Children of the Light

Continuing the Mission

Children of the Light: A Tribute to Wayne Shorter

Kevin Le Gendre

“All stars” is a term that has gone more or less out of fashion these days in the world of jazz. Yet supergroups made up of players who are all high achievers, either as bandleaders or accompanists, or both, still exist. Children of the Light is a case in point: the trio comprises pianist Danilo Pérez, bassist John Patitucci, and, for tonight’s concert, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, who takes over for Brian Blade. Each of these musicians has excelled in a wide variety of settings for well over three decades.

Bringing together superlative players of course is no guarantee for artistic success. This may be the first time Pérez, Patitucci, and Carrington have appeared in this line-up, but they are by no means strangers and have developed chemistry in the past. Carrington has performed alongside Pérez and Patitucci in the Wayne Shorter quartet, arguably one of the greatest of small groups in contemporary jazz, so her relationship with her fellow “Children” is well established. “She was also part of my album Panamonk in 1996 and played with John many times,” Pérez points out. “There is a strong family and musical connection that goes back at least 24 years. The three of us also work together at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute.”

Any group with this kind of shared history is bound to bring something extraordinary to the stage. Yet Children of the Light is an ensemble in which the strength of character and verve of each individual comes to the fore in a context that places great value on musical conversation and exchange. The question is not so much what the three virtuosi play then how they pool their collective resources—given the fact that there is no nominal leader. Carrington, Patitucci, and Pérez pursue the ideal of a supple, shape-shifting ensemble in which ambience or mood is prized alongside melody and rhythm.

The ideal of a collaborative piano-bass-drums ensemble— as opposed to a piano trio with a clear hierarchy between the instruments—has notable precedents, including ACS, the group in which Carrington featured alongside Esperanza Spalding and the late Geri Allen. Children of the Light’s eponymous 2015 debut album was proof positive of the band’s desire to present a partnership of equals, where as much weight is given to a leaping bass line as it is to a tumbling tom-tom beat or sparkling trill on the keyboard. It’s classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Sweepingly orchestral, powerfully robust, and gracefully intimate, the group draws on all vocabularies available to a savvy contemporary improviser, from swing and blues to classical and folk music. Yet the point is that none of these materials is used in a predictable or telegraphic way. There is an openness in both the form and content of Children of the Light’s performance, resulting in some songs keeping a steady pulse with subtle Afro-Latin undercurrents, while others chop and change momentum with teasing flexibility, adding to a rich lineage that might include pioneers such as Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, or Chick Corea, with whom Patitucci played in his formative years.

For Pérez, the desire to act on impulse in the moment and take risks with musical narrative can be put down to the personality of the players, as well as the significant inspiration they have drawn from their association with Wayne Shorter. “We are exploring colors and orchestrations defying the traditional roles of a piano trio setting,” he explains. “This is a trio that is carrying the torch of the lessons we learned from Wayne. He told us to write and play music the way we want the world to be like. With our compositions and playing we would want to bring light and hope to the world and express the idea of ‘going beyond the music.’ That’s what he has taught us: to not think about music just in musical terms but as a tool for human development. For us it’s about creating music that brings people together, music that is highly interactive, unpredictable, spontaneous, therapeutic— out of the comfort zone. We have found a very original way to interact with each other, so we can improvise without losing the groove. We call this kind of spontaneous composing and improvising ‘comprovising’.”

Those who have attended any of the countless performances of the Wayne Shorter Quartet since its 2000 debut will know that these ideas are anything but trifles. The musicians who appear on stage tonight have abided by them for close to 20 years, reaching for the lofty goals set by a visionary, who, himself, was touched by the genius of Miles Davis and Art Blakey, and found common creative ground with musicians beyond the borders of jazz, such as Joni Mitchell and Milton Nascimento.

As Pérez explains, the extra-musical intent of Shorter’s quartet is as important as its musical one. Cynics may well sneer at artists who attempt to bring about some kind of constructive change in society through their work, but this has been a guiding principle of the saxophonist, a committed Buddhist, for many years, and it is also an integral motivation for Children of the Light. Patitucci, who taught as a professor of Jazz Studies at City College of New York for ten years, has been instrumental in developing the Online Jazz Bass School to encourage the greatest possible outreach and access to vastly experienced players such as himself, while Carrington has powerfully championed the role of women in jazz through her high- profile Mosaic Project. As for Pérez, he has been an indefatigable advocate for social inclusion in his native Panama, establishing the country’s first jazz festival and ensuring that local musicians have the opportunity to interact with international stars in order to develop their own craft. He has also consistently endorsed the use of music as a means of improving the life chances of communities in extreme poverty, and his un flagging dedication was recognized by UNESCO who appointed him Artist for Peace in 2012. In his acceptance speech Pérez, who gathered firsthand experience of the sense of fraternity beyond borders that music can foster in the late ’80s as a member of Dizzy Gillespie’s much-loved United Nations Orchestra, said: “I believe with jazz at the center of musical education we can help to create values and attitudes that affect how we relate to other people and to our environment.”

Looking outwards toward others rather than turning in on oneself is vital at a time when intolerance spreads through society. As a band name, Children of the Light—a reference, of course, to Shorter’s Children of the Night—is highly symbolic insofar as it captures a dual feeling of innocence and uplift, or rather the idea that juniors, those who are new to the world, still have much to teach seniors, those who are not.

Artists who subscribe to the ideal of music as an agent of political progress and solidarity can sometimes forget where they have come from. The stated ethos of Children of the Light is acknowledgement of the achievements of others and respect for those who have paved the way for the band in the first place. Pérez is the first person to hail the ongoing presence in his life and work of the man he has come to look upon as a kind of father figure from many points of view, Wayne Shorter. “His presence will always be felt in the music. His sounds live in us, as we develop our music and life, and the music will continue to evolve. He has had a tremendous impact on all of us. He has helped us see life through the lens of music and inspired us to use the creative process in every aspect of our lives. With every note Wayne plays, he expresses the value of life and helps us to overcome the fear of the unknown—through music that pushes us to go beyond the sound barrier. I know John and Terri feel the same. We are committed to continuing the mission.”