Even Under New Leadership, Jazz in July Is a Fixture of Summer

Jazz in July92NYThrough July 27Next Concert July 24It’s a rather surprising fact that for the last 40 years the most consistent venue to present good jazz uptown is at the 92nd Street Y, or, as it’s known these days, 92NY. The Jazz in July series was founded in 1985 by Dick Hyman, who was then succeeded by Bill Charlap. The two men served as artistic director for roughly 20 years each, and the good news now is that the new head of Jazz in July, Aaron Diehl, is a considerably younger, equally outstanding pianist who wasn’t even born when the series was founded. Mr. Diehl launched his first week as artistic director of Jazz in July with two evenings of piano — first an all-star show with six heavyweight keyboardists, including himself, and then a recital by the remarkable Isaiah J. Thompson. Yet the show that people were lining up for was Saturday night, which in itself is a first for Jazz in July. As Mr. Diehl announced at the start, it was to be a program celebrating the great American songbook featuring three different female singers, each from a different generation. They all were accompanied by Mr. Diehl, who has proved his worth as a superior accompanist with Cécile McLorin Salvant, among others, and his trio with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Aaron Kimmel.Considering that of the three performers, one, Marilyn Maye, is truly a living legend and another, Catherine Russell, is one of the great jazz and blues vocalists of our time, the third, Ekep Nkwelle, by far the youngest, had her work cut out for her. It wasn’t a competition, and it wasn’t as if Ms. Nkwelle had to out-do the other two, but it reminded me of what little I know about sports betting: She just had to beat the spread. She didn’t have to be the best, she just had to prove that she was worthy of standing on the same stage as Marilyn Maye and Catherine Russell.This she did: Ms. Nkwelle is described in her bio as “a DC-born, New York-based jazz vocalist of Cameroonian-American descent.” The African-sounding name might lead you to think that she favors exotic material, but make no mistake: She is a hard-swinging fundamentalist, whose set consisted of two uptempo standards, “Day In, Out” and “My Shining Hour,” one show tune long since taken up by the jazz world, “Never Will I Marry” — delivered with a nod to Ahmad Jamal — a jazz ballad, “In a Sentimental Mood,” and a concluding blues. The latter was a partially scatted, largely improvised, and very personalized take on the traditional 12-bar “C.C. Rider.” Although only 25, Ms. Nkwelle skillfully did what great jazz singers are expected to do by bringing us, the audience, into the creation process, getting us to feel and breathe along with her.Next, Ms. Russell took the stage, alongside her musical director, the outstanding guitarist Matt Munisteri, who joined Mr. Diehl and his trio. She sang six songs, nearly all of which I’ve never heard her do before, including two by Jule Styne: “The Brooklyn Bridge,” rendered with block chords that suggested the classic George Shearing Quintet, and “Dance Only With Me,” a rarity immortalized by Peggy Lee. There were two tunes by Irving Berlin, both concerning one of his favorite topics — namely, stepping out with one’s baby: “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” Along the way, she got us all into a sensual, slow grind with a sad-but-sexy soul ballad, “Let Me Be the First to Know,” honoring the impending centennial of the great Dinah Washington. As we expected, Ms. Maye ratcheted the level of excitement even higher. The 96-year-old powerhouse did a few medleys she hasn’t sung in a while, including a selection of songs by Cole Porter that began with the lesser-known “Looking at You,” and she essentially reworked the verse and then the chorus of “I Get a Kick Out of You” as if they were two entirely different songs. There were shorter medleys of three songs each devoted to Duke Ellington and Fats Waller, and then something we didn’t expect. Customarily she goes through a slow ballad interval that usually includes “Here’s to Life,” “Fifty Percent,” or “Guess Who I Saw Today,” or sometimes all three. Here, she focused on two very slow and intimate numbers from the jazz songbook, “Lush Life” and “Angel Eyes,” rendered as effectively low-key and understated duets with Mr. Diehl. Then, she exploded into “On the Street Where You LIve,” which often initiates a “My Fair Lady” medley, but here was heard by itself — and was quite enough.Ms. Maye was then joined by Ms. Nkwelle and Ms. Russell for “I Love Being Here With You,” a classic song by Peggy Lee — composed in collaboration with her producer Dave Cavanaugh, writing under a pseudonym — that’s become a kind of swinging anthem for jazz singers. As a trio, they brought the evening to a rousing conclusion.In the past I’ve observed moments when a great instrumentalist, like Abdullah Ibrahim at the Blue Note or Bill Charlap playing solo this week at Smoke, delivers a particular kind of performance in which the crowd pays rapt attention and stays absolutely silent, thereby turning a jazz club into a recital hall. On Saturday, the three singers achieved precisely the opposite, turning a concert hall into a boisterous saloon, in which the audience was not only applauding but cheering, yelling, and leaping to its feet. Catherine Russell had opened her set with “How About You?” The answer to that question is that by 9:15, when we were leaving, we all felt a heck of a lot better than we had when we first walked into the 92NY, only two hours earlier.

Even Under New Leadership, Jazz in July Is a Fixture of Summer

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