Tariq Gardner’s Evening Star
Blue Llama Jazz Club
314 S. Main St.
Ann Arbor
Thursday, Sept. 10
It only took me catching the second set of Tariq Gardner’s Evening Star to know that he’s one of the brightest stars in the Detroit jazz scene.
Guess I had to come all the way out to Ann Arbor to figure that out.
Performing as part of a promotional dinner for Detroit City Distillery at the Blue Llama Jazz Club, it was a thin crowd when Gardner took the stage with his band. This configuration included core members LeRoy Mickens on piano and keys, Caelin Amen on bass, and, later on, Cole Ward on vocals.
I was immediately pulled in when Mickens started playing “Poinciana” by the Ahmad Jamal Trio, a personal favorite of mine and one I rarely hear brought to life by such a young band.
From there, Gardner never stopped. The band didn’t either.
Each song blended into the next with Gardner expertly calling out the transitions between songs, never dropping the beat and keeping things moving along. For the most part, Gardner was presenting someone else’s compositions wrapped up in a silky neo-soul sound before bringing his own work (the wonderful “Gateway Drug”) into the fold with a muscular breakbeat-style that completely separates him from the new vanguard of Detroit jazz musicians and showcases the versatility of his band.
It’s not every day you see musicians bring in the classics like Jamal’s “Poinciana” and Wayne Shorter’s “Fall” alongside former Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks’s solo work (“Intimate Friends”) and a sweet rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s “The Makings of You.”
It’s even rarer to see a bandleader that hasn’t even cracked the age of 30 lead his group with such confidence — and through so many genres, including less of the old school and a lot more of where jazz is heading today.
Gardner and his group leaned way into the alternative jazz and R&B side of the musical coin, mimicking sounds that are currently permeating throughout south London’s evolved musical scene, where Afrobeat influences from groups like Ezra Collective bump up against Lianne La Havas’s soulful vocals. In fact, Evening Star vocalist Cole Ward did a killer version of her song “Seven Times” during this set.
I’ve already marked Tariq Gardner’s Evening Star’s upcoming performance at Cliff Bell’s on Friday, Oct. 16 on my calendar. This is a rising star you don’t want to miss.
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