Harlan Jefferson

Close Up 2, Chicago,IL
May. 10, 2008

Harlan Jefferson

Alan Burroughs

Story and Photos by James Walker

Several weeks ago, this writer paid another visit to Chicago's premier smooth jazz club, Close Up 2 on south Clarke Street in the Financial District. Saxophonist Harlan Jefferson and his ace bandmates were "holding court" to the delight of the small but very appreciative crowd. Harlan, a native of Rockford, was accompanied on this evening by veteran drummer Malcolm Banks, guitar sensation Alan Burroughs and newcomer Willerm Delisfort on the keyboard.

They were completing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," with Burroughs wailing away on a nice extended solo. Burrroughs, a veteran sideman is one of Chicago's finest guitarist in the mode of a Ernie Isley and Carlos Santana. He's such a delight to watch perform as he's usually very cool and relaxed while perched on a chair in the background. They followed this number with a Jefferson original, "Get Your Step On," from his 2007 CD entitled, "You're All I Need." By the way , this is a song that's getting air time on WNUA, Chicago's smooth jazz station. Burroughs was again featured on this selection.

The second set began with the playing of R&B standard, "Sunny." Leader Jefferson was featured on this number as he switched up to the soprano. Throughout the remainder of the evening, Jefferson relied heavily on this beautiful instrument to relay his musical message to the audience. Although Chicago has an abundance of outstanding smooth jazz saxophone players, few are his equal when it comes to the soprano. He also used this instrument on R&B's Johnny Gill's "My, My, My." On this number, Harlan snaked through the audience to the pleasure of the assembled masses. On this tune , he handed the lead off to Burroughs with the two engaging in a nice "call and response" routine. The crowded loved this segment and was jubilant. This writer would love to see more of these two working together. They are a natural duo.

Jefferson kept this evening fresh by even giving a couple of numbers a reggae sound. This was done on The Stylist's "People Make The World Go Round," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and Earth Wind and Fire's "That's the Way of The World." Versatile keyboardist Willerm Delisfort is responsible for not only the "Reggae" sound on these numbers, but he's also producing the bass line as this group is playing without a bassist. Delisfort, a native of Miami, Flordia migrated to the Chicago area after attending Northern Illinois University. He's played with the likes of Corey Wilkes , Ernest Dawkins, Jabari Lui, Fareed Haque among others. This twenty something keyboardist has a bright future in the Chicago Jazz scene. During their cover of the Stylist tune, Delisfort creatively produced a "steel drum" sound which made this selection fresh and refreshing.

What's a sax led smooth jazz evening without a Grover Washington tribute. Considered by many as the pioneer of smooth jazz, Washington would have been proud of Harlan's rendition of the classic "Mr. Magic." Harlan put his own special touch on the number without creating musical sacrilege. In addition, Alan Burroughs stroking of the 6-string facility with reckless abandon was a thing of beauty. As this set was coming to an end, it appeared that all were gaining energy from one another. They even had some in the audience dancing in the narrow aisles. Most notably, was George Daniels, proprietor of George's Record Shop on the West Side and at Midway Airport. Daniels, a noted dancer, could not contain himself during this number.

Not to be left out during this finale, drummer Banks got off a "sick" solo while keyboardist Delisfort inserted a unique solo more associated with an avant-garde improvised solo. What a performance!!!!!. This aggregate really worked well together on this evening with the introduction of newcomer Willerm Delisfort on the 88s . Let's hope they keep this groove together by performing on a more regular basis as a unit.

For detailed information about Close Up 2's future list of live entertainment, refer to their website at closeup2jazz.com . Also, mark your calenders for their 2nd annual jazz festival the weekend of June 20th at the corner of Van Buren and State Streets featuring, the debut of trumpeter Corey Wilkes first cd, national artist guitarist Stanley Jordan, and the debut of national recording artist Chicago's Nick Colionne's new cd. Again, check their website for a complete listing.