During the Barbary Coast Jazz Ensemble's annual Winter Carnival concert on Saturday in Spaulding Auditorium, the jazz band performed a medley of funk tunes composed by and performed with special guest Joseph Bowie, the founder and leader of the jazz group Defunkt.
Bowie founded Defunkt in New York City in 1978 with a few friends, including Hungarian playwright Janos Gat and his brother, according to the Hopkins Center program notes. Born into a musical family, Bowie and his brother Byron Bowie arranged most of the songs played in the concert, according to the program notes.
Bowie, who began playing the trombone when he was 11 years old, joined the Black Artists Group in 1968, an interdisciplinary artists' collective, where he furthered his musical ability, according to the program. Defunkt's musical style is described as a furious and lively redesigning of jazz fusion, the program notes said.
"The energy and feeling, of course, is from my band Defunkt," Bowie said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "That was the motivation for the conception for these songs and this band. We wanted to put it in a big-band style. My songs, my style."
In 1998, Byron arranged big band versions of Defunkt songs some of which were performed by the Barbary Coast in their Saturday concert and the Defunkt Big Band was born, according to the program notes. The Barbary Coast succesfully adaptated his works for a 23-person ensemble consisting of musical parts including vocals and drums in last night's performance.
Bowie and Barbary Coast director Don Glasgo met at a musical festival in the 1990s, according to Bowie. The two struck up a friendship almost instantly, and Glasgo even performed in Defunkt in 1998, Bowie said, adding that he has performed with the Barbary Coast three times and hosted workshops at the College and Hanover High School because of the friendship.
The Barbary Coast performs with a different guest artist every term, whom Glasgo selects, and the ensemble performs the songs of that artist, according to Glasgo. As a result, the genre of the band's performance each term changes depending on the guest artist.
"When I asked Joe to come back, I knew the theme would be big band funk," Glasgo said. "If I bring in a Latin guest artist like Omar Sosa or Arturo O'Farrill, I know that the theme of that show is going to be Latin big band."
In addition to Bowie, other special guests for this concert included vocalist Kaitlyn Sheehan '09, drummer Coleman Bartels and Andy Bourke, who played bass and sousaphone. Glasgo said he often selects guest artists to perform with the ensemble to ensure the skill level of the group of musicians is up to par for a given genre. He and Bowie agreed it was a wise decision for this term's concert.
"We have to pick the musicians that have the skill levels in that genre of music to maintain its integrity and authenticity," Bowie said. "We bring the genre and the music, but we have to add people like the bassist Andy Bourke just to hold it together with his experience and professionalism to maintain the integrity of the funk."
The performance itself was loud, lively and full of powerful performances by various members of the band. The songs of Defunkt were mostly energetic funk pieces with a slower piece thrown in for contrast.
As the guest of honor for the night, Bowie himself was full of boundless energy and charisma as he danced, sang and hopped around the stage. Between songs, he paused to explain his compositions' origins and at one point referred to the Barbary Coast as "the best group I've been with yet."
Some of the spotlight was stolen from Bowie, however, by singer Sheehan, who wowed the crowd with her impressive vocal range and ability. On songs in which she and Bowie performed duets, such as the soulful "Maybe," she dominated with her Christina Aguilera-like voice and confidence. Also worthy of note was bassist Bourke, whose impressive grooves formed the backbone for much of the night's music and was a pleasure to listen to.
The musicians of the Barbary Coast performed impeccably and were of an almost professional quality. Some members, however, rose above the rest, including flutist Leif Harder '15, who drew striking Ron Burgundy comparisons with his frenetic and almost surreal jazz flute playing, and Zack Cutler '14, who added to the already strong rhythm section with his effortless guitar playing, alternating between jazz and rock styles. The strongest musicians in the Barbary Coast were featured with lengthy solos, such as in the song "Believin' in Love," during which Bowie called out numerous performers by name to stand and perform.
Bowie and the Barbary Coast were positively received by the audience, who hopped along to the music and seemed to enjoy the spirit of the performance, as well as the music itself.
"It's not the best written music, but it's played extremely well," Alexander Stockton '15 said.
