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POP MUSIC
Fort Minor, led by Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, gave the crowd at Nation a tight rock-like rap concert.
(By Greg Waterman)
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Most of the tunes came from Fort Minor's debut, "The Rising Tied," including "Remember the Name," "Feels Like Home" and "Where'd You Go," which Shinoda dedicated to recently deceased hip-hop producer Jay Dee (aka J Dilla). But the band also performed Linkin Park's "In the End" and dipped into its "We Major" mix tape for "There They Go," "Bleach" and "Dolla," which is built on a massive Led Zeppelin riff from "The Ocean."
Before the last tune, "Petrified," Shinoda said, "This is either a complete train wreck or the best show of all time." It was neither, but it was a lot of fun.
-- Christopher Porter
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra marked its 20th anniversary at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Friday night with help from guest violinist Regina Carter, who played a significant role in making the performance swinging and soulful.
The ensemble had an additional reason to celebrate: It opened the concert by abruptly segueing into an 87th-birthday salute to trumpeter and charter orchestra member Snooky Young. An alum of the Jimmie Lunceford and Count Basie bands, Young went right back to work, producing blue-note smears with horn and mute, the moment the cheers faded.
Bassist John Clayton Jr., who co-founded the orchestra with his younger sibling, alto saxophonist Jeff Clayton, and drummer Jeff Hamilton, certainly got an aerobics workout while conducting the band. Horace Silver's "The Jody Grind" and Sonny Stitt's "The Eternal Triangle" were particularly stirring performances -- arrangements teeming with colorful reed and brass designs and rhythmic vitality. The horns, though, were also deployed with great finesse at times.
Bassist Clayton's tender bowed rendition of Johnny Mandel's "Emily" and drummer Hamilton's exceedingly graceful brush work helped sustain moods ranging from chamber jazz intimacy to soft-shoe swing. When Carter joined the orchestra, her singing tone and shaded phrasing produced some sublime moments. Yet she seemed particularly eager to swing with the horn section, going so far as to sit alongside the reedmen during the rousing, Milt Jackson-inspired "Reverence." She also skipped through a wonderfully lighthearted arrangement of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," and vigorously mined the blues while performing the seldom heard Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn gem "Imagine My Frustration."
