Minneapolis 16 January 2013 (show 1)

 I have been planning to write about the 2013 Dakota Jazz club shows for quite some time now, especially the jazz shows Prince played there. After rocking out for the last few weeks it will be a great change of pace and a little more interesting. I have a surprising amount of jazz albums at home, although jazz music is something I rarely talk about with other people or indeed write about. I hope I can find the words and vocab to do this show justice, I can write about a guitar solo in twenty different ways, but I might struggle to express what I am hearing on a more jazz-infused recording. The recordings from the Dakota Jazz club over three nights offer up Prince's whole oeuvre- starting with a jazz night followed by a funk night and a rock night, Prince gives us plenty of everything. I will in time listen to the other nights, but right now I am hungry to hear this first show. People often speak of Prince's jazz leanings and he has many jazz-infused songs, although it’s rare to have a whole show dedicated to just this one genre. For that reason, I think it's well worth a closer listen. 

16 January 2013 (show 1), Dakota Jazz Club 

Although there is plenty of audience talk at the beginning of the recording it doesn’t matter too much as the show opens with a thumping drum solo by Ronald Bruner Jr. I aren’t normally one for drum solos, but this one captures my attention however as it’s very crisp and loud. I soon forget that this is an audience recording as the drummer shimmers and pops over all other noise. Heavy on rolls and cymbals I find it to be less straightforward than other solos I have heard, and from my point of view, it is immensely enjoyable and starts the show with a bang.  

 

It becomes a Prince show soon after as Prince calls “one, two” and I realize the reason the drum solo was so loud isn’t because of the playing, but rather due to the fact I had the volume turned up too loud. I pull it back to a more pleasant level in time to catch a keyboard break that hops and bops along over the top of some very cool bass. It’s all rather jazzy sounding, and I notice that it is “Xpectation” I listening to, a song I would claim I am familiar with even though I didn’t recognize it here. The song drifts in and out and flows well with the band all being heard and I can hear Prince offering soft direction although I can’t catch exactly what he is saying. The horns are also on board at this stage and they lift the sound a lot, but they do seem to fade into the background on the recording and I am not sure why I can’t hear them well, although they are playing strongly. I prefer the second half of the song when the piano comes much more to the fore, it has a wonderful melancholy sound to it and I could happily listen to this playing all day long. The whole song quietens in the second half and this I like as I can concentrate and enjoy the instruments and players.  Things pick up again as the last few minutes of the song play, especially with the horns getting plenty of shine. After this first song, there is absolutely no doubt about what we can expect from this show. 

The Rainbow Children is perhaps the most divisive album Prince has released, and I have generally found that most fans fall into two camps, those that love it, and those that hate it -for this album there seems to be no middle ground. For the record, I am a big fan of The Rainbow Children, and when I hear the instrumental of “Muse To The Pharaoh” played here, I am in heaven. This is exactly what I like to hear, and I appreciate every note of it. It is instrumental as well as stretching for ten minutes, and it makes me realize how much I have grown with Prince as he has grown as an artist. I started listening to his three-minute pop songs when I was a teenager, and as he has stretched out and challenged himself he has also challenged me and I have grown with him. Prince has greatly broadened my music horizons and as I soak up this song I find it hard to imagine the teenage me listening to this.  It is superb, the changes softly moving us through the song, and the keyboard holding my attention throughout. I was drooling at the Power Trio gig last week, this one is completely different but has me feeling the same way.  

“Stratus” I have heard plenty of times at various shows. I wonder if this one will offer anything new, and I am slightly discouraged as it begins the same as I have heard before. I wait patiently to see what will develop. I do like the guitar without ever falling in love with the sound of it, yet I am still waiting to see if this band will twist anything new out of it. Things look up for me as the keyboard plays and I am lifted above the song for a time. It gets better yet with the bass solo, and by now I am beginning to get right into the song. The bass is the high point of the song, and as it closes I realize that my fears were unfounded, this was a great version. 

 

The bass is the thing that kicks off the next song for me too, as some quick playing leads us into an instrumental jam. There is a horn solo that gets the crowd excited too, and I am feeling them as they clap along, even here at home I am swept up by it. The keyboard break has a great tone to it and is reminiscent of the sound of The Commodores “Machine Gun.” My only wish is that there could have been more of it. There is also some back and forth between the horns and the bass which I find myself grooving along to. Things take a downturn in tempo and mood, yet the quality of music is still outstanding, and even as it slows I find myself listening carefully. I can easily say that these 15 minutes are the best part of the show for me. 

The piano solo from Cassandra O’Neal brings us quietly back to earth. It’s a gentle sort of piano break as if one was eavesdropping on someone playing in another room. Overall I like it, although I must admit there were a couple of passages I wasn’t overly fussed with. It does have an intimate sound to it, which I guess is only to be expected in a venue that holds 260 people. 

There is an abrupt change at this point as the music of “Sign Of The Times” sounds, and it becomes apparent that Prince is playing on the sampler. It still stays instrumental, as has everything else this evening, and the loop plays some cool keyboards, which is the most interesting part of the song. The more I listen to it the more I like it and even though the song is only three minutes, most of it I am listening to that keyboard sound. 

We move without pause onto the opening loop of “Alphabet St.” I don’t find the loop particularly appealing but some bass work and keyboards are playing which I get a lot of satisfaction out of. They do play off the sampler, and it becomes a much more instrument at this point. Normally I wouldn’t have much time for the sampler and “Alphabet St,” but to their credit, this is one of the more interesting renditions I have heard. 

 

“When Stars Collide” is begun by the bass, before the horns brighten it up with their refrain. For this band, the song seems to work well, and I find that I easily enjoy it without having to concentrate too hard. It’s an up-sounding instrumental, and I do like the horns every time I hear them. This feeling is reinforced with a perky-sounding solo that has me smiling and nodding along.  

The last song of the evening is another instrumental jam. There is some choppy guitar that has a clean sound and some more horns that I am falling more and more in love with. The horns are great, and something of a Trojan horse as a heavy guitar solo briefly appears. I expect this to go for some time, but the guitar slips quietly back into the mix and lets the horns do what they do best – that is to make me happy! I am on a high as the band pulls right back and it’s the horns that play us out for the last couple of minutes.  

This show was different from anything else I have written about in that not once did Prince sing. Maybe twenty years ago this would have been a problem for me, but not now. I enjoyed it just as much as any other recording, I don’t need to hear Prince's voice for me to enjoy it, I just need good quality music and that is something this show had plenty of. It wasn’t as jazz-sounding as I expected, although I was impressed that Prince had the ability and courage to play a show like this. Prince is definitely on a journey, and I am glad he is taking me with him.