Molly Johnson

Burton Cummings Auditorium

Saturday, February 27, 2010-03-03

All right, let’s avoid such clichés as ‘sultry songstress’, even though they could fit Molly Johnson to a ‘T’ (I’ve never quite understood what that latter expression meant anyway). Let’s just paraphrase Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and say that the lady be good!

But before we do, let’s step back to a moment in time before Molly and consider the Winnipeg contribution.

The Will Bonness Trio – Will Bonness piano, Steve Kirby bass and Curtis Nowosad drum kit – opened the show. Now, these talented locals are no yokels. They can cook with the best of them and they offered up a gourmet feast of appetizers Saturday night.

The set was short but stellar. Less than half a dozen songs. But well chosen to highlight the immense talents of each of them.

Bonness is a sensitive pianist who’s lineage extends back to Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans with a little Thelonious Monk thrown into an excellent brew. His solo on his composition ‘Walking on Water’ was very evocative.

He was well supported by Kirby and Nowosad who are Winnipeg’s strongest rhythm section.

Kirby, who brought life to the U of M’s School of Music jazz program, ranks with the best. His solo ‘Cleo’s Needle’ is a strong composition. His bass solo is strong demonstrating why he is head of Jazz Studies.

Bonness completed his set with Monk’s ‘Evidence’ giving Nowosad an opportunity to thrill the audience with his always well-constructed drum solo. He left little doubt that Bonness’s introduction of him as one of Canada’s best up-and-coming drummers was true.

Which is as good a place as any to segue into Molly Johnson.

As good as Nowosad is, Johnson’s drummer, Davide DiRenzo, is just that much better. DiRenzo combines the talents of Nowosad and Scott Senior with exceptional taste. Able to handle any rhythm requested of him, he was equally facile on the kit with sticks, mallets and hands. He blew the audience away with his many tasty solos.

Mike Downes, a native Winnipegger, is Johnson’s support both rhythmically and emotionally. An exceptional bass player, his one lengthy solo excursion had the audience wishing he had done more, Still, even with this exceptional solo, he didn’t leave Kirby in an inferior position.

Completing this extraordinary rhythm section was pianist Phil Dwyer. No slight to Bonness, here is an incredible talent. His manner of twisting and mastering time brought echoes of the great Art Tatum to mind. No matter what he was called on to accomplish, he surpassed it with melodic innovations that seemed as natural to him as breath.

And now for Molly. Dark black dress against caramel skin, she shone in the spotlight. Her ease with the audience really did show that she loved performing in Winnipeg where “her best friend” lives and was in attendance. Most of the songs were from her latest CD Lucky and that is exactly what the 650 in attendance were who took the opportunity to hear this lady sing.

This was a night of jazz standards. You could hear Billie Holiday in Johnson’s phrasing as she took ownership of tunes like the Billy Strayhorn classics ‘Solitude’ and ‘Lush Life’.

She ran the gamut from samba to tango to country and back to jazz. Her rendition of Bobby Gentry’s ‘Ode to Billie Joe’ never sounded better. Her revival of the Adler and Ross chestnut from Damn Yankees, ‘Whatever Lola Wants’, reached out from its Argentinean tango roots into a world only Molly could create. She was equally adept at the Rodgers and Hammerstein South Pacific classic ‘I Loves You, Porgy’, her drawl and growl bringing all the nuances to life.

Brought back by demand for an encore, Johnson launched into the Quincy Jones song from The Color Purple ‘Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister)’ teasing the audience at the end with a magnificently playful coda on the word ‘fine’.

That’s just the way the audience was left feeling (well, actually, they were feeling great, elated, high) by this magnificent musical feast hosted by Jazz Winnipeg who wants you to know that they just signed Sonny Rollins for a concert on June 23 at Pantages to launch this year’s Jazz Winnipeg Festival.

• John Herbert Cunningham