reached its climax, Charles and his excellent Creole Soul Band played Speed City, a fantastic, funky piece that pays homage to the athletic legends of San Jose State University, particularly Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Smith and Carlos were the African American 200 metre gold and bronze medallists who staged a famous Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
Throughout the first half, the audience was kept intrigued by the photos by Maria Nunes from Charles' San Jose journey. Nunes and Charles have developed a collaboration that goes a long way to elucidating Charles' vision. They both share a love for the elemental parts of our culture and a desire to show us who we really are.
The show's second half, titled Creole Christmas, was more upbeat and featured an array of great guests. There was a lot more familiar music like Go Tell It On the Mountains and This Christmas with vocals from Llettesha Sylvester, who is making quite a name for herself with her powerful and soulful vocals.
Had the show taken place at a venue where people could dance, the parang session featuring Gilbert "Boyie" Ravello on the xylopan, Enrico Camejo on cuatro, parang icon Clarita Rivas on maracas and Ernesto Garcia on percussion would have turned the concert into a fete. The energy and dynamism of the music,–especially from Camejo on the cuatro–was something special.
The set moved quickly from parang to sexy waltzes from a early 20th century legend, Lionel Belasco. Belasco's waltzes–Roses of Caracas Waltz and Juliana–were exquisitely rendered and showcased the talents of Anthony "Tony Paul" Woodruffe Jr, one of this country's top wind musicians. Woodruffe later said he was a bit in awe of Brian Hogans, the Creole Soul saxophone player – who for me was one of the stars of the night.
Of course, there must be a taste of old time kaiso, and the audience was treated to a Mighty Spoiler classic–Wake Up Christmas Morning –with vocals from Charles and an impromptu cameo by sound engineer Robin Foster.
And to leave the audience wanting more, Charles showed a trailer for his upcoming work, Carnival: The Sound of a People. The pulsating music of the tamboo bamboo, the sonic cracks of the jab's whip and the vibrancy of the images left patrons intrigued about what is to come. I can only hope that the show which makes its world premiere at Queen's Hall on January 29, 2017 takes place in the car park, as it looks like something that's going to make people dance.