Didn't want to let too much time pass before acknowledging the love fest that accompanied Phil Ranelin's 80th birthday. The lanky trombonist moved slowly around the room before the music to greet many allies he's accumulated over a career cutting Motown sessions, partnering with Freddie Hubbard, anchoring community activism in Detroit & L.A., and serving as a perennial torchbearer of the jazz tradition.
A condensed incarnation of Aaron & Lawrence Shaw's Black Nile established an atmosphere of open-ended flow and infinite possibilities -- a group to watch. The Kabasa Drum Ensemble kicked the energy into festive overdrive with delirious African rhythm and color-drenched jerk-shake-twist.
Then Phil's Tribe Renaissance. Ranelin blew a warm gush of bop-sourced hornology supported by the collegial sax of Pablo Calogero, the percolating percussion of Derf Reklaw, the permeating keys of Brandon Cordoba, the bumping bass of Michael Alvidrez, and the swinging drums of Mekala Session, who had also channeled the rivers of Black Nile. And I must be leaving out some, but Ranelin has a lot of friends. It churned, it leaped, it grooved.
Anyway -- pure joy. Super Afro-Latin deejaying between sets, too. Attendees stumbled out afterward in a glow, blurting things like "Wow!" and "Huh!" and "Best jazz show I've seen in years!" So it appears that Phil Ranelin needs to have more birthdays.