By John McDonough | Published June 2017
On Made In America Bobby Watson, whose career began with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the 1970s, presents a series of short portraits of notable—if not always well known— African-American achievers. Capturing any sense of identity through the imprecision of music rarely proceeds much further than the assignment of a title. But if play such programmatic games we must, let us give some credit to “The G.O.A.T” (The Greatest Of All Time). Taking Neal Hefti’s “Cute” as a device, the fastidious dialog between Watson’s alto and Lewis Nash’s drums manages to convey some of the buoyant elegance of its object, Sammy Davis Jr.
But how do you depict actress Butterfly McQueen, whose first film, Gone With The Wind, sealed her eternally in the simple-minded stereotype of Prissy, Scarlett O’Hara’s maid? On “The Butterfly” Watson focuses on her squeaky voice, and the portrait comes closer to film-noir siren Jane Greer, full of smoke rings, cocktails and furtive looks.
The original material is tuneful, relatively simple, and never gets in the way of Watson’s straightahead, bebopish flow. Each piece finds its cruising speed quickly once it shakes off its opening thematic rigor. Curtis Lundy solos stylishly on “G.O.A.T,” and Stephen Scott’s piano work is consistently strong in its uncluttered clarity. The one standard is “I’ve Gotta Be Me,” which has been in Watson’s repertoire since 1981. It fits in here as a kind of secondary salute to Sammy Davis.
Made In America: The Aviator “For Wendell Pruitt”; The Guitarist “For Grant Green”; The Butterfly “For Butterfly McQueen”; The Cyclist “For Major Taylor”; The G.O.A.T. “For Sammy Davis Jr.”; The Entrepreneur “For Madam C.J. Walker”; The Jockey “For Isaac Murphy”; A Moment Of Silence; The Real Lone Ranger “For Bass Reeves”; The Computer Scientist “For Dr. Mark Dean; I’ve Gotta Be Me. (44:00)
Personnel: Bobby Watson, alto saxophone; Stephen Scott, piano; Curtis Lundy, bass; Lewis Nash, drums.
