Roy Nathanson has always been a storyteller. In the late 1980s, his
band with Curtis Fowlkes, called the Jazz Passengers, echoed the voices
he heard from his New York streets. Deranged and Decomposed and Broken
Night/Red Light, both nearly impossible to find recordings, spoke
of multi-ethnic ramblings, preachers, and strange drugs. Nathanson
also wrote music for performance artist David Cale, accenting his
tales. Later work with the Lounge Lizards and the nineties reincarnation
of the Jazz Passengers with vocalist Debbie Harry of Blondie fame,
further broadened Nathanson’s musical palate. He is a showman
with an inclination for burlesque, a joke and a good time.
Fire is the full realization of his storytelling. He constructs
an imaginary tavern, with an assemblage of patrons and odd characters
that include Deborah Harry as Cups, the bartender everyone lusts for,
Elvis Costello the narrator, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs
as the would be arsonist, and various patrons that include a micro
and a macro physicist. Not since The Who’s Tommy or, well…The
Van Trapp families exploits has musical theatre captured my imagination.
Nathanson’s theatre is all about the bar’s characters. Scored
with tangos, a saxophone quartet, funk, organ grease, and Jazz Passengers
circus music, the musical vignettes shed light on the tragic night
of the fire, hint at relationships and turmoil, before disappearing
into the smoke. Nancy King and Kenny Washington sing/scat “Bar
Stool Paradise” ala’ “Moody’s Mood For Love”
at true lush life where a few drinks create eternal love, at least
for tonight.
Nathanson casts his musical theatre with top musicians and eclectic
styles. Where else can a B3, as if in a make believe jazz night, play
opposite a cello and Dobro ‘kid song’ next to a love song
between two gay particle physicists? Somehow Elvis Costello’s
voice has become the narration of our times and Harry’s graduation
from Blondie signals a collective call for all of us to grow up already.
Nathanson has given us the postmodern-Cheers, then burned it to the
ground. See, jazz can be fun music, it can be theatre, and it can
tell stories.
Track List: Fire Suite 1; Fire Suite 2; Fire Suite 3; Bar Stool
Paradise; Last Call; Jazz Night At Keaton’s; A Bend In The Night;
Carol Ann; Toast Quartet; Loss; Cups; Fire Suite Reprise.
Personnel: Roy Nathanson – Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone,
Soprano Saxophone; Elvis Costello – Vocals; Cyrus Chestnut –
Piano; Brad Jones – Bass; Erik Friedlander – Cello; E.J.
Rodriguez – Drums, Congas, Percussion; Sam Furnace – Baritone
Saxophone; Jay Rodriguez – Tenor Saxophone; Ned Rothenberg –
Alto Saxophone; Bill Ware – Vibes, Hammond B3 Organ, Piano; Marc
Ribot – Guitar; Ben Perowsky – Drums; Nancy King –
Vocals; Kenny Washington – Vocals; Charles Earland – Hammond
B3 Organ; Richard Butler – Vocals; Deidre Rodman – Piano;
Hector del Curto – Bandonion; Rob Thomas – Violin; Curtis
Fowlkes – Trombone; Rob Johnson – Trumpet; David Driver
– Vocals; Darius de Haas – Vocals; Anthony Coleman –
Piano; Corey Harris –
Vocals; David Gilmore – Guitar; Danny Blume – Programming;
Chris Kelly – Programming; Bob Appel – Background Vocals;
Greg Thompsom – Backing Vocals; Juan ‘Coco’ de Jesus
– Vocals; Mike Marshal – Dobro; Deborah Harry – Vocals;
Marcus Rojas – Tuba;
